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Another side of the home opens up onto a large lawn.

A white gravel allée leads to Onur and Alix Kece’s weekend retreat an hour outside Paris. The couple, a pair of creatives, oversaw the renovation of the long-neglected 1892 structure themselves, with Onur designing the living spaces and built-ins and Alix responsible for everything else. “We were looking for something that was in bad shape, a place we could completely tear apart and renovate from scratch,” says Onur.

“I studied architecture as an undergrad, and even though I’m in interiors now, that education of not overpopulating spaces, of letting the building be seamless, has always carried through for me,” says Caroline.

The larch slats above the brick reference a history of agriculture buildings in the area.

Sleeping Cabin from southeast lawn and existing storage shed beyond.

Alloi's design solution for the exterior envelope included exterior rigid insulation to reduce solar heat gain, and recycled newspaper blown-in cellulose insulation at interior and exterior walls, creating an energy efficient and peacefully quiet home.

The window and door frames have also been built from untreated yellow cedar, which will weather to a gray patina.

A sink by Duravit sits in the bathroom with a pan faucet by Zuchetti.

Rose’s pottery studio opens right up to the back lawn to let the sunlight (or curious pups) inside.

The expansive grassy lawns features several ponds, fountains, native greenery, and even a tea house.

To the front, the gardens are laid around a central lawn with a circling driveway which provides parking. There is also a garage for family cars.

The design team painted the exterior a dark, charcoal gray and sliced a two-story volume through the facade, removing part of the second floor to create the double-height space.

The large pocket doors of Mandeville Canyon House open up the corner of the living room to the concrete terrace and lawn beyond. This house, designed by Dutton Architects, is perfect for informal living and taking advantage of the southern California climate.

The colors used in the interior were inspired by the surrounding landscape. The kitchen island is clad in solid timber fluting crafted from durable plantation-grown iroko with with a granite top. “The green-blue-brown color of the granite benchtops very much reminded me of the colors of the water in the nearby harbor of Tutakaka,” says architect Belinda George.

The view from the rear lawn towards the house. The outdoor living room is accessible from the family room (on the right) and the living room (on the left).

Sphinx, the family Carolina dog, scouts the perimeter of the Concrete Collaborative pavers in the backyard. The pavers were installed on a slight angle to channel water to the surrounding gravel, lawn, and planting beds. This substantially lowers the landscape's water demand. Perforated PVC pipes and a pump move excess rainfall (which would otherwise go to storm drains) into an underground basin where it can later drain off. Redwood fencing reflects the material palette of the interior and creates visual continuity around the backyard.