Atherton is a large family home for a professional couple and their two teenaged children.
For our clients, who both work in the tech industry, this project represented the beginning of a new chapter in California. Having resided and built homes in Singapore and Hong Kong, they were well versed in the intricacies of designing a home, and approached us with a clearly defined brief.
Located on a one-acre site, we designed the house as a classic “H” plan encompassing a pair of two-story wings connected via a double-height space. The two wings provide a sense of enclosure and privacy along the property’s northern and southern boundaries, containing the everyday experience of the home yet facilitating a distinct feeling of openness across the site.
We conceived the internal layout in collaboration with a Feng Shui expert who was engaged by the clients to provide advice on finishes and furnishings, as well as on how configurations affected the flow of energy into the home.
Though highly defined in its geometric form, there is an atmosphere of fluidity to Atherton which nods to the clients’ patterns of use and to the home’s locality.
Bio Mark English, AIA, founded his practice in 1992. A Bay Area native, he offers a designer’s sense of artistry supported by practical knowledge gained from years of direct hands-on building experience. The practice is built on providing design that is sustainable because it is sensible and flexible, built to last.
Mark earned a bachelor of architecture degree at California Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo, and a master of architecture degree at the Syracuse University campus in Florence, Italy.
