Majestic places can easily become etched in our memory. Some spots are so beautiful that they may even inspire a Grammy-winning song, as is the case with Mendocino, California – the inspiration behind Willie Nelson and Lee Ann Womack 2002 rendition of 'Mendocino County Line.'
The lyrics speak to fading love. But they also evoke the idyllic coastal region’s lasting beauty. And that’s the reason why entrepreneurs Nadia Oka and Michael Topolovac selected a 53-acre plot of land there on which to build a retreat for their young family.
For the job, the couple tapped architect Mark Jensen. 'They have reverence for the land and wanted to do something really special up there, so I was immediately compelled,' Jensen, principal of the San Francisco-based firm Jensen Architects, says.
That 'really special' something is a linear glass, steel and cast concrete-structure that is as intentional in its modesty as it is balanced amongst the old-growth oaks in the surrounding woodland ecosystem. Set on a rolling hilltop at the northwest edge of the Russian River watershed, the 2,025 sq ft two-bedroom, two-and-a-half-bathroom home – with its clean, geometric modernist lines – feels more like an extension of the land than a juxtaposition to it.
'One of the unique things that really informed a lot about this home is the fact that they ended up building it mostly themselves,' explains Jensen. 'Michael's an engineer [and] built himself a welding shop up there and actually made all the custom storefront windows and pivot doors and cut all the metal cladding panels – it’s really insane how much work they did.'
That significant amount of work, as it turns out, wasn’t initially part of the plan, Michael, who was trained as a product designer and engineer, says. But as they spent more time at the site as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, the family fostered 'a very deep engagement with the process and build.' He even modeled the entire house in OnShape (a 3D cloud-native CAD program) to help work through the various design elements he would undertake.
Jensen and his team stepped in to complete the vision. The overall design – one of three or four that Jensen presented to his clients – is rooted in the late British geographer Jay Appleton’s half-century-old 'prospect-refuge' notion of aesthetics that satisfy the innate desires for opportunity (prospect) and safety (refuge).
'I read Appleton’s [1975 book] The Experience of Landscape many years ago, and that theory has always resonated with me,' Jensen shares. He offers a cinematic metaphor for the approach: 'In all the classic Western movies, when you go into the saloon you sit with your back to the wall looking toward the door, otherwise the gunslinger’s going to come in and surprise you.' He continues, 'I think we’re just hardwired to want that kind of protection around us – and then to look out at that panorama!'
Composed of a board-formed concrete expanse, a steel skeleton and massive sheets of shaded glass, the home has 'some definite heroic structural moves,' per Jensen – including the dramatic, cantilevered roof. 'The entire roof is detached from the concrete wall, so you get a continuous skylight,' he explains. 'I have to say, you don’t often get balanced light in that way – and in the middle of the day when the light grazes the concrete, the texture of the board form really shows up.'
Aside from the thoughtful aesthetics of the project, sustainability and fire safety – given the area’s history of wildfires – were paramount from the start, so no combustible materials were used on the roof or exterior walls, including for the soffit underneath the roof that is composed of a Wildland-Urban Interface certified wood. The house also relies on solar power for electricity, and passive design techniques to minimise energy demands.
The most important resiliency measure is on the property itself: 'The brush has been cleared a fair distance around the house, and there are sprinkler systems and a second water tank so there’s capacity for firefighting,' the architect says.
No surprise, the architect's favourite spot in the house comes down to the prospect-refuge concept. He points to an open breezeway that divides the home's public and private wings: It’s an exterior space that allows you to look across from the pool all the way through the house and out to the western view framed by the walls which, arguably, makes it even more special – it’s a space they use a lot that blurs the boundaries between inside and out.'
As for the homeowners, it’s the future of the house that has made the whole project worthwhile. 'At almost every juncture, I would look at the material choices and the design approach, through the prism of "this is a life-of-the-house solution" for generations [of our family] to come,' explains Michael. 'It is the spirit of that – bringing this project to life with such permanence for those closest to us – which has been so deeply rewarding.'
