The Carapace Retreat | Healdsburg - California | 2022

Architects: Studio VARA
Landscape Designer: Studio VARA
Interior Designer: Studio VARA
Design Team: Lighting Designer, Tucci Lighting; Structural Engineer, Strandberg Engineering
General Contractor: Fairweather & Associates
Client: Private
Photographers: Matthew Millman

The clients approached the architects to design a multi-generational family retreat on a rolling, wooded site, west of Healdsburg. In the first meeting they defined their ideal design object: a Heath bowl. The client went on to explain their love of Heath’s classic, simple elegance, and how they wanted their home to embrace those characteristics. With that directive, the architects were given the opportunity to design a home that will become a family heirloom - timeless and beautiful, yet durable enough to be passed down for generations.

One of the clients had worked in environmental consulting and set a high bar for the home to be as sustainable and “off-the-grid” as possible. This directive, combined with the increasing threat of wildfires in Northern California, drove the design team to approach the entire master planning of the site and structures as a holistic strategy for self-sufficiency, resilience, and longevity. The resulting design integrates ample daylighting, passive heating & cooling, cutting-edge fire protection strategies for both buildings and site, redundant energy production and backup systems, and on-site water sourcing, purification, heating, and storage into a cohesive infrastructure that allows the home and the clients to “unplug” from urban life and connect directly with their environment.

This multi-generational family retreat on an oak-studded hilltop west of Healdsburg, CA provides a prototype for sustainable dwelling and resilient development in the “post-climate-change” West. A single 180’ long extrusion was carefully sited along the east-west axis, its prismatic form kinked at the center to maximize sunrise views to Mount St. Helena and sunset views to the west.

This simple form provides optimum orientation for passive ventilation and solar exposure while shading the outdoor areas against the scorching summer heat. Hovering above the landscape on its concrete base, a wrapper of standing-seam zinc panels envelops the roof and walls, creating a protective outer shell shielding the inner volumes from the sun and frequent wildfires.

A skeleton of prefabricated heavy timber glulam frames organizes the plan into a series of spaces along a single-loaded circulation spine, inflected by a breezeway demarcating public and private zones. This structure sets the rhythm of the fenestration and module for exterior and interior materials, with apertures in the outer shell revealing the sumptuous interior, and vertical cedar screens shading outdoor living spaces.

A rugged material palette ties the hardscape, pool, and pool house together into a cohesive intervention in the landscape. Scalloped Corten retaining walls stitch the terraces and driveway into the hillside, and a network of trails provides access to the natural beauty of the site while acting as part of the property’s defensible space strategy.

Rooftop solar hot water, photovoltaics, Tesla Powerwall batteries, and a backup generator complete the infrastructure for off-the-grid wine country living.