March 2010

We’re working in concert with Bennett Custom Homes to design a series of houses which depart from the spec craftsman template that we see in current developments, heavily influenced by Asian design and courtyard houses. The Mitate House Collection is punctuated by gardens: the ‘tsuboniwa’ or pocket garden, a salad garden off the kitchen/outdoor cooking space, a four season porch, surround gardens that invigorate the side yards, and a water feature.  While we’re designing for a more constricted and generic site, we imagine that the design will take more advantage of the specific site once we have one.

Each design will be loaded with green building features, have an enlarged ’shoebox’ entry with space, loft, a carport that doubles as an outdoor room, and a covered spa area with outdoor shower.

We’ve come up with three alternative designs which will help Bennett bring some exciting ideas to the spec marketplace, and give people a new perspective about what is possible in a spec housing.

Here is the first of three designs:  the Cascabel

The house is a dialogue between solid and void spaces, where the house elements have been pulled apart to create gardens, covered outdoor spaces, habitable roof gardens and some dramatic interior spaces:

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The design juxtaposes a boxy 2 story element with several low slung volumes split with a slot garden at the core of the house.  The house has a massive wall running the length of the house that becomes fireplace and storage, but is broken to create a two story atrium adjacent to the garden.

The house has a series of gardens beyond the ‘tsuboniwa’ (pocket garden)–a private courtyard adjacent to the guest suite, a salad garden for growing vegetables off the kitchen, a broad outdoor patio wrapped in planting, and a roof garden off the master bedroom.

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The last in our Mitate House Collection for Bennett Custom Homes is the Sorrel.

Again, the heart of the design is a courtyard garden, which is bounded on one side by the open kitchen/dining/living room and the guest suite on the other. Large doors open each space to the garden.  Privacy is critical in most developments and by making the garden central, we are creating a private interior landscape, daylighting, and ventilation without compromising to shield the neighbors eyes.

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