Residence_Version 1

Petaluma, California

Primary residence for owner's 5.8 acre rural site—Phase One of a Master Plan which would include additional detached buildings for studios, guests, and a barn/workshop.

The center of the property afforded the most ideal siting—for privacy, adjacency to a flowing creek, as well as views northeast to the Sonoma Mountains.  

The owner desired a modest-sized home of around 2,200 square feet net area.  Three bedrooms, two full baths, powder room (ideally), and small office spaces—two adults, two children.  Open plan for socially connected spaces of Living, Dining, and Kitchen.

Three alternatives were prepared for this house at various stages.

Version #1

The first was a simple single-story linear plan arrangement that hugged the parallel site contours.  All spaces were united under an inverted-pitched, or “butterfly,” roof.

An internal gutter at the roof's valley directed storm runoff to basins at each end for harvesting rainwater.  The rainwater stored in underground tanks for landscape irrigation use.

The inverted-pitched roof sweeps up and extends beyond the interior spaces, capturing distant mountain views to the northeast.

At the Great Room, a panelized glazed sliding door system allows the owner to fully open the north wall and connect the space to the patio terrace beyond—desired for outdoor dining, entertaining, activities, etc.

The construction of the home's exterior was entirely of concrete masonry units—an integrally colored block with polished faces laid in a stacked bond pattern.  This was conceived as simplification with respect to budget—the entire exterior material of a fire-resistive, low-maintenance construction by a single trade.  The inverted-pitched roof, simply two uncomplicated planes, would be EPDM membrane or modified bitumen with a gravel ballast.  The roof underside, the exterior soffits and interior ceilings, would be a combination of fiberglass reinforced gypsum panels and common drywall, or fiber cement panels.  The roof edge—fascia—would be fabricated of aluminum panels, coated a dark color.

There were two versions of this residence presented to the owner--A) with support posts for the Carport roof and B) removing the posts and incorporating steel beams within the roof in order to cantilever it.

This design would be set aside to explore a split-level alternative--Version 2, on this website.