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The master bedroom leads to its own private courtyard. The rug is from Peace Industry; the Kelvin LED floor lamp for Flos is from Lumens. Photo by Coral von Zumwalt.

“There is an enormous amount of glass here,” laughs Vanbesien—so much so that the design team struggled to find enough wall space to mount the heat pump.

The slim, steel staircase is designed to allow maximum light and sight-lines.

The family sat on two dozen different sofas trying to find the right mix of comfort and sleekness before deciding custom was the way to go. A deep-cushioned, slim-backed piece—built by Luke Parsons Millwork—fits just right and somehow makes the whole space just seem bigger. It also features pull-out footstools, a coffee table and concealed storage for blankets. Custom upholstery is by The Big Stuff.

Living Room

Techo-Bloc’s Aquastorm pavers are designed to allow grass to grow between them, creating a unique play between the softness of grass and the functionality of concrete. They’re also anti-flood and permeable, making them as functional as they are beautiful.

Designed by Alex de Rijke of dRMM Architects, the Sliding House puts a fresh spin on country living.

“Opening the house to the southwest also gave the best chance of hearing the ocean noises in the house at night,” says Sabbeth. A Malm Firedrum 3 fireplace anchors the corner, with a cream Piero Lissoni sofa, coffee table by Andrianna Shamaris and leather Cassina chairs placed before it.

Near the house, Cooper clustered lush, big-leafed plants philodendron, purple heart, and flowering canna. Farther out, vegetable gardens sprout in raised beds, and thyme and mint thrive beneath citrus trees. Native California silver wild rye and matilija poppies bind the slope, bordering the low “snake wall” that winds around the yard, narrowly ducking beneath a big ficus tree with just enough clearance for a sprinting kid. Wide stadium steps connect the garden levels, turning the steep hillside into amphitheater seating.

A maple tree grows through an ipe deck in this garden that Mary Barensfeld designed for a family in Berkeley, California. A reflecting pool separates it from a granite patio, which is furnished with a Petal dining table by Richard Schultz and chairs by Mario Bellini. The 1,150-square-foot garden serves as an elegant transition from the couple’s 1964 Japanese-style town house to a small, elevated terrace with views of San Francisco Bay. Filigreed Cor-Ten steel fence screens—perforated with a water-jet cutter to cast dappled shadows on a bench and the ground below—and zigzagging board-formed concrete retaining walls are examples.

The primary suite prioritizes intimate indoor-outdoor living, complete with a wall of bi-folding glass doors that open up to the manicured backyard gardens.

The dining table, a custom design by Formwork, and red Non chairs by Komplot complement the addition’s cypress cladding.