A Wine-Country Cabin That's the Toast of the Town
With sweeping views over the vineyards and the warmth of recycled materials, this rustic gem is an old log cabin's new lease on life
Karen Egly-Thompson
7 August 2016
Houzz Contributor
Falling for a stunning valley view surrounded by vineyards was the easy part for these California homeowners. Figuring out what to do with the dark, uninsulated log cabin kit home on the site was the hard part. Without a visual or physical connection to the landscape, the cabin didn’t seem worth overhauling. Instead, the homeowners decided to build a new home using the wood from the cabin to create something with a more cohesive relationship to the site.
Photos by Matthew Millman
Houzz at a Glance
Location: Sonoma County, California, USA
Size: 242 square metres, including a screened verandah that’s 41.8 square metres, on 7.7 acres of land; 3 bedrooms, 3.5 bathrooms
Year completed: 2015
Designer: Turnbull Griffin Haesloop
Sonoma County is known for wine and beautiful landscapes, but the orientation of the original log cabin didn’t take advantage of the site’s panoramic vistas or the existing pool on the south side of the home. Having grown up in houses with abundant screened verandahs, the homeowners sought a design with considerable connection between indoor and outdoor space – but one with minimal site impact.
This photo shows how the rectilinear shape of the new home complements the hilly terrain. The front facade is to the right, and the angular form on the rear of the house is a partial-length screened verandah.
Houzz at a Glance
Location: Sonoma County, California, USA
Size: 242 square metres, including a screened verandah that’s 41.8 square metres, on 7.7 acres of land; 3 bedrooms, 3.5 bathrooms
Year completed: 2015
Designer: Turnbull Griffin Haesloop
Sonoma County is known for wine and beautiful landscapes, but the orientation of the original log cabin didn’t take advantage of the site’s panoramic vistas or the existing pool on the south side of the home. Having grown up in houses with abundant screened verandahs, the homeowners sought a design with considerable connection between indoor and outdoor space – but one with minimal site impact.
This photo shows how the rectilinear shape of the new home complements the hilly terrain. The front facade is to the right, and the angular form on the rear of the house is a partial-length screened verandah.
The front facade of the house marries old with new. Knotty cedar planks, salvaged from the log cabin, were re-milled into 12.7-centimetre-wide planks and used for cladding, highlighted here in the recessed entryway. Corrugated corten steel cladding on the rest of the house provides a warm but distinct contrast. In the spirit of weathered corten, the cedar planks were left untreated so that they also will take on a patina over time.
A living roof, combined with the low-slung rectilinear shape, helps blend the new home into the landscape. Aside from its unifying aesthetic, the garden roof helps insulate the house. Because garden roofs can weigh 60 to 200 kilograms per square metre, project architect Mary Griffin says planning for the roof included sizing the wood framing to handle the weight of the soil, and incorporating a slight slope. The only maintenance required, she says, is occasional weeding.
Garden roof system: American Hydrotech
Garden roof system: American Hydrotech
The rear of the house features large window openings to maximise the valley view. However, only half are actual windows. While the two areas share the same architectural rhythm, a screened verandah makes up the right half, shown here overlooking the cedar hot tub. A bank of windows on the left side borders the living space.
Sun shades cantilevered over the living room portion, Griffin says, were designed to keep much of the southern sun from reaching deep into the living room. Special window glazing also helps protect the interior from ultraviolet light.
This section of the home has a standing-seam metal roof with a photovoltaic array for electrical generation and solar thermal hot water panels. However, Griffin says the house is also tied to the electrical grid. Hot water is heated using an Altherma air-to-water heat pump that is housed in a small outbuilding. Heating and cooling are through water piping embedded in the concrete slab.
Sun shades cantilevered over the living room portion, Griffin says, were designed to keep much of the southern sun from reaching deep into the living room. Special window glazing also helps protect the interior from ultraviolet light.
This section of the home has a standing-seam metal roof with a photovoltaic array for electrical generation and solar thermal hot water panels. However, Griffin says the house is also tied to the electrical grid. Hot water is heated using an Altherma air-to-water heat pump that is housed in a small outbuilding. Heating and cooling are through water piping embedded in the concrete slab.
Touches from the former home don’t stop on the exterior but extend inside too. Instead of standard plasterboard, cedar planks refurbished from the cabin line the walls of the home’s central core. Orienting the planks horizontally instead of vertically makes them look more contemporary than camp.
The lower windows here open for ventilation, and solar shades block out glare when necessary. The furnishings are minimal and in mid-century modern style.
Windows: Blomberg Window Systems
The lower windows here open for ventilation, and solar shades block out glare when necessary. The furnishings are minimal and in mid-century modern style.
Windows: Blomberg Window Systems
A folding glass partition wall “separates the ‘exterior’ elements of the screened [verandah] from the rest of the house,” Griffin says. The partition wall, shown here from the verandah in an open position, divides most of the space, but a single hinged door on the right lets the homeowners pass through the two spaces when the partition wall is closed. Tracks in both the floor and the beam above support and guide the folding components. The stationary glass wall above lets light stream through both spaces.
On cold days, a wood-burning stove helps warm the living room.
Partition: NanaWall Systems; wood-burning stove: Rais
On cold days, a wood-burning stove helps warm the living room.
Partition: NanaWall Systems; wood-burning stove: Rais
The open floor plan allows for easy circulation as well as the flow of light and air through the space. The kitchen has custom-made cabinets and an island made of western red cedar veneer.
Combined with a stainless steel splashback and recycled glass benchtops, the kitchen finishes subtly complement the cedar wall planks used throughout the interior.
Combined with a stainless steel splashback and recycled glass benchtops, the kitchen finishes subtly complement the cedar wall planks used throughout the interior.
Polished colour-impregnated concrete floors throughout provide underfloor radiant heat and a neutral backdrop to highlight the natural materials and landscape outside.
Ball ceiling fan: The Modern Fan Co.
Ball ceiling fan: The Modern Fan Co.
While too pretty to be called a mudroom, the area to the right of the front entry is where boots, hats and jackets are stored. Built-in drawers hide smaller items.
The master suite sits at the rear corner of the house off the living room. Like those of the public living space, its walls are also sheathed in cedar planking. Knots and striations in the wood add enough texture to balance its delightfully spare layout.
Built-in bedroom storage is made from the same western red cedar used in the kitchen. A roller shade is hidden in the window valance for light control.
Built-in bedroom storage is made from the same western red cedar used in the kitchen. A roller shade is hidden in the window valance for light control.
Here’s a view of the screened verandah from the deck during the evening. Griffin says the recessed light fixtures in the main living space are LED, and interior wall sconces provide additional illumination at night. “High lighting levels were not an owner request for this project,” Griffin says.
The sliding barn door on the west facade opens to a mechanical services area. The ladder to the roof is for maintenance access.
The east facade of the house, outside the master bedroom, features an outdoor shower. Wood fencing provides privacy.
The floor plan is oriented with the entry at the top (north facade), and the living-dining room, screened verandah and master bedroom on the bottom (south facade). Two additional bedrooms are located at the front side of the house, accessed from the screened verandah. A powder room and laundry room are to the left of the entry.
TELL US
How do you like this weathered wine country retreat? Share your thoughts in the Comments below.
TELL US
How do you like this weathered wine country retreat? Share your thoughts in the Comments below.
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Fantastic. The porch is wonderful.