Marin Residence /
Square House (2015)

A modestly sized single-story private villa sits on a clearing overlooking a valley to the south and the ocean to the west. A cluster of five squares in a pinwheel shape make up the main house, creating a small central courtyard. Sitting atop a poured slab, board-formed concrete walls and glass sheets define a series of connected rooms. A thin concrete shell roof arches over an oak-lined interior to protect from the influx of coastal elements. Three distinct garden squares step delicately around the house to mediate the slope of the site, connected by stone paving and crushed gravel paths. From the gardens one can view the nuanced symmetries and compositions of the house from the exterior. A consistent clerestory enables light to filter in every room, and careful expanses of glass open certain spaces to views while wall panels enclose others and allow for artworks to be hung. Through these elements, the house is an exploration of fluctuations between open and closed, light and dark, heaviness and nothingness which brings the site into the layering of spaces.