DESIGN & ARCHITECTURE

HIGH HORSE RANCH

ALICIA YUAN

PTHOTOGRAPHY BY: TIM GRIFFITH

High Horse Ranch is a mountain retreat for a couple living in a renovated industrial space in the Mission District of San Francisco. In contrast to their introverted loft, High Horse was designed to be outwardly focused and defined by the site, its views, and the natural landscape.

The main house and two guest cabins sit on a 64-acre site in the hills of Northern California, gravel roads. The property features of open meadow, manzanita thickets, areas of oak, madrone, Douglas fir, and ponderosa pine.

The residents envisioned their guests arriving at the property, walking the wooded path up to welcomed and taken inside. Only then would the guests be presented with the spectacular view, from the hilltop vantage point, the structure of the house. The main house is systematically structured around a central service and circulation bar with a living-dining-kitchen pavilion view southern valley, and the bedroom-study pavilion is looking out to the canyon.

The two guest cabins are satellites of the main house, one oriented to the valley and one to the canyon, each providing a distinct experience and perspective of the site. While dependent on meals and community, the retreat offers guests privacy and solitude with a bathroom, study desk, covered porch, and fire pit.

To learn more about this project and its architects, please visit kierantimberlake.com