The Hillside House

The Hillside House, located in Mill Valley, California is the first LEED for homes Platinum Certified residence in Marin County. The Hillside House was designed by SB Architects based out of Miami, Florida and San Francisco, California and is one of the very few single family residences that they have worked on. SB Architects is a fairly large firm that has spanned over 5 decades of practice. They have won over 200 awards for design excellence both nationally and internationally. They have done some truly stunning projects around the world and what intrigues me the most about this house, designed by Scott Lee, one of the principals, is that SB Architects specializes in large scale hotels, resorts, vacation ownerships, multi-family, and high rise design and have managed to masterfully design a single family residence so different from their typical style. This project is defined as "High Design with High Sustainability", and they have absolutely shown that. The house encompasses 2,116 Sq Ft of living space, along with 1,567 Sq Ft of patios, porches, decks and terraces. The materials and colors within the house are both natural and very neutral. The house, built into the side of a very steep hill blends with the landscape around it by emphasizing the use of stone and wood in the materials. Each floor of the home has its own purpose and feeling, there is a communal floor, a private floor, a semi-private floor, and mechanical floor. The floor plans give every floor a different patio or porch with sweeping views which create their own private spaces within spaces. Although, the difference between public and private space is very apparent. The vaulted and high ceilings make the rooms feel much more open and the use of darker earthy materials leaves an intimate feeling. The home is not meant to be romantic or bright and cheery in my opinion, it seems more like it's designed to be private and wholesome on the interior, but outside, there are multitudes of spaces to entertain guests. SB Architects has managed to as i said before, perfectly define public and private space. One of their other single family residences is also on the top of my list, so look out for it coming up soon.

  I would highly recommend checking out SB Architects at http://www.SB-Architects.com they have done some truly amazing and recognizable projects around the world.