212 Tucker House / Stanley Saitowitz | Natoma Architects

Text description provided by the architects. This project is for three residences two blocks from Healdsburg Plaza. Two are two-story L-shaped courtyard homes and the third is a bar above the garage. Healdsburg’s characteristic residential language of shady porches, light painted clapboard siding, and fertile landscapes are reinterpreted in a contemporary language. The front of the building is a latticework screened porch with a colonnaded portico. Linear planters define the edge of the property. Drought-resistant planting covers the ground between the planters and porch.

Each of the linked L-shaped units is completed to form square walled courtyards in which the interiors merge through sliding glass doors wrapping the entire lower level. The enclosing ‘walls’ are the outer boundaries of the court space. Inside and outside are blended and ambiguous, stretched to the limits of the site. Lattices shade and lap pools create cool.

On the second level, three bedrooms overlook the courtyards. These elements float on the glass below. Pocket sliders dissolve the rooms to light and air. A simple palette of materials is used throughout. Walls are white-painted metal siding, lattices white painted bar grating. Dark concrete for hardscape merges with charcoal porcelain tile floors.

On the west, a 10’ wide walkway connects the residence and garage to a rear alley. Four covered parking spaces and one visitor parking are provided off the alley. The 24’ tall building’s roof provides flat areas for photovoltaics and solar water panels. The aim of the project is to increase density but retain rural neighborhood scale.