Inspiration

Whether it’s cross-country skiing in the winter or trail running in the summer, the 330-foot home’s minimalist design encourages Catherine to be outside in the surrounding landscape throughout the year.

Floor Plan of Tinyleaf by GO’C

The completely remade spiral stair leads to two bedrooms and a bath upstairs. The pocket door at right leads to a small third bedroom with bunk beds.

The sculptural staircase is a centerpiece of the open-plan kitchen and living room.

The previous owners had created the duplex by linking two apartments with a spiral staircase. A pendant lamp by Muuto now overlooks the staircase, which has been reinvigorated with a new birch plywood surround. The material is a unifying motif: The shelves and cabinets designed by Delaunay, including those in the kitchen, are made of it.

Surrounded by forest and accessed via a fairy-tale bridge, the resilient forever home showcases the strength of cross-laminated timber.

The living, dining, and cooking spaces are located in the central volume. The open concept provides plenty of space for family gatherings and entertaining. A walkway doubles as bench seating for the large dining table.

The home’s three low-lying rooflines subtly emerge from the landscape.

The renovation introduced additional steel beams to reinforce the “sagging cantilevered roof.” The team also added insulation, rebuilt the chimney/parapet, and supplemented roof shingles with ones that were consistent with the originals.

At the terrace, the team replaced or rebuilt brick and concrete as needed. They also stripped and resealed exterior wood elements and incorporated new native landscaping throughout.

The primary bedroom kept the original, two-sided copper fireplace.

"The kitchen is seamlessly integrated into the living space, and is highly functional without too much glamour,

“The kitchen is seamlessly integrated into the living space, and is highly functional without too much glamour,” the homeowner says.

"We wanted to honor the existing building by revealing all of the exposed structural elements, and many of the original finishes,

“We wanted to honor the existing building by revealing all of the exposed structural elements, and many of the original finishes,” Swatt says.

It was important to make the home as fire-resistant as possible, granted its wooded Northern California site. (Natalie is on the board of the wildfire council.) The Harrisons pulled the siding off the house and put it through a shou sugi ban treatment — contractors created a giant burn box and roasted the whole pile. “It feels earthy, and also like you never have to treat it again,” explains Natalie. “We found people to actually do this—they burn it, and put it back up.”