Cazadero, CA
The site is located in a very out of the way location, miles off the grid, and accessible only by a 2-mile mountain dirt road, on a gently sloping hill near the coast in Sonoma County, CA. The client is a well known concert harpsichordist/pianist and music educator. The Clef House is a symbolic representation of the embodiment of the life that this musician leads. The cabin was to be small, only roughly 16 feet by 10 feet on the inside. The hillside that the cabin was to be designed on faced a beautiful ravine. Windows required direct positioning in order to take advantage of these views. The main goal was to house a small spinet in order that piano practice could take place during the long stays away at this retreat. The sloping roof mimics the gentle hills surrounding the property while the floor plan takes its cue from the musical notation of the treble clef. The main oval window operates as an out-swing casement. The structure was finished in colored shotcrete inside and out to blend in with the natural setting of hill and meadow, particularly in the summer when the cabin is mostly in use.