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Labeled aluminum storage bins for ingredients

The garage was converted into the primary suite, and a modern landscaping treatment added, with staggered pavers intertwined with ground cover.

A section drawing shows the home’s hidden upper level.

The rebuilt “Idea House,” designed by Holly Freres and David Horning of JHL design. The driveway is permeable to encourage good drainage: crushed granite gravel is installed over a stabilization mat. James Hardie exterior siding is painted in Benjamin Moore ‘White Dove,’ with reclaimed wood used for the entry and garage.

Contractors lifted the barn and built a new foundation. Then, the rescued structure sat empty for more than five years.

A wood bridge leads to the second-floor entry of the converted barn, which now offers 4,500-square feet of clean, modern interior space. The cladding is local hemlock spruce, the same local wood that was originally used to build the barn.

A grand space greets visitors when they first enter the home. The living room and kitchen are tucked on either side of a central dining area, which features a 35-foot-high wall of glass.

The interior glows like a lantern at night, as does the new backyard pool.

The team added a new deck and larger windows and doors to the garden level unit.

Because the island is accessible only by boat or helicopter, the prefab pods were airlifted from a barge onto foundations that Pape had constructed on-site. “It was so well planned and executed that apparently it took the chopper just thirty minutes to drop the pods in,” says Jason.

The house was designed to minimally interfere with the hilltop vegetation, which is what attracted the family to the site.

The kitchen cabinetry and butterfly joints were inspired by renown chef Rene Redzepi's home kitchen in Copenhagen.

Sliding doors in the slatted shell conceal the side entry.

“I knew that if the structure was done right, it would look like it had always been there,

Lit from within, the guesthouse is a welcoming beacon in the night. “It’s nice to show that this kind of agricultural vernacular can be a contemporary thing,” says designer Jason Kentner.

The Cowell House located at 171 San Marcos Avenue in San Francisco, California, is currently listed for $3,700,000 by Bert Keane of Vanguard Properties.

An antlers light fixture made in Bariloche, Argentina hangs above the dining table that was locally made from native coihue wood. The living room sofas were purchased at Forastero and are paired with a Muebleco table.