T
his born-again modernist farmhouse overlooks the
vineyards of Sonoma, the residence of to two scientists
who raise honeybees and make olive oil on the property
in consonance with the "Locavore" philosophy: the
production and consumption of sustainable, locally
grown food. Cooper Joseph Studio was engaged to
renovate a house, which must, in its first incarnation,
have resembled a bunker, having had solid walls which
closed off the now spectacular views. In its new state,
from certain angles, we feel in the presence of a fort,
sequestered, but with telling apertures.
Cooper and Joseph removed an entire wall and replaced
it with steel and glass. It is difficult to imagine that the
house ever appeared other than it does at present,
rooted as it is in the landscape, in what Philip Johnson,
in explicating his own famous Glass House, described
as "wallpaper"—pure nature filling every expansive
glazed vista. The architects have created a true garden
house, a small, perfect contemporary garden pavilion.
Its drama derives from the lush trees, including a tall,
slender Japanese maple, its leaves the color of flame,
HYLAND
