Guest house addition in a Sirah Vineyard - Headlsburg, CA photos by Bernie Grijalva

Photo by Avery Meyers

The client for this home wanted a modern structure that was suitable for displaying her art-glass collection. Located in a recently developed community, almost every component of the exterior was subject to an array of neighborhood and city ordinances. These were all accommodated while maintaining modern sensibilities and detailing on the exterior, then transitioning to a more minimalist aesthetic on the interior. The one-story building comfortably spreads out on its large lot, embracing a front and back courtyard and allowing views through and from within the transparent center section to other parts of the home. A high volume screened porch, the floating fireplace, and an axial swimming pool provide dramatic moments to the otherwise casual layout of the home.

Jenny Guan

Photographer: Angle Eye Photography

Twist Art

Overlooking the river down a sweep of lawn and pasture, this is a big house that looks like a collection of small houses. The approach is orchestrated so that the view of the river is hidden from the driveway. You arrive in a courtyard defined on two sides by the pavilions of the house, which are arranged in an L-shape, and on a third side by the barn The living room and family room pavilions are clad in painted flush boards, with bold details in the spirit of the Greek Revival houses which abound in New England. The attached garage and free-standing barn are interpretations of the New England barn vernacular. The connecting wings between the pavilions are shingled, and distinct in materials and flavor from the pavilions themselves. All the rooms are oriented towards the river. A combined kitchen/family room occupies the ground floor of the corner pavilion. The eating area is like a pavilion within a pavilion, an elliptical space half in and half out of the house. The ceiling is like a shallow tented canopy that reinforces the specialness of this space. Photography by Robert Benson

Brian Krebs/Fred Forbes Photogroupe

My client for this project was a builder/ developer. He had purchased a flat two acre parcel with vineyards that was within easy walking distance of downtown St. Helena. He planned to “build for sale” a three bedroom home with a separate one bedroom guest house, a pool and a pool house. He wanted a modern type farmhouse design that opened up to the site and to the views of the hills beyond and to keep as much of the vineyards as possible. The house was designed with a central Great Room consisting of a kitchen area, a dining area, and a living area all under one roof with a central linear cupola to bring natural light into the middle of the room. One approaches the entrance to the home through a small garden with water features on both sides of a path that leads to a covered entry porch and the front door. The entry hall runs the length of the Great Room and serves as both a link to the bedroom wings, the garage, the laundry room and a small study. The entry hall also serves as an art gallery for the future owner. An interstitial space between the entry hall and the Great Room contains a pantry, a wine room, an entry closet, an electrical room and a powder room. A large deep porch on the pool/garden side of the house extends most of the length of the Great Room with a small breakfast Room at one end that opens both to the kitchen and to this porch. The Great Room and porch open up to a swimming pool that is on on axis with the front door. The main house has two wings. One wing contains the master bedroom suite with a walk in closet and a bathroom with soaking tub in a bay window and separate toilet room and shower. The other wing at the opposite end of the househas two children’s bedrooms each with their own bathroom a small play room serving both bedrooms. A rear hallway serves the children’s wing, a Laundry Room and a Study, the garage and a stair to an Au Pair unit above the garage. A separate small one bedroom guest house has a small living room, a kitchen, a toilet room to serve the pool and a small covered porch. The bedroom is ensuite with a full bath. This guest house faces the side of the pool and serves to provide privacy and block views ofthe neighbors to the east. A Pool house at the far end of the pool on the main axis of the house has a covered sitting area with a pizza oven, a bar area and a small bathroom. Vineyards were saved on all sides of the house to help provide a private enclave within the vines. The exterior of the house has simple gable roofs over the major rooms of the house with sloping ceilings and large wooden trusses in the Great Room and plaster sloping ceilings in the bedrooms. The exterior siding through out is painted board and batten siding similar to farmhouses of other older homes in the area. Clyde Construction: General Contractor Photographed by: Paul Rollins

maxwell mackenzie

Tuscan Pool House. Rob Karosis Photographer

These homeowners added a great flexible space by adding this great little unit in the back yard. Is it a studio? An office? A guest room? All of these and more! The interior opens directly into the back yard and garden by using Krown Lab's ROB ROY sliding barn door hardware on a wall of moveable windows. By designing in this flexibility they really blend the line between living spaces and bring the outdoors in.

Todd Winslow Pierce

Sean Klingelhoefer