Simple forms, natural materials and sunlit spaces establish a mood of simplicity as this home hovers calmly on pilings at the edge of San Francisco Bay. Material selections, appropriate to the coastal setting, are simple and durable: copper roofing, cementitious siding, and ipe wood decking which provide connection to both land and surrounding water. Once inside, light bamboo flooring balances bright plaster walls illuminated by the shimmering bay. Interior spaces are skewed for orientation to specific distant views or allow surprising glimpses of water just below edges of the pier. The living room fireplace opening is surrounded by patinaed sea-dipped steel plate above a honed granite hearth. Cherry wood casework completes an understated and warm contemporary elegance, an atmosphere that supports the notion of home as a living reliquary for the resident artists' conscious way of living.