THE GEAR

HEAT | Radiant Heat System

COOLING | Stack Effect

SOLAR | Net-Zero System

MATERIAL | Local + Recycled

LANDSCAPING | Xeriscaping

CLIENT

Retiring from the Bay Area to the beautiful coastline of Carmel, our client wanted to re-work a 1970’s beach home into a modernized home meeting their basic wants and necessities. The owners emphasized that this prior beach rental property lacked a sense of entry, which was one of the top requirements on their list to be brought to the design board. Tobin presented a design which brings the Pacific ocean into view with a single step through the front door — talk about an impressive entrance. Additionally, the owner wanted to be able to live on a single level, requiring everyday living areas and master quarters be integrated on the main floor. The design constantly directs the eye towards beautiful features inside and outside - the ocean can be seen from essentially every room in this home.

SITE

A tremendously unique opportunity came with this site. Building regulations had tight restrictions on setbacks, heights and footprint limitations — leaving very little room to enlarge the existing building footprint on this site. On the ocean side, the original floor level being six feet above grade, provided an opportunity to add a full-height lower level without exceeding stringent coastal commission height regulations and lot coverage. With the existing building orientation facing westerly, great attention had to be put into the long wood beam overhang to block out the late afternoon sun. The site’s landscape was preserved as much as possible and local planting was used to keep the land as native as possible.

ENVIRONMENT

Carmel at Yankee Point delivers a Mediterranean climate and provides moderate weather throughout the year with temperatures hovering around 60 degrees. Here you will see a dense fog blanketing the coastline by early morning and clearing by afternoon. The beautiful Pacific Ocean views are accompanied by intense showering of western sun and salty on-shore wind - the new design had to meet these and other very serious environmental conditions. TDA used a local sandstone as a base for this home for its sustainability, random-board cedar siding for its warmth and longevity, and the copper accents for ability to change visually over time while providing low maintenance. Being a relatively cool environment, heavily insulated glass, insulated shades, and a well insulated envelope were implemented to keep the homes’ energy usage low.