Modern-Day California Ranch House

This residence draws upon its Northern California context, embodying a casual California lifestyle through strong indoor-outdoor connections. Set amongst sweeping redwood and oak trees, the residence resembles a modern-day ranch house—and is exactly the type of retreat the homeowners envisioned. When the couple was ready to create their ultimate dream home in Northern California, they drew upon their commitment to sustainability and feng shui to incorporate sustainable elements and materials into their home. From a design perspective, the house, while distinctly modern in style, pulls forms and materials from 80 years of contemporary Northern California architecture. Harkening back to the property’s history as a walnut grove, Malcolm Davis worked with Ground Studio Landscape Architecture to retain the existing redwood and oak trees, as well as to cultivate an olive grove at the lower half of the site. The olive grove and lack of a perimeter fence around the property make this, and the neighboring parcels, feel more expansive as they "borrow" a sense of spaciousness from one another. One of the important design moves was to preserve a hundred-year-old, above-ground concrete cistern, a remnant of the site’s agrarian history. So in keeping with this, the home subtly shows off its concrete elements, which includes a generous staircase that gracefully connects the courtyard to the pool deck.