We are privileged to live in an Eichler house designed by A. Quincy Jones in the mid 1950’s. He drew one of my favorite images of how single-family houses should behave.
The top row shows the houses popping up out of a flat ground plane. The bottom row shows the ground plane morphed into small hills and berms, partially hiding the now lower-slung houses. This was Jones’ preference, and mine, too. Frank Lloyd Wright taught us to tie our buildings to the land, and it's always a good lesson.
Taking this thought a step further, our choice of colors should also work with nature, especially for a modern house. Darker, earthier colors, found in nature, can give our buildings and their surroundings a richer feeling. Which brings us back to our house: These before and after shots illustrate these points well. We even have a little berm in front.
Taking this thought a step further, our choice of colors should also work with nature, especially for a modern house. Darker, earthier colors, found in nature, can give our buildings and their surroundings a richer feeling. Which brings us back to our house: These before and after shots illustrate these points well. We even have a little berm in front.