New grading enables the building of a storage unit, an in-law unit and terraced gardens.
Concept sketch
Dr. Seuss could have designed this funky house located in the Muir Woods neighborhood of Mill Valley, Marin County, California. It has an unusual angular roof and an Oriel Bay made of two protruding windows forming a triangle at 120 degrees. It needed a unique design for unique architecture and owners.
I designed a plan to cover the 0.6 acres of sloped land over a grade change of 50’. The owner’s program consisted of a parking lot for the family, a storage unit, a separate parking and garden for an in-law, an entertainment area off the rear kitchen, a veggie garden with room for a greenhouse, and a lower garden with meadows and trees that would resist deer.
To soften the sharp features of the home, I opted for a front yard composed of ornamental grasses in a Japanese zen layout with rocks and pebbles. Carried throughout the backyard and the in-law space is a repeating palette of grasses, Alliums and Westringia.
