Tawantan is located about halfway between Sacramento and San Francisco. Outside weather conditions are changeable. Sometimes the house is above the coastal fog; sometimes it is above the valley fog. It is quite often the dividing line between the sunny valley and the foggy coastal area. Fog waterfalls are then visible to the North. The feel and the look of the house depend on these changing weather conditions. Tawantan is located on the South Sister of the Twin Sisters, the highest peaks in Solano County. Situated on 1700 acres of canyons, ridges, and vistas, wildlife is abundant. Deer, wild boar, wild turkeys, bobcats, foxes and quail are frequently sighted.

The surrounding hills are green from Thanksgiving through mid-May. From early summer until the rains begin, the hills are brown. Between late March and early May, the fields are blanketed with spectacular wild flowers.

Tawantan is designed in the spirit of John Lautner’s Real Architecture, as one-of-a-kind, timeless, flowing space inspired in the site, the views, the Owner’s requirements and sensibilities.

The house is partially recessed into one of the Twin Sisters Peaks, at the top of the 1700 acre property. It is “The House Above the Morning Clouds”, designed to be almost invisible from the distance but open to the spectacular views in all directions.

The owners wanted a house that would make them feel that they live on top of the world and that inspires them to think great thoughts. This was just one of many well thought features in their list that gave me the clues to achieve a great design. The “floating in space” feeling, the funnel shaped wings to capture the views and pull them into the center of the house, the sense of Nature in motion and constant change can only be experienced in person. No photography can do justice to Real Architecture.

The main floor of the house is one big space enclosed with frameless glass walls and minimal wood partitions around only the master bedroom and baths. The Owners wanted several fireplaces, so these became the structure of the house and the utilities chases. The lower floor is recessed into the mountain top. This required a seventeen foot deep level cut for access of equipment all around the house. The original slope was restored later. The main floor has large cantilevered decks and a fifty foot long pool projecting from the house. These are structural concrete slabs, tapered from sixteen inches of depth to only four inches at the outside perimeter. The outside edges of the roof are also tapered from thirty six inches of depth to only five inches.

The pool underside and the lateral walls are visible as it cantilevers out of the mountain.

The roof is finished in terne-coated stainless steel, which weathers to a warm gray tone that looks nice against the sky.

Everything in the house is custom designed and selected, built-in furniture, finish stainless steel hardware, glass door pull cabinets, even the bathroom accessories.