2026 Home Tour

Places that are memorable are necessary to the good conduct of our lives; we need to think about where we are and what is unique and special about our surroundings so that we can better understand ourselves and how we relate to others.”  ~Donlyn Lyndon & Charles W. Moore

Towering over a narrow site, blocks from busy downtown Palo Alto, stands a cluster of mature coast redwoods. 

Nested amongst the giant trees is a single-family home designed and built for a busy professional couple drawn to the unique lot after being inspired by the look, feel, and site-forward aesthetics of the iconic Sea Ranch community in northern California. 

Individual program blocks stack, twist, and turn through the redwoods opening to each other and blending together to create areas of sunlight, shade, passage, gathering, and rest. 

The intent to preserve nearly all existing redwoods on-site resulted in a design with a unique form and layout that responds directly to the site conditions. This is something not often found on such small urban infill lots. The result is a home full of special moments.

This spectacular remodel blends luxury and lifestyle in every corner. With an infinity pool, jacuzzi, game areas, playground, home cinema, and seamless indoor-outdoor living, it is an entertainer’s paradise. Elegant finishes, tranquil views, and thoughtful amenities make this home a rare sanctuary designed for both relaxation and unforgettable moments.

Prepare to be amazed by this luxurious home remodel! Not only has it transformed the entire house, but it’s a haven for endless entertainment and activities. Enjoy a relaxing soak in the jacuzzi or infinity pool, challenge your friends to a game of jeu de boules or test your putting skills on the range. Plus, there’s a playground, a basketball court, and an ADU pool house for even more fun.

The backyard is a true oasis, complete with a tranquil waterfall and glass walls that open up to merge the indoor and outdoor living areas. This creates the perfect atmosphere for entertaining guests, hosting events, or just relaxing in your own private paradise. Whether you’re grilling up a feast for family and friends or enjoying a quiet evening under the stars, the outdoor experience at this luxury home is simply unmatched.

Inside, you’ll find a state-of-the-art home cinema, stunning views of the backyard, a grand library, and a unique play area. Whether you’re looking to cozy up with a book, lounge with a movie, or let the kids run wild in their own domain, this home has it all. With elegant finishes and top-of-the-line features throughout, this is no ordinary home – this is a dream come true. Come experience luxury living at its finest!

Our clients approached us with a desire for a flexible space that could provide a meditative, spa-like experience for exercise, yoga, and quiet contemplation, as well as a place for social gatherings with their extended family and friends. Set amid mature trees on a steep hillside, this dual-purpose wellness and entertainment pavilion is designed to weave through and preserve the existing tree canopy while creating new exterior spaces for gathering integrated into an existing multi-generational home.

The program consists of a fitness room, sauna, bathroom, and flexible entertainment & yoga space connected via a glass bridge to an existing 1970s stucco-clad suburban home. Raised above the sloping hillside, the pavilion is supported by a series of slender columns that lift the volume over the landscape to the level of the walk-out basement of the existing home. Existing redwood and oak trees puncture the new deck, structuring space as much as the walls of the pavilion itself.

The building is positioned opposite the existing residence to create a three-sided, open courtyard that functions as the primary summer gathering place. The pavilion’s interior is organized around a central, cedar volume surrounded by operable sliding doors. The roof structure is composed of exposed cedar framing, which filters and projects dappled light from nine skylights arrayed above to the space below, bringing the sensation of sitting beneath the oaks and redwoods into the pavilion itself.

Sustainability Strategies: Expanded existing PV system from 4.25 kW to 14.375 kW. Added Pytes batteries to store 30.72 kWh of solar generated power. Pavilion addition was designed to maximize daylighting via nine skylights distributed across the building to eliminate the need for electrical lighting to be used during daylight hours. The addition is further designed to promote passive ventilation via large, sliding doors with insect screens located on three sides of the building.

Set amid mature trees on a steep hillside, this dual-purpose wellness and entertainment pavilion is designed to weave into and preserve the existing tree canopy while creating new exterior spaces for gathering integrated into an existing multi-generational home.

Note: This project is essentially an ADU, but due to that clients wanted the pavilion attached to the main house it is technically not. With a light remodel it could become a separated ADU and already has a kitchen and bath. Therefore we think it may be interesting to be considered in the ADU category.

Amid Los Altos’ effortless natural beauty, the home turned inward, disconnected from the landscape just beyond its walls. The garden, the trees, the sky, the birds would be equally a part of the house and daily activities as the hallway, kitchen and sitting rooms. Our natural house concept begins at the entry. Instead of tacking a statement piece onto the facade, we pulled green spaces into the footprint of the home, creating a porch carved as a void from the mass. Clad in charred wood, and flanked by billowing desaturated grasses, the darkened entry portal creates the impression that space has been removed from the building and given back to nature. The glazed roof opens to the sky flooding the otherwise shadowed space with natural light. On axis with the entry, a second void, punctuated by a large picture window framing a Japanese maple.

At the center of the home, the kitchen’s vaulted heavy timber structure with a full glass façade faces the garden, framing 200-yearold redwoods and inviting you to walk down the planted steps to the basalt dining patio. The remaining gathering spaces are connected through generous openings to a shaded outdoor lounge.

The project also incorporates an accessory dwelling unit designed to support multigenerational living. Positioned to maintain privacy while remaining connected to the home’s most active spaces, allowing aging grandparents to live independently while remaining closely integrated with the rhythms of daily family life. A private deck is also dedicated to the ADU for the grandparents to enjoy outdoor solitude when desired.

Small apparently disconnected spaces were taken as opportunities to creatively introduce daylight and experience the outdoors. The powder room is accessed through a secret door hidden in a paneled wall, proceeding into a dark ebonized wood and noir stone mud room in stark contrast to the sun-bleached powder where the entire ceiling is glazed providing an unobstructed view of the cinematic sky.

The home is located in Los Altos within Santa Clara County, providing convenient access for visitors traveling between other tour homes throughout the region. The residential neighborhood provides accessible street parking within a short walking distance of the property. The home’s layout naturally supports a clear circulation route for tour guests. Visitors enter through the front porch and proceed through the main entryway, and can either explore the kitchen, mudroom and powder, leading into the ADU, or they can explore the living room, dining room and primary suite bed and the bedroom wing of the home. Each of the spaces within the house leads to the backyard whether it be the kitchen, ADU, dining/living room, or bedroom wing via a central playroom. A variety of outdoor spaces, including a lounge deck, outdoor dining and cooking, and a firepit area set within a grove of redwoods, further define the indoor/outdoor procession through a seamless circular path.

We experience the home not as distinct environments, but as a singular cohesive space shaped by the place and its hosts. Furniture, landscape, and architecture were conceived together, creating a seamless indoor-outdoor living experience, reflecting the idealized vision of Mediterranean climate living.

Located behind an existing single-family home in Palo Alto, this project comprises an ADU, exercise room, pool and hardscaping. The owners program included a pool of maximum length, an ADU for a home office and guests, an exercise room, and basement storage that also acoustically isolates the pool equipment; all while leaving some back yard space for a seating area, fire pit, and lawn. The home will not be on the tour, just the ADU, Exercise Room and yard.

This project is special because it cleverly integrates and layers multiple program elements and functions into one small yard; an exercise room over floating over a pool, and an ADU over a basement including pool equipment. Vertical and horizontal architectural screening elements provide separation, texture and privacy.

Single Family Dwelling for a young family. Single story, 3 bedrooms, with a detached garage. Design concept of a courtyard that organizes the interior circulation and provides privacy and generous access to the outdoors. Wood frame with steel frame supports for long span areas. Exterior wood siding with natural materials. Landscape of local and draught tolerant vegetation.

The structure makes the best of the site by creating a courtyard typology that organizes a series of volumes that maximize the various features of the site such as the large redwood. The Single story layout with varying heights create a structure that respect the scale of the neighborhood while also creating an animated series of spaces that takes advantage of the orientation for natural light, privacy and solar gain. Careful proportions and exacting details project a sense of lasting craftsmanship.