Menlo

This Berkeley Hills home was surrounded by live oak, and the interior was lighted like a cave. So the real effort here was to open the house up to the woodsy exterior and let the California light flood the house. In the principal bathroom the walls enclosing the deep tub are cedar paneling, not tile. Windows let in light and reflections of the wooded exterior. A skylight overhead fills the tub with light. And light again is at play in the kitchen and dining room. Skylights as well as high windows open the space to a flood of light, the colors and the materials seemingly pulled in from the exterior.