Natural Glamour

Two Los Angeles urbanites, in search of a natural respite, focused northward with what they called an “impossible wish list.”

They stumbled upon a property in Healdsburg. View? Check. Meadows? Check. A natural water source? Check. Space for beehives, chickens, and vegetable gardens? Check. Abutting regional parklands? Check. Loaded with old structures: lean-tos, sheep sheds, birdhouses, and crumbling barns? Not on the list, but check. Overgrown? That, too. Designer and realtor Nick Small and his husband were clients who could see potential.

“Our vision was a house that could expand and contract to feel intimate for just the two of us, while also accommodating different layers of guests and activity,” Small said.

Taylor Lombardo Architects took the clients’ vision and integrated it with the site, pivoting the house to take in views of Mount Saint Helena on the front and to receive the pond on the back. It is built on the idea of quadrants, each with views and privacy, centered around a community space. “We think of it as a group of modern casitas strapped onto the edges of the central house,” Small said.

The home’s adaptability begins at the entrance. A grand, light-filled front foyer welcomes guests.

Tucked in a vestibule to the side of the front door is a sophisticated mudroom that leads to an alternate entrance.

Instead of an afterthought, this mudroom—created using Henrybuilt’s functional Opencase wall panels—is a starting point.

Henrybuilt deliberately designed the Opencase walls to relate to the rest of space, both indoors and out. Different materials create color fields that act as functional identifiers, making it intuitive to use: steely laminate for garden and pet tools; charcoal for the human ones. And the same walnut that was used indoors was brought outdoors to hold coats and offer a perch for repose.

“It helps you set yourself up at the beginning and end of the day.”

Henrybuilt’s high-utility storage and integrated seating adds a gracious note and flows seamlessly into the kitchen, dissolving the boundary between the outdoor mudroom and the core of the home.

It is fair to say that “food culture” ranks high in the client’s list of values. “My husband is Italian and cooks a lot.”

This is reflected in the placement, and demands, of the kitchen. And it’s what led them to Henrybuilt. They needed a kitchen that performs: a finely tuned workshop and an ideal socializing space—one that could evolve and adjust. It had to equally support an at-home formal dinner and a tomato-canning session. It had to feel permanent and like part of the environment.

Small and his husband, George Mariella, drove the interior design. They chose materials that radiate sophistication while celebrating natural flaws—discolorations, earthiness, and patina. Hemlock ceilings. Richly veined marble. A rugged stone wall that anchors the living room and connects to the outdoors. Glamorous touches, like brass strips in the terrazzo floors, add a refined feel.

They chose Henrybuilt’s iron and roasted walnut for the kitchen and all the integrated storage. “It was important that it feels textural,” says Small. “We wanted every room to feed you—to offer some surprises but also feel like part of one idea.”

Nowhere is the clients’ connection to food, nature, and making more apparent than in the scullery.

Situated at the intersection of the back entrance, the glass breakfast annex, and the kitchen, the scullery catches the bounty from the garden, feeds the kitchen through the pass through, and stays connected to the action in the surrounding spaces.

“We designed the space to be at once luxurious and fun. Super functional and relaxing. Tools at hand and visible but without the feeling of clutter,” Henrybuilt’s Design Director said. Creative use of the Opencase wall panel system was part of that solution.

It was about packing in function that supports everyday activities that bring joy to the clients—specialized products, much of them visible and some of them hidden behind closed doors.

“There is a pleasure in the daily use of all the Henrybuilt areas of the house: the touch, the texture, the fluid movement, the feel of the way a drawer opens,” Small said. “Every time we use it, we enjoy it.”

Behind the stone wall anchoring the communal room is the owners’ suite. The architects adeptly connected and delineated this private zone. The integrated Henrybuilt systems enhance the feeling of connectivity and continuation.

As the house is nestled into—not pushing against—its natural environment, Henrybuilt’s tailored system, from the kitchen to the covered outdoor area, nestles into Taylor Lombardo’s architecture. And sometimes it stands out as a piece of interior architecture in itself, as in the case of the wardrobe in the primary bedroom. It serves as an interior wall with a level of porosity, allowing a visual breeze above and around it.

The placement of the wardrobe and the bath vanity creates natural intervals: a feeling of a more protected area and a feeling of a more open one.

The design intent also focused on creating a feeling that every room has a natural connection to the outdoors.