Carmel Valley, California
Tehama Residence
Set in the hills overlooking Carmel Valley, Tehama is a 2,000-acre development born of developer Clint Eastwood’s vision of stewardship and conservation.
Our clients envisioned a home woven into the existing grove of Coast Live Oak trees – a transparent structure in which they could feel completely immersed in the surrounding flora and fauna. Commanding the site is a majestic oak that our client has named Fred, after her late father, with another oak nearby named for her mother.
In response to the topography and existing trees, we layered program elements to form the final plan, defined by its central spine and punctuated by cross-axial views. The primary entry acts as a funnel, directing the journey into the house – a journey that emerges onto an open terrace – a space the team and clients call the “summer deck” – which in turn forms the primary entry into the main living area.
Stone walls pierce the house, define spaces and ground the structure in the site. Landscape walls made of locally-quarried stone transition to a more refined stone treatment on the architectural walls. The transparency of the structure reduces the separation of indoors and outdoors to form a close creative connection between architecture, interiors and landscape, which is designed by Monterey-based Wild Land Workshop.