ALONG A RIDGE IN ORINDA

I met this client after a disastrous fire had swept up from the valley below and consumed his home, and many of its neighbors.  He wanted to rebuild a single story replacement that, like his previous home, opened up to western views from inside and outside across the valley.

 

My client wanted an informal house with graceful, free movement between its spaces inside and outside.  Yet he was private, not wanting much of his house to disclose itself to the street. Outside, the home appears as a village of roofs behind a series of walled forms - the opposite of the imposing, large homes that characterize this community.

 

Inside, the home threads from outside to inside and back again to outside, as one walks from one space into the landscape and back inside to yet another space. At the center of this home is a high ceilinged living room, thrust out to the edge of the valley with views under wide, overhanging eaves which shield the room from most direct sunlight.