Whispering Stones

The owners, a couple moving to the San Francisco Bay Area from Montana, desired a modern home that combined rigorous architectural design with a reverence for the natural setting. The design is a linear, three-level bar that runs north to south over a knoll at the top of the site, perpendicular to the contours of the land. Anchored in the center, at the top of the knoll, by a cast-in-place concrete stair tower, the home dramatically cantilevers off of the knoll to the north and south into the treetops of the untouched forest. Perpendicular to the main axis of the house, terraces accessed by the main living spaces, and a linear swimming pool follow the ridge of the land to the east, focusing views on rolling, oak studded hills in the distance.

Built primarily of cast-in-place concrete, wood siding and glass, the architecture is both assertive and, at the same time, in perfect harmony with the beautiful California wine-country environment.