Woodside Residence

Quietly presiding over a horse ranch in Woodside California, this mid-century home subtly recedes into the trees, the perfect backdrop for the owners’ various collections. Rumored to have been designed by Clifford May, an architect known for creating the uniquely Californian, relaxed architecture that allows for indoor/outdoor living, this house stretches laterally into its site, giving the architects an opportunity to bring the outside in through large apertures in the main spaces. Collaborating closely with the owner, an architect herself, Butler Armsden played on the existing mid-century aesthetic of clean, gentle lines paired with a warm yet pared-back materials palette to create spaces that allow the lives of the couple to shine through. In the kitchen, richly oiled parquet flooring gives a warm depth to the otherwise spare space, while in the bathrooms, small, beige tiles give a calming visual experience from afar, and just enough texture up close. The simplicity of these spaces allows for moments of indulgent richness; in the dining room, a long table flanked by bulrush chairs directs the eye toward a wall of books, and then back up to a playful light fixture, producing a moment of design flourish in an otherwise relaxed space.