Guest House

At the Mill Valley home designed by architect Chris Deam for residents Jack and Ellen Corrigan, the view begins from the top. Sun studies of the steeply sloped site informed the choice for a standing-seam metal, diagonal ridge roof, which Chris refers to as the home’s “fifth facade”.

The home, clad in natural Australian timber, enjoys a sense of lightness thanks to slender columns that let it float over the dunes. The driveway and entry, at the rear of the building, have an understated design to build to the interior's magnificent ocean views. Firm director Phil Snowdon explains, “By creating an architectural form that draws your eye and leads you up the steep driveway, we could engage new visitors in a welcoming process that first reveals the object and then slowly reveals the main event, being the view."

Tucked beneath a grassy roof covered by nearly 200 species of plants and grasses, the structure is virtually invisible from the nearby street. In fact, the 1,400-square-foot house is so well hidden in the earth that it doesn’t seem to register on the radar of local wildlife either. Birds, butterflies, bees, dragonflies, hawks, snakes, lizards, and frogs all treat the house like just another grassy knoll.

Photo by: Phillip Spears

Xeriscaping-drought-tolerant landscaping—was an important part of the house's resource efficiency. Instead of a typical lawn, the owners planted a meadow of native grasses and installed artificial turf, which requires no maintenance. The landscape design was a collaboration between CCS and John Greenlee, and was installed by Berkeley-based Siteworks Landscape.

Open enclosures and connections to adjacent living spaces keep the home inviting and airy rather than densely packed—a key feature for an owner of two dogs: Ben, a whippet, and Flynn, an Irish gypsy dog.

Uninspired by the loft options in downtown Portland, Oregon, the Andréns opted to design and build their own freestanding version in the hills just minutes from the city.

The exterior is clad in louro gamela,a tropical hardwood.

Small House in an Olive Grove by Cooper Joseph Studio Zinc with redwood screens form a warm gray palette that works with the northern California seasonal foliage. The same soft tones bathe the interior spaces with limestone floors and stained oak cabinetry. Photo by Elliot Kaufman.

"The house plan is composed of a grid with alternating interior and exterior spaces, so that every interior space is adjacent to at least two exterior ones," architect Roberto Javier Dumont says. Designed as a weekend house for a family that lives in San Salvador, the retreat totals 3,500 square feet.

An L-shaped deck wraps around the house's ground level, creating a place for entertaining and taking in the scenery.