Tour led
by Architect Demetrius Gonzalez and Contractor David Leff
Hosted by
Heidi Faulkner, Sotheby’s Realty
This
magnificent artisan estate was designed by renowned architect Christopher
Alexander whose talent created a masterpiece of profound beauty in
Sebastopol. The home uses passive solar
design and its thick walls are built of shot-crete. The house is designed to
last for several hundred years. Recycled
and sustainable materials were used as much as possible throughout the house.
The wood floors in the living room are made of recycled mahogany from crates
used by Sunkist to bring tuna to California at the turn of the 20th century,
and the upstairs floors are made from old-growth redwood from chicken coops in
Petaluma. Beautiful cabinets in the gourmet kitchen and the stairway are made
from a sustainable form of eucalyptus. The redwood on the outside of the office
wing came from an old farmhouse built in the 1880’s. Most of the other floors
are acid etched concrete with radiant heat.
This project
is a good example of the ideas that Christopher Alexander wrote about in his
books on architecture. Christopher
Alexander studied at Berkeley in the 60’s and wanted to find a different way of
“procuring” architecture. He found a
great lack of feeling in the designs at the time. He wrote several books, including a four
volume opus, “The Nature of Order”. He
had a theory that there is an objective source of beauty. That source is the interconnectedness of everything.
He strived to create that feeling of unfolding life. The motivation behind the
design of this house was to create something of deep feeling that enlivens
people. There is certain geometry that
does that and it comes from nature and certain traditional cultures.
In addition
to Christopher, the project team included architect Demetrius Gonzalez who worked
with Christopher and was the project manager and David Leff of Leff
Construction who was the general contractor on the project. Demetrius connected with Christopher fairly
early and worked with him in London and then back in Berkeley and on this
project.
Beauty, functionality
and good stewardship of the land are all part of philosophy behind the house
and the gardens. The house sits high
upon an east facing ridge and has sweeping views of vineyards and redwood
forests that lead the eye across the Sonoma Plain to the Mayacamas and Sonoma
Mountains toward Napa. It is a seven acre garden sanctuary which uses a
sustainable and ecological approach, called permaculture, to grow heirloom
fruit, berries and lavender. See the photo gallery for more photos of this beautiful home.
