Soon to Be Completed, These Striking Beachfront Estates Are Designed by 2 All-Star Architects

Serge Sorokko, owner of Serge Sorokko Gallery in San Francisco, and his wife Tatiana Sorokko (a journalist, model, and vintage couture collector), have spent the last decade developing and securing plans for Paradise Drive Estates in Tiburon, a picturesque coastal town that's just a short drive north of San Francisco. The final vision for Paradise Drive includes two showcase estates developed individually by highly-respected architects Stanley Saitowitz and Craig Steely, and completed with landscape designs by Bernard Trainor. Plus, a third lot is scheduled for a future release with design plans already in progress by architect Sir David Adjaye. This Paradise Drive project will signal his first single-family residential commission in the United States.

"Each of the architectural designs for the Paradise Drive Estates was created with an extraordinarily thoughtful vision and aesthetic by three of the most acclaimed and influential architects of our time." -Serge Sorokko

7.4-Acre Beachfront Estate by Stanley Saitowitz

Price: $35 million

Completion planned for 2019

This Paradise Drive property includes six bedrooms, five bathrooms, a powder room, wine cellar, screening room, gymnasium, chef’s kitchen, infinity pool, and detached pool house. The estate is inherently secluded, as the surrounding topography serves as a natural boundary. 

When thinking about establishing a property in the midst of this spectacular natural environment, Stanley Saitowitz, whose coveted work has been exhibited at such notable museums as SFMOMA and San Francisco’s Contemporary Jewish Museum, sought to "interrupt the landscape in the most delicate way." The elegant relationship Saitowitz creates between landscape and structure is typified in the horizontal planes of the home's continuous glass walls, which according to Saitowitz, "make the boundaries of the house extend to the landscape beyond." 

"I am excited about the idea of the house as a frame rather than a picture. This works in two ways, both to highlight the landscape as the picture as opposed to the house as an object, and to provide the occupants with a blank canvas of space to personalize and inhabit. " -Stanley Saitowitz

Indeed, the 8,000-square-foot, concrete-and-glass residence boasts stunning views from every direction. The home itself is entered via an upper-level bridge that's designed to mirror the view of the San Rafael Bridge in the distance. Once inside the home, a sweeping staircase leads down to the public spaces, which are at eye-level with San Francisco's bay. 

3.2-Acre Property With Home by Craig Steely

Price: $18 million

Completion planned for 2019 

Steely's approach to the Paradise Drive project began with his desire "to slide a house into the folds of the topography," as he noted that, "this site offered the perfect place to experiment with that idea."

In addition to the strong presence of concrete and zinc in the framing of the house, Steely considers the harmonious relationship between materials—particularly glass—and the surrounding landscape as a cornerstone of the project. His team took advantage of a natural steep slope that "allowed us to bury the bulk of the house in the site while still offering panoramic views and expansive indoor/outdoor living areas, along with a pool folded into the landscape." 

Steely describes a connection between indoor/outdoor that "adds a more vertical and spatial component" to this project, as certain architectural elements are "carved into the topography," while other aspects serve as "a continuation of the natural grade." Between the indoor/outdoor living area and the view is an expansive, 160-foot pool. 

"A successful large villa has a public and private component and the language between the two needs to be subtly and carefully metered."  -Craig Steely 

For more information on Paradise Drive, visit Paradise-Discovered.