Petaluma, CA

The site is the top of a hill in open rolling grasslands overlooking the town of Petaluma. The house sits on a gardened mat edged by a trough of water on the north and a row of trees shading sun and wind on the south. The house is a continuous twenty-three-foot-wide bar that scrolls into a second floor of bedrooms. The topography of the bar becomes cartography, inscribing and describing the site. Lateral walls organize the functions inside the bar; some are services, others structure. The living areas on the lower level have glass walls with the landscape running though; other walls are zinc. The curve houses a movie theater and double home office. Above are the master suite, deck, and two children’s rooms, which look out over the landscape. A loft guest house anchors the corner of the mat, while a hot tub is poised at the hub of the scroll. Elsewhere on the site are an existing barn with a collection of motorcycles, stables, and a covered riding ring. Paths for walking, riding, and biking connect the ranch buildings through the surrounding grass.