About the Firm

This new home, located on a beautiful lake in Southern Oregon, takes advantage of views from all 4 bedrooms & 3 baths, as well as all living spaces in the house. Sided with cedar shingles and roofed with green sheetmetal, the home blends into the site gracefully.

This new home borrows its character from East Coast farmhouses - featuring porches, small- pane windows and traditional interior details. Tall interior spaces & high clerestory windows assure bright, airey volumes.

The kitchen features custom-painted single-panel cabinets, colored concrete countertops & stainless steel appliances.

This modern-styled home provides 3 bedrooms & 2 baths in a compact 1,500 sq.ft. Despite the steep site, simple forms reduce the construction cost while the clean, modern lines provide an appealing architectural style.

With north-facing exposure, large glazing areas afford beautiful views of the valley while avoiding sun exposure and unwanted heat gain.

This small home on a steep lot was originally built as a 800 sq.ft. studio home with the bedroom area tucked under the kitchen loft. Later a 400 sq.ft. master bedroom suite was added under the deck & part of the living room. Despite the small square footage, the large volume creates a sense of light, airey space with beautiful views to the north through the 2-story glass wall. The tiled deck is an integral part of the design and visually expands the interior space while providing a conveniently-located outdoor living space.

Glazed Spanish tile is used as an integrating element throughout the Master Bathroom. Acrylic block windows provide light & privacy. Storage cabinets take advantage of otherwise unused adjacent crawlspace.

This Bodega Harbor home is nestled 5' into the ground, for heat conservation & to satisfy height limits. The Entry greenhouse provides heat for the upper floor. The lower bedroom suites each have their own greenhouse.

Features include: insulated slab heat sinks

vacuum-tube solar collectors for hot water heating

two heat-circulating fireplaces

glazed room corners provide panormic views of Bodega Bay

Upslope lots generally impose a design as well as structural problem for the Architect. Parking requirements dictate excavation and tall retaining walls, increasing development costs. Economics also dictate that the home be built over the parking. This results in a scale problem from the street which can be solved by breaking down the scale of the facade with voids and shadows as you see in this building. Color, shadow & texture become important design tools.

New studio home on a steeply sloping, north-facing, down-slope lot is desgned to fit within a narrow footprint while taking advantage of the view to the east and the morning sun.

Interior space features tall ceilings in the entry and living room providing a sense of spaciousness and openess to the heavily-wooded exterior. Main space is a 2-story, loft-type living space including a sleeping area tucked under the kitchen-dining balcony. Perfect low-maintenance starter-home for a single person or young professional couple.

If the site is large enough for parking in the flat but there is not enough flat space for the house location, the building can be located on the hillside with a walk up to the entry.

This house was designed for initial economy with 2 bedrooms in a very efficient floor plan. Plans show a future addition of a master bedroom suite on the upper side of the building, completing the gable form.

This 3-bedroom vacation home has been located sensitively on the site to take advantage of the panoramic lake views and the solar orientation.

This new 3-bedroom, 3 bath home focuses the living space onto a tiled deck and the creek, garden and hills beyond. The Owner's development and care of the landscaped yard is an integral element of this casual environment.

The site was constrained by the creek location. The house design responded to the site and budget with an efficient plan that not only featured a large living room but an intimate family room/ music room. While the upper floor contains the Master Bedroom and a bedroom/study, the space below the living room and deck provides a large 3rd bedroom/bath perfect for guests..

Glazing with southern orientation provides passive solar heating.

This new 3-bedroom, 2-bath home was economically designed but funds were spent to provide an active solar heating system designed by Rushton-Chartock Architects called a solar attic.

The attic space is fully insulated and features 2 large double-glazed skylights. The solar gain pre-heats the hot water heaters (located in the attic) and, when a pre-determined temperature is reached, hot air in the attic is pumped by means of fans into the insulated and sand-filled crawl space which acts as a heat sink and then by natural convection, releases warm air to warm the lower floor as the night-time temperature drops. Hot air is exited in the summer.

A wood-burning stove & forced-air system act as backup but are rarely used.

Despite the steep upslope lot, the lot was wide enough to allow a steep driveway, running parallel to the contours, to provide more convenient access to the home entry.

Once up to the house, there are views provided from most rooms, looking south toward Mt. Tam. Douglas Fir trim and cabinetry is used consistently throughout the house.

We have subdivided this lot creating zoning for two new residences. New homes were designed for each lot and approved by San Rafael Planning. The steep upslope has dictated minimal footprint to minimize excavation & existing tree removal.

* Homes terrace up the slope.

* Bungalow character with gable forms, dormers & small-pane windows.

* Differing materials and forms provide individual character for each home.

This new home steps down the gently sloping site, allowing the structure to hug the natural contours and keeping the profile as low as possible to avoid obstructing views from the neighbors across the street.

* The entry is defined by the horizontal railing that leads to the front door.

* The builidng is orientated toward the down-slope view of the bay.

* The feeling of spaciousness in this small home is emphasized by the large, tiled viewing terrace located directly off of the living room.

Intricately detailed and beautifully executed, this San Rafael home for a homeowner of Japanese descent, responds to the Client's desire for traditional elements. The home includes a mat room and other specialties excecuted by Japanese craftsmen, shoji screens and fine wood finishes.

This home in Point Richmond expresses the lateral bracing required to provide the open-faced west elevation that provides panoramic views of the bay.

Built on pier and grade-beam on a very steep down-slope lot, this home takes advantage of the southerly view of Mt. Tam and the passive solar heating through the south-facing sliding glass doors.