In 2005 we moved from the house in Felton to a large house on Hawks Hill Road in Scotts Valley. Located on ten acres of redwoods on the top of the mountain it was another design project to take a rather plain looking house into a dream space. In the great room we replaced the carpet with reclaimed oak floor, rocked the fireplace, and added barnwood to create a rustic feel. That was echoed into the dining room and kitchen. The kitchen featured custom concrete countertops with embedded glass and high end appliances.
On the top level the exterior deck was glassed in to become a year-around greenhouse.
As you entered the driveway we had placed a welcoming sign reading Vallhalla. There was a large oak that was lit at night just as you reached the house.
The house appeared to be perched on the slope and there was a lap pool near the front entrance.
Here is the living room with fireplace and a veiw back into the dining room.
The dining room, between the living room and the kitchen, was also done in barnwood with the reclaimed oak floor.
The kitchen continued the rustic theme with all sorts of custom touches.
Over the dining room and off the master bedroom was a deck. During the winter it was too wet to use, and during the summer it was too hot. Adding the greenhouse off the master bedroom suite made the space useable year around.
We also did a lot of interesting landscaping and deck treatments and installed a lot of rather large rusted metal sculptures.
It was a great house, but the costs of taxes, utilities , and maintnence were overall too high. In late 2007 we took a "field trip" to Portland and unexpectedly bought a house.
It turned out this was just as the housing market crashed and we were lucky to sell the house at a great profit and move to Portland.