Navarro River House | 2005 | Philo, California  This project is an exercise in design for minimal outdoors living. The San Francisco couple who commissioned the house wanted the compact functionality of a sailboat and to be surrounded by the sights and sounds of water. They chose five acres alongside Northern California’s Navarro River, which are framed by rolling hills to the north and grape vineyards to the south.

The response is a fluid, north-south sequence of bedrooms, kitchen and living spaces that culminate in a screened porch over the river. A functional island concentrates the program essentials of two bathrooms, a kitchen, pantry, and other hidden storage areas. A sleeping loft sits atop the island and includes skylights for stargazing. Sight lines run through the length of the house to the landscape beyond, opening up the compact order of the floor plan. A glazed western wall runs along the length of the Navarro River, while reclaimed barn siding clads the eastern wall and provides privacy from an open clover field.

The pier-style construction minimizes impact and allows for breezes to circulate freely under the house. The house is naturally cooled and ventilated, and heated with a combination of passive solar and radiant floor heating.