For many of architect Robert Swatt's clients, a vacation home holds the promise of a future permanent lifestyle. “Vacation homes sometimes are ‘dream houses' where people eventually want to live full-time,” he says. That was the case for the owners of this Inverness Park, Calif., vacation home, who envisioned one day living in the house and not just using it on weekends. So Swatt and project architect Steven Stept designed the building in much the same way as they would a full-time residence, with a similar level of finishes and storage space.
The house perches on a forested slope high above the town of Point Reyes Station, Calif. Rather than make a deep cut into the steep hillside and place the house on a flat surface, Swatt opted to step the five-level building down the slope atop a pier and grade beam foundation. This method preserves one of the most obvious reasons for owning a Northern California vacation home in the first place: the majestic Douglas fir trees that tower 150 to 200 feet above the ground. “The trees have enormous root systems,” he says. “We don't want to weaken those, so we didn't really want to have retaining walls.” The five-layered floor plan also created the ability for at-grade exits to the outdoors from every major space. The guest bedrooms, master bedroom, living/dining room, and kitchen each open directly onto a patio. “It's a nice thing to have a connection to the land that way,” says Swatt. An additional large terrace can be reached by a set of stairs off the central circulation spine. Swatt and Stept lined most of this spine with windows, turning it into an interior and exterior focal point.
The 2,512-square-foot house generally conveys an unassuming impression—it's designed to serve as a background for the site's natural beauty. But in addition to the glassed-in circulation tower, it does contain another attention-drawing element: a cantilevered ceiling that floats over the living and dining room patio. “It was important to me to have the extension from interior to exterior be very dramatic,” says Swatt. “I wanted it to be at a human level, but I still wanted to get the ceiling height inside.” He solved this dilemma by leaving the 13 ½-foot interior ceilings in place and dropping a level of exposed structural beams down to a height of 10 feet. Those beams continue outside to become part of the cantilever. As with the rest of the comprehensive design strategy, this maneuver enhances the home's relationship to its enticing, unspoiled site.
Project Credits
Builder: Calmell Construction, Woodacre, Calif.
Architect/Landscape architect: Swatt Architects, Emeryville, Calif.
Interior designer: Connie Wong, Palo Alto, Calif.
Living space: 2,512 square feet
Site: 1.3 acres
Construction cost: Withheld
Photographer: Cesar Rubio
Resources: Dishwasher: Miele; Hardware: Schlage; Range: Wolf; Refrigerator: Sub-Zero; Skylights: Royalite; Windows: Bonelli.
