Peter’s House by Craig Steely Architecture

Overlooking San Francisco’s Dolores Park – and located on a steep site as it borders a beautiful public garden – is “Peter’s House,” an 1,800-square-foot home from SF-based Craig Steely Architecture. Efficiently built, the structure eschews the typical practice of staggering foundations up the hillside, instead locating a 24’ x 24’ cast-in-place concrete garage on the lowest level as a three-story glass structure towers above – thus drastically reducing the amount of excavation typically necessary and minimizing the effects on the surrounding land. On the top floor, the living area spans from a flat plateau to the main tower with a bridge-like design while 90 solid wood louvers – crafted from Monterey Cypress trees originally removed by the city to make room for a new on-ramp to the Golden Gate Bridge – are fixed to the exterior and operable from the inside for the perfect combination of openness and privacy.