SLO LIFE Jun/Jul 2017

laughs. “Their creativity and their connection to the art world made this
a fascinating collaboration. But, the budget was definitely a challenge—I
don’t think they realized how sophisticated their tastes were.”
While the finishing touches—high-end marble countertops, hand-made
tile, designer wood floors—get most of the attention, it is the various
systems that the environmentally-minded couple chose that quietly do
the heavy lifting in the background. A solar water system warms the
pool, a photovoltaic array provides electricity, and a hybrid electric water
heater supplies the hot water. The home’s passive solar design allows it to
go without air conditioning as it takes advantage of sunlight throughout
the year while accounting for the prevailing breeze blowing through the
surrounding hills.
The dwelling, essentially a series of structures with steep-pitched roofs
connected by flat-roofed hallways, is intended to look like a cluster of
buildings huddled closely together. Everything is on one level, except
for the upstairs exercise room, which may one day serve as the quarters
for a live-in caretaker. Anchoring the farmhouse is the centralized
great room where four sliding glass doors open, two on each side, to
courtyards creating an outside-in feel to the already open, airy space
capped by a vaulted ceiling hemmed with clerestory windows. The home
flows intuitively and effortlessly from one room to the next, every detail
carefully considered and seamlessly integrated, as family and friends who
visit become enchanted, absorbed by the hillside farmhouse—in the same
way readers of a well-edited story do. SLO LIFE
52 | SLO LIFE MAGAZINE | JUN/JUL 2017