An Off-Grid Goto House Wraps Around a Jewel-Like Courtyard

Punctured by a glass-enclosed courtyard, this hexagonal, donut-shaped house is filled with light and views from all six sides.

Text by

Lucy Wang

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Dwell

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Having worked as an engineer at firms such as Apple and Microsoft, Ken Goto was already well versed in pushing the envelope of innovation when he tapped husband-and-wife duo Lisa Iwamoto and Craig Scott of IwamotoScott Architecture to create his holiday home in Napa, California.

Perched high on a clearing, the Goto House overlooks views of the Napa County hills and Lake Berryessa.

Bruce Damonte

Goto, who already owned one of IwamotoScott’s previous works, wanted a similarly contemporary structure for an elevated clearing overlooking spectacular views of forested hills and Lake Berryessa.

Inspired by the breathtaking vistas, the architects used the 360-degree views to shape the design of the sculptural retreat, a 2,300-square-foot hexagonal structure that maximizes indoor/outdoor connection.

The Goto House is sheathed in heavy-gauge steel cladding to protect against the elements and temperature fluctuations.

Bruce Damonte

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"The house’s design engages the spatial dynamics of its situation through the formal and experiential activation of negative space, relative to conditions of surface, material, view, and landscape," note the architects.

Avoiding deep foundation piers, the home is set on a reinforced concrete slab that tapers upward around a cantilevered perimeter.

Bruce Damonte

An outdoor pool offers refreshing dips with views of hills blanketed with oaks, pines, and manzanita.

Bruce Damonte

The complex geometry was also informed by the home’s four programmatic zones. These spaces include a combined kitchen, dining area, and living room; a master bedroom; a kid’s bedroom; and a yoga room/flex room with a guest bath.

Pocket-sliding glass doors offer seamless connection to the outdoors.

Bruce Damonte

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Knoll Platner Side Table

If you combined the work of I.M. Pei and Eero Saarinen, the result might very well look like the Platner Collection (1962). Warren Platner worked with both of the industrial and organic design giants before turning his attention to steel wire furniture, for which he devised the structure and production method. Requiring as many as 1,000 welds and crafted out of wire and space, the Coffee Table demonstrates Platner's belief that there is room in modernism "for the kind of decorative, gentle, graceful design that appeared in a period style like Louis XV." Constructed of steel and finished in bright nickel or 18-karat plated gold with a clear lacquer protective coating, the table has a clear plastic extrusion ring surrounding its base to protect floors and ensure a level tabletop. The tabletop is made of 0.4-inch-thick tempered glass. The Platner Collection is Greenguard Indoor Air Quality Certified for low-emitting products. Manufactured by Knoll® according to the original and exacting specifications of the designer. Made in Italy. Photo courtesy of Design Within Reach

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Fritz Hansen Ant Chair

Arne Jacobsen helped shape design history when he accommodated three different bends in one piece of plywood, simply by narrowing the center. The resulting Ant Chair (1952) has a back with a gentle give and comfortable curved seat. When it was first designed, Jacobsen told the manufacturer that he’d buy all the chairs if they didn’t sell. Of course, he never had to make good on that offer, as the Ant Chair quickly became an international success. This is the authentic Ant Chair. Made in Denmark.

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The house is organized around a diamond-shaped inner courtyard.

Bruce Damonte

At the center of the home is a glass-walled, rhombus-shaped courtyard that funnels light into the heart of the building, and ensures a constant connection to the landscape throughout the home.

"The central court acts as a glass ‘jewel’ at the heart of the house," say the architects, who styled it in the likeness of a Japanese garden.

Bruce Damonte

"As one moves about the house, the spatial experience offered is one of dynamic balance between introversion toward the central court and extraversion toward the surrounding views," explain the architects.

The ceiling slopes upward at the edges of the house to reinforce the sense of expansiveness created by the panoramic views.

Bruce Damonte

To not detract from the surroundings, the interior is simply dressed in a minimalist palette of honed concrete slab floors (with in-floor radiant heating), wood paneled ceilings, and white birch walls. Sliding doors emphasize the minimalist aesthetic.

The master bedroom overlooks unobstructed views of Lake Berryessa.

Bruce Damonte

Drawing on his experience in engineering, Goto also sought ways to make his home completely self-sufficient. He installed a rooftop solar array to the detached garage, as well as abattery pack, on-demand hot water and in-floor radiant heating. The off-grid property is fed with fresh water from an on-site spring.

"The panoramic that wraps the house differs significantly on each side, such that the perception and experience of the place changes dramatically as one turns and moves around," add the architects.

Bruce Damonte

A look inside the kids' bedroom located on the west side of the home.

Bruce Damonte

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Herman Miller Eames Molded Plastic Armchair

Charles and Ray Eames realized their dream to create a single-shell form over 80 years ago by making their molded chairs of fiberglass. When the environmental risks of that material became known, the Eames Molded Shell Chair (1950) was changed to polypropylene, which is 100% recyclable and has a pleasant matte texture. In 2013, Herman Miller safely brought back the fiberglass shell thanks to a new proprietary production process. Today’s fiberglass chair is made of 99% recyclable materials and covered by Herman Miller’s take-back program for environmentally sound recycling. Plus, it’s true to the original with its beloved variegated surface. Also making its debut in 2013 was the stunning Eames Molded Wood Chair, a longtime dream of the Eameses finally made possible by today’s revolutionary 3-D molding technology. The result is an elegant yet strong and durable beautiful wood shell. The collection was expanded again in 2015 to include a counter stool and barstool. Each provides just the right amount of give, with a deep seat pocket and waterfall seat edge to reduce pressure on the backs of thighs. The Molded Shell Chair is a celebration of the Eameses’ fascination with emerging materials. “The chair that Charles and Ray were designing,” says grandson Eames Demetrios, “is the chair that’s made tomorrow.” This is an authentic Eames Chair by Herman Miller. Made in U.S.A.

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Herman Miller Nelson Cigar Lotus Floor Lamp

While outfitting his office, architect and Herman Miller design director George Nelson discovered a silk-covered Swedish hanging lamp that he coveted but found too expensive. He then recalled seeing a photo in the paper of Liberty ships being mothballed “by having the decks covered with netting and then being sprayed with a self-webbing plastic,” which got him thinking. “And then, Whammo!” Inspiration struck, and by the next night, Nelson had designed his first Bubble Lamp (1952) by spinning a skeleton of steel wires on a turntable and shooting it with translucent plastic until it was covered in a smooth, washable film. “When you put a light in it, it glowed,” he said. This is the authentic Bubble Lamp, produced in partnership with the George Nelson Foundation. Bulb (not included): LED, CFL or incandescent; E26 base; 60W max for small, 150W max for others. UL Listed. Made in U.S.A.

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The guest bedroom features a soaking tub with a full-height window overlooking the deck and landscape beyond.

Bruce Damonte

All four zones open up to covered cedar-lined decks, which maximize California’s great landscape and cooling cross breezes.

Bruce Damonte

LED ambient downlights allow the home to glow at night.

Bruce Damonte

Goto House floor plan.

IwamotoScott

Goto House diagrams.

IwamotoScott

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