Outdoor Rooms with a View 
{"autoplay":"true","autoplay_speed":"8000","speed":"1000","arrows":"true","dots":"false","loop":"true","nav_slide_column":5,"rtl":"false"}
{"autoplay":"true","autoplay_speed":"8000","speed":"1000","arrows":"true","dots":"false","loop":"true","nav_slide_column":5,"rtl":"false"}

DETAILS

LocationSonoma, California, United States
Size22 acres

Creating a retreat for a family with small children, the project re-envisions a site with an existing home and barn and capitalizes on a view to a pond through mature oaks, with the challenge of transitioning from a central lawn into the surrounding natural landscape. Three new structures—a garage, a main house with two structures connected by an overhead roof plane, and a pool house—are organized around a pastoral view to the existing pond, and make use of adjacent vineyard, grassland, and forest. Circulation from the auto court is oriented through the existing oaks to the main house pavilion. The planting design reinforces a desire to use the lawn as the primary walking surface under the oaks, but replaces high water turf with a native selection requiring less mowing and water. Mulch zones have been created around the oaks to reduce irrigation, preserving them for generations to come. Beyond the lawn, a meadow edge recedes into grassland toward the pond. The notion of grassland is also carried up to the roof of the main house, with glimpses of the grasses from the auto court as well as out of the clerestory windows of the living room.

Related Projects

SunCity Yokohama

SunCity Yokohama is a continuum of care retirement community operated by Health Care Japan Co., Ltd., a leader in Japan’s fast growing senior housing communities. With Perkins Eastman Architects PC, SWA completed the master planning phase of the project and is providing schematic design. The plan consists of two single building “villages” connected...

SunCity Tower Kobe

Kobe has a unique geographical context in Japan, with breathtaking views both inland to Mt. Rokko and to the broad expanse of Osaka Bay to the south. The landscape design of SunCity Tower Kobe, a landmark senior community in this newly developed city district, celebrates this environment. The tower is tucked into the northwest corner of the site, setting it aw...

Next C

Next C Water City is a new, fully self-contained sustainable city planned for 500,000 residents. Water was central to the Next C planning concept, supplied by two adjacent rivers and monsoon rains. The city is a system of wetlands, rivers, lakes, and canals, cleansing the water from up-river communities and managing floods during the monsoon season. Working wi...

South Waterfront Greenway

A bold new plan for the area along the Willamette River includes a 1-1/2 mile extension of the City’s downtown’s parks and the reclamation of the river’s edge for public recreation. Working closely with the City of Portland, developers, and natural resource advocates, the design team devised a rational plan that places access and activity in targeted nodes wit...

Fuzhou Vanke City

The Yongtai project, located inside the Red Cliff Scenic Area, borders the Dazhang River and consists of a 45-hectare watershed area surrounded by 12 small hills. It features a boutique hotel, a shopping street, clubhouses, residential high-rises, townhouses, and detached homes. The overall project plan calls for housing clusters that follow the natural site t...

Vi Living (Formerly Classic Residence By Hyatt)

The Classic Residence by Hyatt in Palo Alto provides seniors with independent and assisted living facilities. The roughly 19-acre site is adjacent to the San Francisquito Creek, a shopping mall, and two in-progress SWA projects- Ronald McDonald House and Stanford West Apartments. Hyatt has been working closely with SWA as well as the City of Palo Alto and Stan...

Ambleside Mixed-Use Development

Landscape improvements for this new mixed-use development integrate and enhance the streetscape improvement measures the city of West Vancouver is currently implementing, providing a vibrant and pedestrian friendly landscape along the entire perimeter of the site. The landscape design for the 1300 Block, Marine Drive South at Ambleside Village Centre contribut...

Quail Hill

This mixed-use planned community of over 6,000 people features over 2,000 dwellings in a broad mix of single family detached dwellings, and over 500 multifamily dwellings, complemented by a retail center and 800,000 square feet of flexible development. . Prominent natural landforms such as the Southern Ridge and the three knolls have been preserved and incorpo...