Located in California, USA, the Oak Knoll Residence is a home designed by Jørgensen Design. The site for the house is a large plot of land dotted with full grown trees and vineyards. The project consists of two houses connected with glass. Each house is protected from the road with two ‘L’ Shaped walls – one is stone and one is cedar. A number of pieces behind these walls are arranged together around courtyards and terraces. In turn giving rise to a sequence of individual gardens, each with their own individual ambience – gardens set among other limitless gardens. A system of slender spaces act like paths connecting the gardens, courtyards, and interior spaces, each embracing and respecting the landscape.
The entrance garden is conceived as a porch-like atrium which leads to a solid redwood door crafted from the only tree removed from the site. Guestrooms are through the cedar gateway and open to the southern views of vineyards, Stone Mountain, Mt. Vedeer and the city nearby. The envelope of the house enhances the control of the site while providing a sense of privacy and protection while juxtaposed with large openings to the surrounding landscape. The materialization of this project reflects its rural setting, while softening its urban attributes of shelter in front and massive openings behind those urban attributes and human nature.
