Hampton Court | Piedmont, California | 9,000 square feet
We built this modern retreat in the international style of the Hong Kong-based owners and their son, a New York architect. With his local colleague, we secured the first permit to develop a new lot in the Building Department’s memory, bridged Indian Creek to reach a lush corner of the large site, and sped the rest of the intricate logistics with an efficient communication system. Similarly deceptive in apparent simplicity, a clean face of Western red cedar and custom-cut granite wainscoting salvaged from China’s Three Gorges region hides infrastructure for seven bedrooms and baths. Long interior sight lines skim perfectly flat sheetrock walls beneath clearstory windows that aim oblique angles of light. We finished three months early, in time for the owner’s 80th birthday party.
Essentials
- Interior Design | Calvin Tsao
- Architecture | Tsao & McKown with David Finn
- Cabinetry | Mueller Nicholls
- Photography | Eric Laignel
- Awards | 2009 Best New Home (Contemporary), Piedmont Planning Commission
- 2007 Best of Year Finalist, Interior Design Magazine
Contact Voice: 510 406 3217 | E-mail: 