Projects

Residential Overview

Mill Valley Residence

 Capetanios Residence

Discovery House

Capetanios Residence

Simple, graceful forms with the merest suggestion of Prairie Style characterize this contemporary home which demonstrates that a design using elegant materials needn’t carry an extravagant price tag. This 5,400 square foot project was completed in 5 months  at a cost around $200 a square foot.

The design of this house is a direct response to practices that we saw prevalent in the residential construction in El Dorado Hills in the early 2000s. During the construction boom, many builders took substantial shortcuts by treating design and material selection as secondary to expediency in construction. For example, many floor plans in the area included wasteful square footage by placing bedrooms on the second floor with long hallways. This house has virtually no hallways or wasted circulation square footage within the entire plan. A typical house uses up to 15% of the square footage for circulation alone, which amounts to a roughly 700 square foot bonus in this house.  As well, the windows are expanded for natural light and views, which are generally ignored by the standard sized vinyl windows typically placed in speculative housing. Natural light fills this house throughout the day and well into the evening and allows the house to capture deep light in the winter and collect warmth in the concrete floor.

The home was designed to fit comfortably into the sloping land with broad, extended eaves while exposed concrete floors and simplified interior details offer a contemporary look without becoming cool and impersonal. The concrete floors also serve to absorb sunlight from the extensive south facing windows during the winter months to balance heat loss. By collaborating with the contractor from start to finish we were able to create a beautiful contemporary house at less than $200 a square foot.

Project Photos

Capetanios Residence