The design transforms a 1950’s midcentury modern house into a lush secluded retreat with a connection to nature from every room, a dialog between the quiet simplicity of the architecture and the close textures of the landscape with the distant views and a crafting of balance between looking inward and looking outward.

The original sculptural carport structure and the house were re-clad in reclaimed teak, zink metal and natural lime plaster. The materials transform the structures and integrate them with the garden. The connections between inside and out begin with the transparency through the house from the courtyard across the dining room and kitchen to the views of Mount Tamalpais.

Central to the project is the living/dining/kitchen space of the upper level. This open plan space gathers at the kitchen island at one end and around the living room fireplace at the other. At the same it time opens up to the living room deck’s panoramic views and flowing connection to the pool deck just below.

The lower level is a seamless addition created in the void space between the original house and hill and is composed of a parallel layering of rooms, decks, lap pool and landscape

Found via a path through that landscape is the fire pit set in a clearing within a small grove of live oaks.

Photo credits: Brooke Duthie Photography and Markoff/Fullerton Architects