Rocky Hills

Sonoma, California

Joining a group of friends who were developing potential weekend/retirement homes in Sonoma Valley, our clients were drawn to this property with beautiful mature oaks, an olive orchard, a small wine cave, and superb western views of Sonoma Valley.  To update the home and accommodate visiting friends and family, they embarked on a heavy remodel of the main residence, the garage, the wine cave and the entire landscape.

A new entry portal announces the arrival to the rejuvenated gravel auto court with expanded guest parking.  The existing garage was demolished and replaced with a larger stone veneer garage with a multi-suite ADU upstairs.  A ground floor studio opens to a flower-cutting garden set amid a landscape of warm tones of yellow & orange flowering shrubs and grasses that reflect this garden’s sunny, southern exposure. The faux Italian architectural elements on the main residence and throughout the landscape were removed to produce a cleaner and more regionally authentic complex.  The undersized existing pool and rear terrace were replaced with a more gracious pool and spa, with shaded lounging and dining areas flanking the pool and framing the view beyond. A mix of cool blue-grey succulents, columnar ‘Icee Blue’ Fern Pine and dark green sedges and mat rushes against the muted neutral stucco residence highlight the blooming shrubs and perennials in the client’s preferred shades of pink, soft blue and lavender.

Below the pool terrace sits a play lawn surrounded by a no-mow meadow, which softens the transition from manicured sod to ornamental plantings and finally, native oak forest.  Flanking both sides of the property are a pair of olive orchards that the current owners inherited and augmented with the addition of a fruit orchard and terraced vegetable garden hidden from view by a stand of mature oaks.  A trail flanked and enlivened by pink flowering fountain grass that moves through one olive orchard was rebuilt to enhance the approach to the wine cave where a new informal entertainment space was created.  Beyond the opposite orchard, a horseshoe pitch joined an existing pétanque court that was itself lengthened and renewed to accommodate bocce games and a mixed lavender field.  On the far edge of the site overlooking the valley, an existing pergola was removed, and the seating area reoriented to create the perfect place to sit in contemplation or enjoy a glass of wine at sunset under a majestic oak.  Tying the entire site together is the integration and reuse of existing boulders native to these rocky hills, and an opportunity to provide a common theme and character throughout the property.

 

Architecture: Michael Guthrie + Company

Interior Design: Client and Vierra Fine Homes

Builder: Vierra Fine Homes

Landscape Installation: Frank & Grossman Landscape Contractors, Inc.

Photography: Eileen Roche Photography