Hillside House / SB Architects

 

© Mariko Reed

Architects: SB Architects
Location: Mill Valley, California, USA
Builder: McDonald Construction
Project Area: 2,116 sq ft (interior spaces), 1,567 sq ft (decks & balconies)
Project Year: 2010
Photographs: Mariko Reed


Nestled in the hills of Mill Valley, California, just across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco, Hillside House has just received certification as the first LEED for Homes Platinum custom home in Marin County, and one of only a handful in Northern California.

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Designed by San Francisco-based SB Architects, an international firm well-known for the design of site-sensitive resort and mixed-use projects around the world, and built by well-known green builder McDonald Construction & Development, this home is a statement of what is possible combining “high design with high sustainability.”

© Mariko Reed

The four-story home – clad with beautiful, sustainable Western Red Cedar siding – is set on a steep hillside site that provides for a very vertical design with living and private zones situated on multiple separate floors. Numerous outdoor and covered terraces and balconies capitalize on stunning views of the bay and the San Francisco skyline beyond. The home’s many green aspects include:

• Western Red Cedar siding
• Energy Star-Rated Whirlpool appliances
• Kohler low-flow plumbing fixtures
• Mythic zero-VOC paints
• High-recycled content interior concrete from Concreteworks
• Sustainably produced stone veneers from Eldorado Stone
• Sustainably harvested floors and cabinetry from Plantation Hardwoods
• New World Millworks, reclaimed timber and recycled metal roofing

© Mariko Reed

Every inch of this LEED Platinum custom home has been designed to maximize its sustainability, in direct response to the site, trees and views. Consequently, this home lives far larger than its actual footprint, but with an impact that is far less.