Crafted Comfort

Every element of this rustic California retreat in the Sierra Nevada appears to have been touched by the hand of a master craftsman. The result is a striking, highly customized residence as unique as it is inviting for the owners, who spend weekends with family and friends enjoying their haven's dramatic setting.

Architect Greg Faulkner not only designed the 5,700-square-foot Arts & Crafts home but also worked closely with custom furniture-maker Jaap Romijn and blacksmith Steve Lopes to establish a remarkably cohesive style throughout the interior living spaces, using reclaimed woods, custom masonry and unusual combinations of metals.

"I purposely keep my client list very small because I want to be able to have my hands on every single project," says Romijn, who transformed Faulkner's furniture designs — ranging from the massive dining room table to the illuminated bedside clocks in the master suite — into functional works of art. Dutch-born Romijn, who began his woodworking career as a boat builder in Europe, says he does not concentrate on building a particular style of furniture. Instead, the composition of his pieces depends on the project's overall look and the client's personality.

"I approach each as a blank page," says Romijn, who used a combination of reclaimed redwood and mesquite for this project, per Faulkner's specifications. "I like to get into the psyche of the homeowner so I know what they're looking for. In this case, the client wanted very physical pieces with a very heavy, solid look."

Other custom features of the home include the light fixtures, door hardware, railings, tiles, and fireplace screens and tools — all hand-forged by Lopes using steel, bronze, copper and inconel, a nickel/chromium/iron alloy that resembles stainless steel. "Most blacksmiths are fabricators who re-create traditional designs, but I consider myself to be more of an artist," Lopes says. "My specialty is creating customized designs for a particular project. I separate myself from others by using different metals in unconventional ways."

Lopes compares the composition of his handcrafted pieces to that of a musical band. "The steel serves as the rhythm section, and the other metals, the copper, for example, become the soloist stepping out to create a unique sound," he says. "It is not necessarily something that jumps out at you, however. It was this kind of subtle detailing that the client was looking for."

The home sits on a one-third-acre infill lot that presented Faulkner and builder Mike Yankin with design and construction challenges. "The clients wanted as much square footage as possible," Faulkner says.

As a concession to the site's constraints, Faulkner produced a plan with three levels of living space, including five bedroom suites, a lower-level recreation room and a dramatic main-floor great room. "We had to do a lot of excavation to make this possible," he says. "We literally buried the whole first level."

The home required tremendous forethought and planning from not only the design standpoint but also the construction perspective. "Because the structure's footprint was the maximum allowed on the site, all construction activities had to occur within that space," Yankin says. "The arrival of materials, for example, had to be carefully staged to avoid crowding the site."

Close attention also was paid to preserving the site's natural vegetation. Wrapping the trunks of 100-year-old sugar pines prevented damage during excavation and construction. In addition, plastic fencing was installed to keep crews out of environmentally sensitive areas. The home, which was completed in 2002, features hydronic in-floor heating and a whole-house filtered fresh-air system.

To learn more about the reclaimed materials used in this project, visit www.HousingZone.com/lhb/comfort.

 

 

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