Redwood Country Home—an Artistic Building Challenge

This passive solar home was designed by Michael Singer, Architect, of Cazadero. It is situated gracefully in a small meadow in the hills of West Sonoma County. Care was taken while developing the site to minimize the impact on the natural terrain.

The roof and ceiling design is unique, featuring structural grade Redwood beams, rafters and purlins with Pine decking running parallel to the roof pitches. The entry and screened porch roofs had to be different pitches from the lower porch roof in order to maintain a consistent ridge line.

These were extremely challenging to build because the valleys had to be framed to mathematically combine the different pitches, with every joint visible from below. The tails of the rafter beams were detailed with a concave curving design. An elaborate interlocking Z joint was conceived to connect pieces together to make the long purlins.

The studio was built later using a pole foundation—another building challenge—on a steep slope. It functions as both an office and a guest house. The deck features the poles in the handrail.