eddy + prow

between mighty redwoods and towering palms, a young family with twin toddlers adds outdoor living to modernist architect, val powelson’s, self-designed home that extends out of the forested hill like a prow of a ship out of the crest of a wave.

guided down the hill by a view slice of the bay and distant headlands, a stepped path brings you beneath mature redwoods. elliptical forms link, split, and anchor the flowing outdoor rooms, and floating benches arc with the toe of the slope, gently holding the garden’s heart. (how lili, dustin + zach managed that euclidian perfection is a testament to the skill and determination of their artisan team!) the dining terrace is the fulcrum between the rustic stone outdoor kitchen, greenhouse and cozy fire terrace—all cupped by the lower play lawn. an eastern-inspired garden beneath a persimmon tree pair offers a shady curved stone seat. native and naturalized plantings softly ascribe the edges and slopes among the stonework, which looks remarkably like the detritus of the ice age rather than freshly laid by human hands. (a proper suspension of geologic disbelief, luke hass, you’re stonecraft is a gift to these hills!)

beneath the palms along the backside of the house, the exuberant forms of a doctor seuss inspired garden sprawls up an intimate footpath. a jungle hideaway of a veritable who’s who of the world’s subtropical deserts—madagascar palm, joshua tree, dragon fruit, palo verde (desert museum), tree aloe, san pedro cactus, and felt bush (giant kalanchoe). finally, tree ferns and the native giant chain fern loop you back up and under the home’s entry bridge, linking the subtropical with the redwood forest.