This garage space uses iconic checkerboard floor tiles to contrast the rustic barn door that provides entry to the rest of The Barn.

Another view of the garage reveals its extensive space to house vehicles and protect them from the elements.

A couple enlist Butler Armsden Architects and Leverone Design to reimagine their home as a multigenerational meeting point. In 1963, landscape designer Lawrence Halprin devised a master plan for a community that would live in harmony with the natural environment. The resulting Sea Ranch, which stretches 10 miles along the Pacific coastline in Sonoma County, California, is characterized by timber-frame, wood-clad structures that are in dialogue with the local climate and terrain. Sited on a bluff within this pioneering community is the vacation home of a lawyer couple. After purchasing the residence in 2007, they lived in the home as it was for four years, even keeping the previous owners’ furniture. Envisioning a retreat that would accommodate their extended family and guests, they then recruited Butler Armsden Architects and Leverone Design to help guide the project.

Sleeping nooks that look like the grooves in a block of cheese.

Fireplace as it was at time of home purchase

Fireplace after we ripped out many things from the room.

A passage between the walls for hide and seek.

The living room Ortal fireplace is clad in cold-rolled steel with a waxed finish. The side chairs, vintage reproductions from Room and Board, feature shapely walnut arms.

Foyer

The entryway leads into the living room, and a low wall hides the staircase that leads to the lower level from view.

Situated on a sloped-site, each renovated space provides a unique perspective and vista to the dramatic natural surroundings. The office, with its stark modern furnishings and subtle artwork, allows the large window to serve as perhaps the most dramatic, singular frame to the foliage beyond.