Location

Fairfax, CA

Date

2011

Description

Lodge style homes have become a core element of my offering to my community as an architect. Please read about my philosophy in the section called “Lodge Life”. One client in particular has identified with my beliefs and aesthetic and asked me to accompany him through the creation of four successive lodge-style projects. This is the latest example of our collaboration.

Fairfax is a unique mid-Marin-county community that borders between the developed eastern communities and the inspired open space of west county. It has become known as a community of environmental, bohemian, counter-cultural free-thinkers, and the housing stock reflects this eclectic mix of background, interest and values. This particular project began as a collection of cobbled-together rooms with inadequate foundations, poorly detailed roofs and a great view of Mount Tam, the mother of all mountains and views in the county. I collaborated with my client to resurrect a few core elements that anchored the character of the history and place, the open truss roof, the fireplace and the terraced courtyard that runs along side.

As often happens with remodels of mid-century homes, we began with the critical reorientation of public spaces to reflect the evolution of the kitchen as the center of family life in our contemporary culture. Leaving the Great Room with its trussed ceiling and view of Tam as existing, we looked to the kitchen being the functional center, relocate it to the physical center as well. We upgraded the space with higher rooflines and a skylight, as well as more expansive windows and doors opening out to the adjacent garden patio. We left the hodge-podge of upstairs bedrooms to the whims of the constantly-changing occupancy of various adult daughters and carved out a spacious master suite with a view of Tam at the lower level.