It is a quietly impressive chemical: simple kinds of a garage, a home and two guest cottages on 4 acres in Three Rivers, California. Architect Polly Osborne remodeled the buildings to nestle into the Sierra foothills landscape, which she filled with indigenous trees and plants. A brand new net-zero garage and fitness space, complete with a living room, rounds out the house.
in a Glance
Location: Three Rivers, California
Size: Main home: 2,800 square feet; beige cabin: 900 square feet; reddish cabin: 300 square feet
Osborne Architects
Osborne Architects
The garage is the only new construction on the property. It is heated and cooled through passive solar methods, and solar panels on the garage produce enough electricity to feed the rest of the buildings. The garage also has room on the first and second floors for a yoga studio and workout room.
Osborne Architects
Native plants develop in a living wall designed by Rana Creek on the garage exterior. Il Fanale and Parker garage doors sconces add to the modern appearance that is industrial of the building.
Osborne Architects
The main home was in great shape initially, but the bright purples, pinks and blues on the interior and exterior didn’t fit the homeowners’ style. Osborne didn’t add much square footage but didn’t construct in certain luxuries, like an outdoor shower, a pizza oven and a sauna.
Exterior: Monterey Hardie Board; glass doorways: Loewen; timber doors: custom
Osborne Architects
Osborne Architects
Locally quarried slate grounds the base of that the home. The screened-in porch of the main house joins the area to the landscape.
Exterior rock: Yosemite slate
Osborne Architects
The south and main forks of the Kaweah River merge here, and also the river affected Osborne’s designs. After gutting the interior, she labored gentle curves into the ceiling’s lines. Neighborhood slate floors — the same used on the property’s exterior — looks like river rock.
Couch: Linea; java table: custom by Osborne, made by William Stranger; wood-burning oven: Rais Pina; armchairs: Le Corbusier
Osborne Architects
Osborne redesigned the kitchen with a subtle color palette and natural substances, including salvaged Douglas fir cabinetry plus a salvaged teak island top.
Pendant: Il Fanale; cooker: Blue Star; faucet: Waterstone; countertop: Cheng Concrete
Osborne Architects
An wall coated with stacked stone leads into the primary bathroom. The flowing contours, pebbles and tile wall attract the river into mind.
Interior wall, shower floor: Bali, Ann Sacks; tile: Fireclay; vanity timber: salvaged teak; wall color: Osage, American Clay; sink: Wetstyle
Osborne Architects
Two slate-covered rounded additions hold the house’s new amenities out back. Additionally with the shingled roof is your sauna.
Osborne Architects
Another addition: an outdoor shower off the primary bathroom.
Osborne Architects
Osborne worked carefully with Rana Creek to bring in more indigenous plants and trees.
Osborne Architects
A few steps off, the 900-square-foot beige cabin makes for a cozy guesthouse with a small kitchen, a bathroom, a living area, a porch and a bedroom. A built-in Douglas fir table takes up space in this kitchen, folding up into the wall. Wood salvaged out of a whiskey warehouse in Kentucky — complete with a hot, spicy scent — lines the cabin floors.
Osborne Architects
As in the primary home, a curved roof and neighborhood slate from the beige cabin’s living area mimic the form of the river.
Osborne Architects
At 300 square feet, this little red guesthouse contains a small living room, a bedroom, a bathroom plus a screened-in porch.
Exterior paint: Colonial Red, ICI
Osborne Architects
One of the owners is a screenwriter and a manufacturer, and uses this cabin as his writer’s retreat.
Interior floor: Tara, Nova cork
Contractor: Hindsight Construction
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