Momka’s House

location: mendocino, ca
built: 1976
area: 1,866 sf
Designed and built in collaboration with Ichikawa Kihei and Michael Singer, this received the Sunset Magazine Award of Merit. Traditional Japanese craftsmanship is combined with California design sensibilities to create light-filled rooms and a strong sense of form and materiality.

Photography: Tyler Chartier

Kamei Residence

location: Anchor Bay, Ca
design & build: 1984-1985
area: 2824 sf
The client, retiring from Los Angeles, desired a contemporary home drawing extensively on North Coast and Japanese styles. Their site is a most remarkable one located in a banana belt with extensive pacific ocean views and massive sandstone boulders. The house ‘connects’ to these boulders most particularly through the koi at the living room and through the glass hall stairway down to the main bedroom. Additional features include passive solar, open plan, bright, airy, and very private.

Cloud View Winery

location: St. Helena, Ca
built: 1991
area: 4,056 sf
Multi-level barn with wine production, living quarters, and office spaces organized around a full height atrium to provide maximum daylighting and natural ventilation.

Photography: Indivar Sivanathan

Goodheart Residence

location: Lafayette, Ca
built: 2002
area: 5,112 sf
Sited on a hill overlooking Walnut Creek and Mt. Diablo, rooms have focused views to take advantage of the surroundings and avoid nearby houses. Passive and photovoltaic solar systems combine seamlessly with Old World aesthetics; a modern home with traditional sensibilities.

Taylor Residence

location: St. Helena, Ca
built: 1993
area: 4,150 sf
Designed with Tom Sonneman, the house sits in harmony with the surrounding vineyards. Light and materials are used to delicately define the flow and sense of space.