Location: Mendocino County, California. United States
Year of construction: 1994
Architects: Richard Fernau, Laura Hartman,
David Kau Associates: Tint Gray. Kimberly Moses.
Emily Stussi (design team), Dennis McCroskey <structure).
Jim Boudoures (contractor)
Photography: Richard Barnes
This project was for the construction of a group of houses in a wood in Mendocino County, north of San Francisco, for a group of friends (4 couples and 3 singles), aged between 40 and 60, who had decided to spend their later years together for companionship and mutual support.
Most of Fernau and Hartman’s projects show a tendency towards division into a number of different spaces or buildings so that, as a whole, the development blends more easily into the surrounding landscape. This strategy allows a heterogeneous approach that fosters dialogue between the different structures and contrast between their forms and finishes. The final result is not a single interpretation but an open system of relationships.
This development is based on three structures, each of which has a number of elements: a two – story building with communal areas on the lower floor and two apartments on the upper floor, a residential wing with five apartments and a laundry and library, and, lastly, a workshop area with facilities for car repairs, photo processing, marquetry work, and table tennis.
All the areas have been designed to allow alteration or extension at a later date, in accordance with the occupants’ needs. Likewise, all the rooms have been made easily accessible for the elderly, with ramps and elevators able to accommodate wheelchairs.
“We asked rhe architects to make the communal areas large enough for our families so we could invite them for meals," said one of the members of the Cheesecake Consortium.
The four trees that had to be sacrificed during construction were used to make the balconies, the furniture, and the dining table – all designed by Davin Joy.