Originally home to a small compound of redwood hunting cabins, this Mill Valley property straddles a knoll with views of the Bay to the east and Mt Tamalpais to the west. The clients worked with architect Killian O’Sullivan to design this charming two-story East-coast shingle-style home with detached garage and outdoor lounge/dining cabana with fireplace. One of the existing cabins was retained and remodeled as an accessory dwelling unit.
The western side of the house features a long, covered porch with large contemporary rockers, overlooking a sloping meadow of Berkeley Sedge, punctuated with existing Monterey Cypress and Oak trees, with Mt Tamalpais and wooded valley views beyond. Along the meandering path to the ADU are nestled a seating area with fire pit, and a small vegetable garden.
An avid swimmer, the owner asked for a lap-length pool. Though level ground was limited, we were able to create a 75’ pool that starts at grade outside the primary bedroom wing, and slowly grows out of grade, between existing oaks, with the pool equipment room hidden at the far end. Clad in the same fieldstone as the residence foundations, and capped with the same bluestone paving used throughout, it features an adjacent matching 8’x8’ spa with waterfall spouts into the pool.
In the space between the kitchen and the cabana, a custom water feature built into a low retaining wall provides soothing white noise. Outside the Library, a Stone Forest water feature provides a focal point. Ballast stones from historic Bay Area ships found on the property were repurposed as an entry path. In a nod to the original property, new fences and automatic gates feature alternating width vertical cedar planking.