Ground Control

The SIMPLE beauty of a family’s bucolic WEST MARIN utopia shines through a LANDSCAPE architect’s restraint

Feature (tbd) LEILANI MARIE LABONG Photography by TOM FOX

GROUND CONTROL

TOM FOX, SWA

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Green roofs provide insulation, a visual element and a habitat for insects. In the distance, a “food forest” yields fresh fruit and vegetables for the family.

Opposite: The main house and sleek pool.

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In West Marin, a contemporary family home, designed to evoke the area’s rustic agricultural vernacular, is sited on a gentle knoll amid hundreds of acres of pastureland. The owners, who camped on the property before breaking ground in order to understand it intimately, chose “less-is-more” as a fundamental design principal. “There was no reason to over-develop when the views were the priority,” says William Hynes, a landscape architect with SWA design firm who collaborated with partner Lawrence Reed on the project. “The challenge was to convey the essence of the land minimally and with purpose.”

The pool in the main courtyard is a sleek take on agrarian water troughs; its raised limestone perimeter doubles as bench

Above: For the slope leading to the main courtyard, designed as a transition to and from the pastoral surroundings, Hynes used boulders foraged from the property to create a “loose staircase” with Corten steel walls.

seating. Native grasses sown on nearby slopes filter rainwater and thwart erosion.

Considering the arid region’s risky sparkability (summer temperatures will occasionally surpass the century mark), the landscape around the home is irrigated, and for additional insurance, featured plants such as California lilac are fire-resistant. Just a smattering of trees were rooted: Coast live oak and buckeye provide shade and wind buffering. And, as a seasonal touchstone, a single Marina strawberry tree stands in the courtyard. The home’s architect, Eric Haesloop of Turnbull Griffin Haesloop, has quipped that Hynes’ job was easy: One Arbutus Marina in the ground— check! “He’s just joking, but I’ll take it as a sign that we did a good job leaving a light mark on the land,” says Hynes. •

FALL HOME 2015 C 55

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“The CHALLENGE was to convey the essence of the land MINIMALLYand with PURPOSE.�

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The architecture and landscaping gently embrace the knoll.

Honoring the natural terrain was the motivating force behind the design.