When an active couple wanted to add more living space to their picturesque Mill Valley home, they decided to take full advantage of the setting. So they immersed themselves in the landscape by building two small hillside cabins.
The two cabins integrate the creative visions of landscape architect Jori Hook and architect Jonathan Feldman, who used the native scenery and creative personalities of the homeowners as inspiration. The result is a whimsical refuge that bows in reverence to California's beauty.
Feldman Architecture, Inc.
Feldman intended for the architecture to speak softly, as a quiet intervention in the landscape. The design is understated but warm, and preserves the natural feel of the site.
The clients are “creative and passionate people with a deep appreciation of where they live," Hook says. Everything from the roofline to the material choices has a cheery lightness meant to reflect the personalities of the owners.
Feldman Architecture, Inc.
Feldman used natural gaps between trees to select locations for the cabins. The structures look like discoveries rather than impositions on the landscape.
Feldman Architecture, Inc.
Inside the first cabin, which serves as a private yoga studio, the entire south wall opens to the hillside, embracing the trees and sunshine.
Located on a southeast-facing slope, the cabins receive the sun’s first rays in the morning. “In earth-based cultures, East is considered a place of inspiration," Hook says. "What better place to locate an art and writing studio?”
The upper cabin serves as a painting studio.
Feldman Architecture, Inc.
The ascent from the main house to the cabins was designed to reflect and respect the special uses of the cabins by concealing them behind a redwood tree-lined pathway. “These cabins are sacred places for the clients to create their work, so the transition from the main house was very important,” Hook says. Only once the visitor reaches the cabins are they truly presented.
Feldman Architecture, Inc.
Hook applied aspects of Mill Valley’s Mount Tamalpais to her design. From the vegetation of the mountain to the boulder-strewn terrain, the overall site reflects the flora of the mountain and Marin as a whole.
“I take an educated and intuitive approach to the systems at play, whether it’s soils, slopes, grand trees or remarkable vegetation, or the orientation to the sun,” Hook says. “I see the roof as a microcosm of the slopes of Mount Tam. The design became a living mosaic, representing the variety of plants and plant communities on Mount Tam.”
Feldman Architecture, Inc.
The roof's role in both the landscape and architecture of the site and design is a unique aspect of this project. Because of the necessary terracing, the roof of the lower cabin (the yoga studio), is the initial site experience.
The green roof is really the curb appeal of the property — the first facade of the design. Hook took this opportunity to treat the roof as a canvas, more so than a typical green roof, and designed it as a living piece of art, full of succulents and other plants found throughout the project.
“Anything living thrives on attention,” Hook says, but “I strive to provide a garden where the maintenance is a labor of love and not a constant toil.” Understanding site-specific microclimates makes plant selection easier and ensures a design will be more in sync with the site. Hook stresses that a plant palette naturally adapted to the environment is likely to require less maintenance and be more successful.
Feldman Architecture, Inc.
Navigating and accessing the 20-foot grade change of the property proved to be Hook’s primary challenge. Extensive grading was something neither the designers nor the homeowners wanted for the site, and meant that little space would be left to design an actual garden. “The opportunities and constraints of a project, though sometimes in opposition, are often the driving forces of the design,” Hook says.
Feldman Architecture, Inc.
The grade of the site created naturally different experiences in the landscape, and the path itself reflects those changes. Steeper portions of the site require quicker and more direct movement, meaning less space to meander or leisurely take in the site. When the grade levels out, the paths are widened, creating more opportunities to admire the vistas or take a seat on a nearby boulder.
Feldman Architecture, Inc.
For a project with such extensive architectural and structural components, the natural landscape and terrain of the site played a remarkably significant role. The prominence of the green roofs and the insertion of the buildings into the landscape emphasize that in this design, the landscape remains the focus. The thoughtful and seemingly understated execution on both landscape and architecture leaves Feldman content with the “integrated, respectful, subservient and quiet” architecture of the cabins, and Hook hoping that with each trip, visitors to the site will “walk away satiated with nature’s beauty and their place within it.”
Photography by Joe Fletcher General Contractor: JP Builders, Inc.
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Feldman Architecture, Inc.
Feldman intended for the architecture to speak softly, as a quiet intervention in the landscape. The design is understated but warm, and preserves the natural feel of the site.
Feldman Architecture, Inc.
Feldman used natural gaps between trees to select locations for the cabins. The structures look like discoveries rather than impositions on the landscape.
Feldman Architecture, Inc.
Inside the first cabin, which serves as a private yoga studio, the entire south wall opens to the hillside, embracing the trees and sunshine.
The upper cabin serves as a painting studio.
Feldman Architecture, Inc.
The ascent from the main house to the cabins was designed to reflect and respect the special uses of the cabins by concealing them behind a redwood tree-lined pathway. “These cabins are sacred places for the clients to create their work, so the transition from the main house was very important,” Hook says. Only once the visitor reaches the cabins are they truly presented.
Feldman Architecture, Inc.
Hook applied aspects of Mill Valley’s Mount Tamalpais to her design. From the vegetation of the mountain to the boulder-strewn terrain, the overall site reflects the flora of the mountain and Marin as a whole.
Feldman Architecture, Inc.
The roof's role in both the landscape and architecture of the site and design is a unique aspect of this project. Because of the necessary terracing, the roof of the lower cabin (the yoga studio), is the initial site experience. 
“Anything living thrives on attention,” Hook says, but “I strive to provide a garden where the maintenance is a labor of love and not a constant toil.” Understanding site-specific microclimates makes plant selection easier and ensures a design will be more in sync with the site. Hook stresses that a plant palette naturally adapted to the environment is likely to require less maintenance and be more successful.
Feldman Architecture, Inc.
Navigating and accessing the 20-foot grade change of the property proved to be Hook’s primary challenge. Extensive grading was something neither the designers nor the homeowners wanted for the site, and meant that little space would be left to design an actual garden. “The opportunities and constraints of a project, though sometimes in opposition, are often the driving forces of the design,” Hook says.
Feldman Architecture, Inc.
The grade of the site created naturally different experiences in the landscape, and the path itself reflects those changes. Steeper portions of the site require quicker and more direct movement, meaning less space to meander or leisurely take in the site. When the grade levels out, the paths are widened, creating more opportunities to admire the vistas or take a seat on a nearby boulder.
Feldman Architecture, Inc.
For a project with such extensive architectural and structural components, the natural landscape and terrain of the site played a remarkably significant role. The prominence of the green roofs and the insertion of the buildings into the landscape emphasize that in this design, the landscape remains the focus. The thoughtful and seemingly understated execution on both landscape and architecture leaves Feldman content with the “integrated, respectful, subservient and quiet” architecture of the cabins, and Hook hoping that with each trip, visitors to the site will “walk away satiated with nature’s beauty and their place within it.”