This is a nice simple house in a spectacular setting. There has been some water and bug damage due to a couple of design flaws that are easily rectified. This will take somewhere in the 12 to $13,000 range. The next task is to fix certain awkward design details, “clean up” the look (install simple tile floors) and let the basic purity of the design emerge. The East wall of the Living Room requires built-ins for books and simple pull down work stations. The back of the house needs to be opened by modifying the walls looking to the rear yard and connecting the Bedroom, Bath and Kitchen/Eating area with a better glass fenestration. A few trellises at the Entry and around the roof area (which needs extending in a couple of key areas) will complete the work. There is about $17,000 budgeted for this work which is about the amount the seller’s discounted infor damaged. When completed, this environment (including two lots) will have a total cost and mortgage at about a quarter of a million dollars - a very good purchase in these times in California. Starting in July and our final lease payment in Palo Alto, our monthly cost-of-living will be reduced by almost half while our living amenity is immeasurably increased.

This restorative work and new detailing will net a simple eloquent basic house comfortable to live in and structurally stable for a long time. The landscape setting cannot be repeated except the way that this was created: years and years of careful work. It is difficult to image, in California at this time, a nicer habitat that can be purchased for the investment. The hidden bonus, of course is the second lot which can be developed to house a Guest/Studio - more space for us and a place for family, friends and work associates.

After the Phase I work is completed, the physical work for the Guest/Studio can begin. This project, however, will proceed on a cash basis and that will set the schedule. I am working through the basic design NOW - before completing Pahse I work on the main house proceeds - because the intimate design detailing decisions for the main house (trellises, doors, windows, etc.) need to be made in reference to this latter addition on the site. The “styles” will be different but the two must be integrated and comfortable with one another in terms of scale, texture, proportion and some detailing. It is my intention that the Guest/Studio will be built by Gail and me and SFIA student architects. The Guest/Studio will be a small work with great attention to detail. It must be economical and built with love - it is an intimate piece. It is designed in a way that supports (requires) prefabrication and that allows the project to be realized on room (building unit) at a time. This will be far more friendly to cash flow than having to erect one big monolithic structure. In addition, because the units are structurally the same, the shop jigs and setups will produce a lot of building for little cost.

Setting a structure into the landscape and altering the landscape to a building is one of the most intricate and most neglected architectural design challenges. The Edwards did an excellent job over a 30 year period. Far better than most professionals ever do.

The existing house is far from being a great work of architecture although it commits few sins and follows many of the Usonian, post-WWII ideals: small size, simple detailing, natural materials, abundant glass looking into a well crafted landscape. The orientation of the home to the sun, its fit into the landscape, the many decks for sitting and work, add up to a living ambiance that could not be better. Anyone would be hard pressed to improve it.

In the case of the Guest-Studio building, there are three key divers of the design: First, that the building fits intimately with the landscape and employs, predominately, the old logging path which still remains mostly open and bare; Second, that issues related to scale and grammatical fit between the existing and new structure be handled with sensitivity; Third, that the specific functions (eating, sleeping, bathing, working, sitting, and so on), served by the new environment, be individually singled out and highlighted. Most houses blur these distinctions therefor limiting the degree that each different experience can be “raised to the level of ART.” Think of these units as temples to the act of doing - whatever that process is - while maintaining a state of grace and contemplation.

Work Phase Ia:

Work to be done includes plumbing for future floor heating system. Spraying for wood preservation before covering up. Replacing floor insulation before Fall. Augmenting under house ventilation. Leveling the grade under the house. Cutting doors for carpet clearance. Replacing flooring damaged by refrigerator leak.

Work Phase Ib:

Ideally, to be completed in 2002.

A new Project (September/October 2002):

After living in the house for 6 months it is clear that Gail needs and “office” for her writing and TomorrowMakers work. The desk in the Living Room is not adequate, neither in space nor in privacy. Over my last several stays home, I have been thinking about this and about three other possibilities: using the Bed Room/Carport roof for solar and a deer-protected herb garden, and the possibility that we could see the ocean from this roof. In September, the idea of a vertical “nest,” “Tiffany lamp,” “flower” off the West corner of the house came to me. On October 1st. we climbed the roof which, it turns out, offers a Zen view of the Ocean and sunset and is also perfect for the other uses. On the 3rd, I sketched the addition.

	A Zen view from the West provides a sense of the ocean a mile away - spectacular at sunset, peaceful during the day. The addition is made of laminated wood, steel and glass. The corner of the Bed Room is replaced by a circular stairway to the roof area encased in a wood base which flares out to become a circular work area covered by a translucent dome, steel and wood trellis. Hand carved stantions embrace the house, terminate the decks and support the structure which rises like a flower - Tiffany lamp. The work area directly faces the ocean view which is 45 degrees Westward in relation to the house. The landscape slopes away in all directions from this side of the house enhancing the sense of height while looking into the front, side and back yard areas.

Work Phase Ic:

Ideally to be completed in the Spring of 2003

Work Phase II:

Guest-Studio Unit # 1 - Work - to be erected in October/November 2002 as proof-of-concept. No plumbing and temporary electric heating. Remaining units and energy system to be built throughout 2003. (note: with the development of Gail’s Nest, the Guest-Studio project will be deferred until afterward. The Nest is a more primary project and we want to understand it’s impact on the property before proceeding.

Unit #1 is the Work Room. It is the closest to the parking, front deck and the house. The other Unites get progressively further away (except Eating is close to the main house Kitchen at the rear) and more private. The Guest Studio is for Gail’s and my use, family and occasional personal or business associate guest. This is not being built to function as an active client space or high activity work area. Other facilities in the Bay Area will serve these purposes.