Natural Temperament
A Subtle Mario Corbett Transformation
Healdsburg, California
Original Architecture by Mario Corbett
Interior Design: Zeitgeist Sonoma
Builder: Character Builders, Inc
Original Architecture by Mario Corbett
Interior Design: Zeitgeist Sonoma
Builder: Character Builders, Inc
Remodeling a home is an intimate relationship of sorts. And, like most relationships, trying to change your partner’s personality traits isn’t something that is often successful.
Respecting the natural temperament of a home through a remodel is a challenge. Who better to take that on than a couple who understand strong connections to their environment - for better (owning a small vineyard and winery) and worse (losing a home to wildfire).
After losing their family home, the couple embarked on building a new one. An architect was hired. Plans designed. Several consultants, including Henrybuilt, were hired. Yet, their instincts steered them to a mid-century house on a ridge overlooking vineyards and the Russian River. They felt an immediate emotional connection with the house and its setting. So, they ‘called an audible’.
“The house had the all the traits that we wanted to achieve with a new build – especially a natural connection to the outdoors - and a depth that no new home could ever attain,” said the client.
After losing their family home, the couple embarked on building a new one. An architect was hired. Plans designed. Several consultants, including Henrybuilt, were hired. Yet, their instincts steered them to a mid-century house on a ridge overlooking vineyards and the Russian River. They felt an immediate emotional connection with the house and its setting. So, they ‘called an audible’.
“The house had the all the traits that we wanted to achieve with a new build – especially a natural connection to the outdoors - and a depth that no new home could ever attain,” said the client.
Evidently, the owners who commissioned the house in the early 1950s, were very deliberate in the selection of the architect. They interviewed three notable modernists.
The current owner shared the story. “Frank Lloyd Wright was too stuck in his ways. Richard Neutra used too much concrete. Mario Corbett – he was just right.”
The home was featured in a 1956 issue of the San Francisco Examiner.
The current owner shared the story. “Frank Lloyd Wright was too stuck in his ways. Richard Neutra used too much concrete. Mario Corbett – he was just right.”
The home was featured in a 1956 issue of the San Francisco Examiner.
The traits of this home’s temperament are rooted in the architecture of the Bay Tradition - generally warmer in tone than pure Modernism. Its an architecture dominated by redwood homes sensitively sited in nature, while still adhering to the modernist love for simple lines and right-minded living.
Architect Mario Corbett, a leader of the Bay Tradition, designed what is essentially a one-room post-and-beam house that separates the different functional areas by Shoji screens and pocket doors. The expansive windows and gardens borrow space from the outdoors.
Despite creating a streamlined modern feel, the architecture is far from simple: chevron patterns in the ceilings, double beams over the opening to the kitchen, an angled dining area between the kitchen and living that creates separation without any physical barrier. It is a systematic design that creates a very natural, relaxed feeling and way of living.
Architect Mario Corbett, a leader of the Bay Tradition, designed what is essentially a one-room post-and-beam house that separates the different functional areas by Shoji screens and pocket doors. The expansive windows and gardens borrow space from the outdoors.
Despite creating a streamlined modern feel, the architecture is far from simple: chevron patterns in the ceilings, double beams over the opening to the kitchen, an angled dining area between the kitchen and living that creates separation without any physical barrier. It is a systematic design that creates a very natural, relaxed feeling and way of living.
The kitchen needed updating without losing its core personality and connection to the adjacent spaces. Again, the clients trusted their instincts – this time to the ethos that had led them to choose Henrybuilt for their new build project - and took that relationship to the new site along with Zeitgeist Sonoma Architecture + Interior Design.
Henrybuilt’s tailored system approach folds into Corbett’s systematic design. Specialized products designed for specific purposes - like a spot for the awkward-to-store cutting boards at the perfect height and place to grab - are aesthetically refined, simple and natural in feel, often invisible until you begin living with them. It supports our desire for the routine activities of daily life to be more satisfying, pleasurable, intuitive.
Jessica Wichmann of Zeitgeist Sonoma led a redesign of the kitchen that – dare we say it – resulted in a space more in line with the architectural intent than the original. Where the peninsula now stands, was an 8-foot wall that bisected the kitchen. The space is now open to the glorious views, easy movement, and communal gathering.
VERTICAL BAR BLOCK
The Vertical Bar Block brings flexible, specialized functionality to corners and small spaces - zones that can be challenging when designing a refined kitchen.
Integrating Henrybuilt’s kitchen system was an exercise in restraint and respect. The layout was kept simple and in tune with the views, both to the outdoors and to and from the adjacent rooms. The counter elevations were designed to feel of the architecture, while the refrigerator and oven storage was designed as a stand-alone furniture item with a walnut vertical bar block storage piece set in the center. The specialized function didn’t drive the aesthetic of the space, rather it adapted to it.
“The kitchen feels of the house, like it has always been there,” says the client.
The material choices in the kitchen honor – and complement - the original design. The clients choose high-performance laminate in tones that contrast, but not compete with, the virgin Redwood that proliferates inside and out. Black PaperStone countertops on the cooking and cleaning side echo the black laminate counters that lived in the home from the beginning. Veined white marble on the peninsula adds another natural touch.
Looks are deceiving. The efficiency of the drawer engineering means space is saved for storage, not eaten up by bulky hardware or dead zones.
What was a shower room transformed into an efficient pantry using the Opencase wall system that can be reconfigured as needs change. Shelves that can be replaced with wine racks when the clients’ release a new vintage.
Walls that Work
Meet Opencase. A uniquely adaptable wall system that enables you to quicky and easily reimagine a space.
Henrybuilt’s storage system moves beyond the kitchen, connecting it with the rear entry via a functional and high-touch utility room.
There’s no denying the intimate relationship between the clients and their new home. They’ve honored its natural predisposition, only enhancing the experience and feeling it inspires. When something is natural, it’s almost invisible... it feels meant to be.
