Entry Recipe: Contemporary Farmhouse Style in a Suburban Setting
This new build sets a neighborly tone with a front-yard patio and an exterior created in scale with other houses on the street
Annie Thornton
December 3, 2015
Houzz Editorial Staff
This modern entry and yard invite visitors into a contemporary farmhouse in the San Francisco Bay Area while blending in with the streetscape. The architects at Arcanum Architecture worked with the homeowners to create an entry that connects with the street rather than overpowers it. And the landscape architects at Studio Green designed an easy-to-navigate front yard that directs visitors to the house while inviting them to first pause and take in their surroundings.
“Here there is an entry that provides the beginning of the story of the home while also providing convenient circulation, a front-yard patio, driveway, and creates a landscape experience,” landscape architect John Merten says.
“Here there is an entry that provides the beginning of the story of the home while also providing convenient circulation, a front-yard patio, driveway, and creates a landscape experience,” landscape architect John Merten says.
Photos by Russell Abraham Photography
Goal: Connect the home to the landscape while breaking up the building’s massing so it fits in with the neighborhood’s scale
Designers: Arcanum Architecture and Studio Green
Location: Menlo Park, California
The Recipe
Approach: The entry path leads mainly visitors from the street to the front door, as the homeowners mostly use a side entry next to the driveway.
Offset cast-in-place concrete pavers with a sandblast finish progress in a mostly straight line to the front door, drifting ever so slightly to encourage lingering and create awareness of the landscape and entry path.
“Additionally, the stagger begins the story of the massing and movement that they will find in the architecture,” landscape architect John Merten says. The sizes of the pavers vary, but none is smaller than 4 by 4 feet. Aluminum edging holds black La Paz pebbles in place.
The front door breaks up the two masses of the house, connecting to an interior courtyard just inside. By creating the appearance of two smaller buildings side by side rather than one massive volume, the architects sought to help the house blend in with the streetscape of the residential neighborhood.
Goal: Connect the home to the landscape while breaking up the building’s massing so it fits in with the neighborhood’s scale
Designers: Arcanum Architecture and Studio Green
Location: Menlo Park, California
The Recipe
Approach: The entry path leads mainly visitors from the street to the front door, as the homeowners mostly use a side entry next to the driveway.
Offset cast-in-place concrete pavers with a sandblast finish progress in a mostly straight line to the front door, drifting ever so slightly to encourage lingering and create awareness of the landscape and entry path.
“Additionally, the stagger begins the story of the massing and movement that they will find in the architecture,” landscape architect John Merten says. The sizes of the pavers vary, but none is smaller than 4 by 4 feet. Aluminum edging holds black La Paz pebbles in place.
The front door breaks up the two masses of the house, connecting to an interior courtyard just inside. By creating the appearance of two smaller buildings side by side rather than one massive volume, the architects sought to help the house blend in with the streetscape of the residential neighborhood.
Front door: Custom-made of Douglas fir and glass.
A long hallway greets guests when they enter the house, with glass doors along one wall opening to a courtyard. This creates fluidity between indoors and out, front door and courtyard, with the hallway feeling more like a breezeway or loggia between the two main pieces of the house.
Exterior siding: The exterior siding is board and batten clear Western red cedar with a dark, semi-solid, oil-based stain. The architects selected the material because of its association with Northern California. The front door’s surround is Western red cedar with a lighter stain.
The lightness of the entry helps break up the home’s volume and update the more traditional darker siding.
Overhang: The minimal overhang is made of Western red cedar. The front door sits back a couple of feet from the edge of the home, drawing visitors in.
A long hallway greets guests when they enter the house, with glass doors along one wall opening to a courtyard. This creates fluidity between indoors and out, front door and courtyard, with the hallway feeling more like a breezeway or loggia between the two main pieces of the house.
Exterior siding: The exterior siding is board and batten clear Western red cedar with a dark, semi-solid, oil-based stain. The architects selected the material because of its association with Northern California. The front door’s surround is Western red cedar with a lighter stain.
The lightness of the entry helps break up the home’s volume and update the more traditional darker siding.
Overhang: The minimal overhang is made of Western red cedar. The front door sits back a couple of feet from the edge of the home, drawing visitors in.
Other Features
Entry seating area: The designers reimagined the traditional front porch with a 24-by-12-foot contemporary concrete seating area, set to the left of the entry path in front of the dining room and next to the driveway. They wanted the homeowners to be able to sit and take in the street while still being connected to the landscape. A 2-foot-high poured-in-place concrete wall encloses the area without closing it off.
Planting: “The house comes off with an agrarian feeling, but the client wanted the house to have a damp and tropical sense to the landscape,” Merten says.
He added deep green background plants, such as sweet bay (Laurus nobilis), Carolina laurelcherry (Prunus caroliniana) and bamboo (Bambusa sp.) to anchor the space. Mountain flax (Phormium cookianum), foxtail fern (Asparagus densiflorus ‘Myers’), flax lily (Dianella tasmanica), ‘Otto Luyken’ cherry laurel (Prunus laurocerasus ‘Otto Luyken’), sedge (Carex sp.) and red twig dogwood (Cornus sericea) add contrast and texture, creating a more woodland and coarse-textured landscape for the house.
Entry seating area: The designers reimagined the traditional front porch with a 24-by-12-foot contemporary concrete seating area, set to the left of the entry path in front of the dining room and next to the driveway. They wanted the homeowners to be able to sit and take in the street while still being connected to the landscape. A 2-foot-high poured-in-place concrete wall encloses the area without closing it off.
Planting: “The house comes off with an agrarian feeling, but the client wanted the house to have a damp and tropical sense to the landscape,” Merten says.
He added deep green background plants, such as sweet bay (Laurus nobilis), Carolina laurelcherry (Prunus caroliniana) and bamboo (Bambusa sp.) to anchor the space. Mountain flax (Phormium cookianum), foxtail fern (Asparagus densiflorus ‘Myers’), flax lily (Dianella tasmanica), ‘Otto Luyken’ cherry laurel (Prunus laurocerasus ‘Otto Luyken’), sedge (Carex sp.) and red twig dogwood (Cornus sericea) add contrast and texture, creating a more woodland and coarse-textured landscape for the house.
Lighting: A single recessed low-voltage downlight from B-K Lighting illuminates the entry from above. The interior hallway illuminates the entry through the slats in the front door. Litestick path lights by B-K Lighting illuminate the walk to the door.
Considerations: In this case, the architects aimed for a refined, contemporary take on traditional architecture. To achieve that, they used traditional features such as the board and batten siding and farmhouse style, but inserted contemporary details and colors such as the updated porch and concrete pavers, creating a contemporary yet classic look.
See the rest of this house
Considerations: In this case, the architects aimed for a refined, contemporary take on traditional architecture. To achieve that, they used traditional features such as the board and batten siding and farmhouse style, but inserted contemporary details and colors such as the updated porch and concrete pavers, creating a contemporary yet classic look.
See the rest of this house
Architect: Arcanum Architecture
Landscape architect: Studio Green
General contractor: Behrens-Curry Homes
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Landscape architect: Studio Green
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No matter where the house is located, the plan does not depict a "McMansion,"
Looked it up on the architect's website and in about 10 seconds read that this is a new build. So...
Definitely NOT a McMansion and it is a lovely house. I checked out the neighborhood online. This house seems to fit right in with the styles already there, not all of which are Eichiers.