Houzz Tours
Houzz Tour: Family Builds Its Dream Home on a Wooded Hillside
Light-filled spaces and modern furnishings suit an active family in a California foothill community
More than a decade after falling in love with a wooded property in California’s Sierra Nevada foothills, the Vanni family purchased the land from a friend and hired Sacramento designer Matthew Lechowick to build their dream home on the oak-studded hillside. Lechowick helped make their dream a reality in the form of a custom-built, light-filled hillside aerie. Set in the semirural town of Newcastle, about 30 miles northeast of Sacramento, the home is in a region of farms, ranches and wineries.
“This is the ultimate family home for Ryan and Melissa and their four boys to grow, relax and entertain in a modern yet inviting space,” Lechowick says. The final product is a comfortable, energy-efficient oasis with a dash of sustainability — this summer, the garage will get an eco-friendly green roof planted with succulents and other vegetation.
“This is the ultimate family home for Ryan and Melissa and their four boys to grow, relax and entertain in a modern yet inviting space,” Lechowick says. The final product is a comfortable, energy-efficient oasis with a dash of sustainability — this summer, the garage will get an eco-friendly green roof planted with succulents and other vegetation.
For the active, travel-loving Vanni family, their home in the hills serves as a peaceful oasis. Melissa writes a food blog and recently published a children’s book about healthy eating, and Ryan is CEO of a marketing and branding company in Sacramento, California. Ryan and the boys are avid road cyclists.
With the main entrance and living area on the second floor, treetop views dominate through multIpanel glass slider pocket doors — accenting the Vannis’ love of indoor-outdoor living. The expansive doors and windows provide views of the craggy peaks of the Sierra Buttes 90 miles away. Creating large portals to the outdoors was a big part of the design plan. “Siting the house was carefully considered so these types of views would come through in the final design,” Lechowick says. A staircase leads to the lower level.
Sofa: Room & Board; flooring: Artistica in Riverbend Oak, Mohawk; ceiling fan: Haiku
Sofa: Room & Board; flooring: Artistica in Riverbend Oak, Mohawk; ceiling fan: Haiku
The challenges of building on a hillside with dense vegetation required “major foundation and retaining wall work,” Lechowick says. It also called for features designed to meet strict state fire-protection requirements for building in a fire-prone rural area. That included sprinklers inside the house, and fire-resistant exterior siding of stucco and shou-sugi-ban wood — paneling that utilizes the traditional Japanese technique of charring wood to make it fire- and insect-resistant, as well as attractive (shown here near front door).
Using high-quality windows and insulation solved the challenge of meeting California regulations for energy efficiency, Lechowick says. Wood-framed windows were installed, as well as a thermally broken aluminum style — constructed with a barrier between the inside and outside frames to prevent energy loss. The glass for both types is metal-coated Low E2, required for windows installed in new homes in California.
Windows: Western Window Systems and Sierra Pacific Windows
Windows: Western Window Systems and Sierra Pacific Windows
In the main living space, an open floor plan, 16-foot ceilings and a neutral palette let the treetop views take center stage. A built-in gas fireplace, oak floors and ceiling beams warm up the living room’s industrial-modern furnishings, which include a walnut perforated screen door console designed by Lechowick. Rustic meets modern in the dining room, where a matte black aluminum pendant light with a gold metallic internal finish hangs over a reclaimed-wood table created by a Sacramento furniture maker.
Dining table: Steve Tiller, Reclamation Art + Furniture; dining room drum pendant light: Circus, Lumens; ceiling fan: Haiku; console: Hidden Media
Dining table: Steve Tiller, Reclamation Art + Furniture; dining room drum pendant light: Circus, Lumens; ceiling fan: Haiku; console: Hidden Media
Eye-catching geometrically shaped ceramic pendant lights suspended by textile cables hang over the island, which is topped with honed quartz. The Aspect pendants were designed by Schmitt Design in Sacramento and produced by a small ceramics studio in Southern California.
A striking black subway tile backsplash behind American black walnut cabinets and open shelving is the kitchen’s focal point. Lechowick used the wood horizontally, which he says “helps visually connect the doors to read as one volume-piece.”
Countertops: honed Pebble, Caesarstone; backsplash subway tile: 4 by 16 inches, Emser; oven and rangetop: Bertazzoni; dishwasher: Bosch; refrigerators: Sub-Zero
Countertops: honed Pebble, Caesarstone; backsplash subway tile: 4 by 16 inches, Emser; oven and rangetop: Bertazzoni; dishwasher: Bosch; refrigerators: Sub-Zero
The master bedroom is a haven of modern simplicity, with a rectangular window revealing a treetop view, almost like a framed picture. A red chair provides a dash of color. The bedroom has a balcony that overlooks the hill.
Chair: Kartell; rug: Cost Plus World Market; sconce: Tom Dixon
Chair: Kartell; rug: Cost Plus World Market; sconce: Tom Dixon
The master bathroom has an air of tranquillity, thanks to light gray marble hexagon mosaic wall tiles and the vanity’s whitewashed quartersawn white oak cabinets beneath a quartz countertop. Slate floor tile and the sculptured free-standing tub add to the spa feeling.
Countertop: honed Misty Carrera, Caesarstone; vanity: custom, Platinum Construction; soaking tub: The Wave, Control Brand
Countertop: honed Misty Carrera, Caesarstone; vanity: custom, Platinum Construction; soaking tub: The Wave, Control Brand
A staircase with a railing custom-made by a local metalsmith leads to the home’s lower level, which is partially nestled into the side of a hill. The lower level has its own entry, and houses two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a study and living area for the family’s sons, along with a guest room for visitors.
The boys share a work area that contains open cabinets above a walnut-veneer desk surface with a solid-walnut edge designed by Lechowick. The floor is polished concrete with a semigloss to matte finish.
Large-format matte-finish floor tiles anchor the neutral tones in one of the boys’ bathrooms.
Countertop: honed Pebble, Caesarstone; floor tile: Studio Nero, 24 by 24 inches, Eleganza
Countertop: honed Pebble, Caesarstone; floor tile: Studio Nero, 24 by 24 inches, Eleganza
The lower-level living room opens to a concrete deck at the lower grade of the house.
Colorful art and a Herman MIller bench liven up the mudroom-garage entry on the lower level.
Lechowick designed the living-dining spaces to be central to the house layout, with other rooms “offshoots” of that central space. The horizontal bar of the bedrooms intersects the wider and taller vertical bar of the living space “to create more dynamic that they all engage with on a personal level, as well as with guests they entertain,” he says. The lower floor is shown here.
The garage roof will get LiveRoof Lite tiles this summer. This lighter-weight green roof adds 17 to 19 pounds per square foot to a roof load when saturated (most others add 50 pounds per square foot).
The garage roof will get LiveRoof Lite tiles this summer. This lighter-weight green roof adds 17 to 19 pounds per square foot to a roof load when saturated (most others add 50 pounds per square foot).
The main top level has the main entrance at grade. The kitchen and butler’s pantry are on one side, with the living-dining area and office in the middle double-height space. On the other side of the top floor is a full guest bath and the master suite, with master bath, dressing room and bedroom with balcony.
General contractor: Kinetic Partners
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General contractor: Kinetic Partners
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Who lives here: Melissa and Ryan Vanni and their four sons
Location: Newcastle, California
Size: 4,252 square feet (395 square meters) on 5.6 acres; four bedrooms, four bathrooms
Designer: Matthew Lechowick