Klopf Architecture has designed this minimal black house for former San Francisco city dwellers that fell in love with Sea Ranch, a small town that stretches along the rugged coastline of the Pacific Ocean. The homeowners are artists inspired by socially relevant modern design, desiring an open and airy floorplan.
It was important that the design of their new house engage closely with the contours and characteristics of the landscape. The owners loved the Sea Ranch community — its consistency, inventiveness of designs, and careful architectural connections to the land. The two main factors for the design of the volume are the relationship with the site and the requirements for structures in The Sea Ranch.
DESIGN DETAILS: ARCHITECT Geoff Campen of Klopf Architecture INTERIOR DESIGNER Diana Ruiz GENERAL CONTRACTOR Empire Contracting STRUCTURAL ENGINEER ZFA Structural Engineers
A unique site, the forest creates a wall in the back and the view of the ocean is in the front, much of the design came from this interaction. The house rises and is more vertical amongst the trees, and appears more horizontal in the meadow facing the ocean.
The house with its dark-stained siding rises upward toward the back where it blends with the pine and redwood forest behind it. The windows and interior spaces also follow the vertical and horizontal orientation. The bedroom loft captures views of the forest through tall vertical windows that mimic the trees outside.
A steep sloping roofline flows downward where the living spaces have wider horizontal windows framing the seascape.
The project is very energy efficient and uses high-performance windows/glass, spray foam insulation, hydronic radiant heating in the concrete slab, and high-efficiency water heating. Additionally, the house is prepped for solar panels.
The simple palette of materials that contributed to the house is dark stained siding, white oak paneling, and cabinets, raw steel trim, exposed concrete floor, lastly white painted walls. The simplicity and natural finish of the materials connect well to the surrounding environment.
The dark-stained siding which extends into the interior ceiling allows the house to minimize its visual impact and blend into the shadow line of the surrounding trees.
A truly open floor plan includes just two enclosed bathrooms while the rest of the flex spaces are divided by a series of curtain systems and separated floors.
The functional kitchen wraps around a central core allowing for unobstructed views of the ocean and forest throughout most of the house.
“Castle Black” (the name of this home) stands proudly epitomizing and bounding landscape and architecture in The Sea Ranch, developed beginning in the 1960s and known for its distinctive timber-frame structures designed and planned by several noted American architects.
What We Love: This minimal black house connects beautifully with the landscape, blending into its forested surroundings. Large windows frame views of nature and beyond to the seascape, providing the resident artists with an abundance of inspiration. The open floor plan, with the exception of two bathrooms, can be separated with curtains for privacy. We are also loving the concept of the kitchen wrapping the central core of the home to allow for unobstructed views of the forest and ocean throughout.
Tell Us: What design elements in this home do you find most intriguing and why in the Comments below!
Note: Check out a couple of our favorite home tours that we have showcased here on One Kindesign from the portfolio of the architects of this project, Klopf Architects: Indoor/outdoor connectivity defining mid-century modern Los Altos home and A modern California dwelling with surprising interior warmth.
PHOTOGRAPHER ©2021 Mariko Reed
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