Architecture Wednesday: Camp Baird

I don’t know if you know this about me, but I loathe camping; I loathe almost everything about it, other than the nature part, but this house might make me want to go camping.

There is the large, climatized pool, perfect for exercise and leisure time, and without that pesky dirty lake water filled with fish and whatever fish do in the water … which is everything!

There’s a large concrete chimney, for heat, and for cookouts … with produce and foodstuffs from, say, Whole Foods.

The idea behind the house was to enclose the structure as little as possible to maintain the sense of a camp, a building completely focused on the outdoors; the client’s original inspiration included tents pitched on a deck and a possible prefabricated structure.

Tents? Oh honey, no …. No.

Located on 165 acres, twenty minutes from the closest paved road, Camp Baird is situated on the sole generous level spot in a coastal California valley of oaks and bay trees.

The home, completely off the grid … even cellular service is spotty, which suits me just fine… is comprised of two structures, a car barn and a main pool house placed in an L-shaped orientation. The house has three enclosed multi-functional spaces on opposite ends of the central south-facing porch, that can be used for sleeping, gathering, lounging, yoga or playing games.

It’s like camping, but a little cleaner and a little less roughing it.

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