Douglas Firs Are the Main Characters at This Sea Ranch Home Built by Four Friends

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Project Details:

Location: Sea Ranch, California

Architect of Record: James Leng

Design Team: Natasha Sadikin, Hoang Nguyen, and Juney Lee

Footprint: 1,600 square feet

Builder: Shawn Bettega Construction Inc.

Structural Engineer: Ware Associates

Landscape Design: Hannah Pae

Cabinetry: Joinery Structures

From the Architect: "The House of Four Ecologies is a 1,600-square-foot residence located at The Sea Ranch, conceived by a small group of longtime friends. The collective nature of the house necessitated a layout that allows for socializing, but also solitude for individual reflection and creative craft. Hence, the new home is imagined as an interconnected cluster of volumes, each holding space for privacy as well as gathering.

"A grove of three windblown Douglas firs dominates the center of the site, and to heed Anna and Lawrence Halprin’s dictum, the architecture dances lightly in-between them, paying deference to their residency, taking advantage of their presence to protect from wind and frame view corridors to scenery afar. And by positioning the house around the firs, the house can only be partially glimpsed as it appears and disappears between them.

"Each of the four volumes specifically orients and captures a moment in this transitional ecological journey. Navigating the house is like ambling through the landscape. As one journeys through the house, they are continuously connected to these transforming ecologies with views close and far, narrow and wide, framed through 17 carefully proportioned windows. The ocean and meadow anchor the house with their distant views, while the courtyard and dining room produce a more intimate encounter with nearby landscapes. Ultimately the architecture holds deep reverence for the multitude of natural environments that surround this shared sanctuary."