Glacial Erratic

Other Stories

at the House of Four Ecologies

Final inspection. Final photography. Publication in print, and digital platforms. By passing through these milestones, by most measures, the project (and architect’s role) would be considered complete. The project continues to live on crystalized, a frozen snapshot through a tightly curated set of photographs — perfectly staged. However for those of us who wrestle with architecture, and have the fortune to realize it into physical reality, know intimately that there are many other untold stories nested within the neatly packaged, public facing narrative.

The context surrounding the making of the House of Four Ecologies uniquely allows it to test this oft narrow spectrum of representation. The following visual diary trades visual polish for an informal continuum of on-going series of photographs, positing that the life of a place extends well beyond both before and after construction.

These images and accompanying notes are presented in a reverse chronological order, beginning with the lived-in present of the house and its aging process, followed by various milestones in its construction process, and ending where it all started — a landscape untouched. This continuity of documentation has the potential to both evolve existing and speculate on new stories, and perhaps in the process, dissolve a bit of architecture's mythos, and make the static image of a building a little less sacred.

December 2025

2025.05.31

Close friends visit the house. In the pleasant Spring weather, the courtyard volume is fully opened up. We convert the bedroom into a tatami platform, and mahjong ensues. During concept design, we imagined this kind of ad hoc flexibility for this space; it is relishing to witness it live.

2024.12.12

Every year, a flock of sheep visit the commons behind the house for a week. Their grazing is part of the wildfire land management practices of The Sea Ranch. For both us and the sheep, it is a treat.

2024.09.25

The house finishes are substantially complete. It is the moment when the house is solely form, material, and light. We juxtapose OKdraw's renders within these yet unfurnished space to compare visualization to reality.

2024.09.17

A 36" box podocarpus (buddhist pine) from Moon Valley Nursery arrives at the house. Without access to a crane, an excavator is jerry-rigged to lift the tree into the courtyard. The tree is a primary feature of the courtyard and also used for visual screening of the Eastern neighbor's two-story structure. I think the way it pokes out of the courtyard wall is pretty cute.

2024.06.19

We spend the week staining the siding black. Temporarily, the house expresses a wainscot marked by the 7' datum that tracks along the head of all openings.

2024.06.09

Rough-sawn douglas fir plywood siding is installed. Originally we specified marine grade ply, but learned that the laminating glue prevents it from taking stain. Rough-sawn doug fir ply is commonly used in other houses in The Sea Ranch, but usually along with battens overlaid.

2024.04.23

Window and door install begins. The interior remains unfinished, with framing exposed.

2024.03.06 - 04.13

Framing takes the better part of a month; it is unsurprisingly, my favorite phase of construction. At its beginning, the silhouettes of each volume begin emerging as a permanent story-pole. Relationships between volumes become distinct yet still informal. As framing continues, volumes are fully defined but the spacing of 2x4s still allow a glimpse of the landscapes and spaces beyond; it is the last moment before these visual connections are lost.

2023.12.18

Construction starts in November. Initiating sitework and foundation during the winter season is never ideal, as rains quickly turn the exposed foundation into a Roman bath. Progress is nonetheless steady.

2023.08.23

A still prestine landscape, two months prior to start of construction. All of the work done so far are hypothetical. Will the surveying, staking, drawings, yield the site and visual relationships of our aspirations? We hope that the eventual architecture to come can both capture and preserve the enchantment that is already here.