Having recently purchased an Eichler home in the Monta Loma neighborhood in Mountain View, the clients were looking for a landscape that ties aesthetically into the existing architecture and the proposed architectural renovations. Celebrating their Scandinavian heritage, the client’s vision for their property is ‘Scandinavian minimalism meets Californian Eichler’. The house renovations include removal of a wall to allow for a large window in the living room that looks out onto the yard. The proposed landscape enhances this framed view through the strategic layering of planting beyond the window. The planting palette includes climate adapted and native California planting and features assemblages of grasses in particular.

A large specimen olive tree is also viewed through the living room window. Adjacent to it, a native mixed-fescue ‘lawn’ area provides a space for the children to play. Nearby, a deck provides space for outdoor dining. From their time spent working from home throughout the pandemic, the clients were surprised by how much they were able work outdoors with adequate shade. This meant that having the dining space double as a work space was important. Shade is provided though Palo Verde trees, and a shade sail. A beam that spans the posts for the shade sail provides support for a swing. The deck area has a secondary seating area for solitary lounging or more intimate seating. Boulders are incorporated into the deck, evoking the austere and resilient beauty of coastal arctic tundra of the Scandinavian peninsula.

A smaller, separate space for the sauna entrance includes an intimate seating area, incorporating the concept of ‘hygge’- an ancient Scandinavian concept that conveys a sense of being cozy and together. 

Other elements that evoke Scandinavian vernacular include the use of thermally modified wood, a sustainable and traditionally used in Scandinavian construction material.

Field Collective developed two separate concept options and worked collaboratively with our clients to refine one to a point where we are now documenting the design for construction.