The Sea Ranch Retreat – Ramirez Residence by Norman Miller Architects and Judith Sheine Architect

On a dramatic stretch of northern Californian coastline, two modest structures perch very near a cliff’s edge, claiming ownership of expansive views across the Pacific Ocean. As a collaboration between architects Judith Sheine and Norman Millar, Ramirez Residence presents a contemporary coastal retreat caught between land, sea and sky, celebratory of the landscape and sympathetic to its context.

Several hours north of San Francisco, a rugged stretch of coast sits populated with modernist timber buildings overlooking the rocky coves and inlets where ocean meets land. Here, The Sea Ranch exists as an enclave of buildings that have popped up in the landscape over several decades in the spirit of a vision conceived by a collective of architects and designers in the 1960s. The Sea Ranch development was to be underpinned by a philosophy of living with – and preserving – the land and its natural features. Structures to be erected here would follow a vernacular of weathered barns typical of the region, established in harmony with the environmental amenities – meadows, streams, native vegetation and, perhaps most notably, the vast ocean views.

From the advantage of the arrival, a small compound of volumes presents itself within the context of a dramatic cliffside site.

Judith Sheine and Norman Millar were both familiar with the conditions of the region as architects and academics practicing across California. Long-time acquaintances themselves, Judith and Norman were asked by a shared friend to collaborate on Ramirez Residence to craft a coastal retreat on the edge of the ocean as an amalgam of the pair’s respective architectural sensibilities. “It was challenging for us to bring our somewhat different design inclinations together,” Judith reflects. “However, the house was a better design because of the collaboration.”

The culmination of their shared efforts – supplemented by the involvement of their friend and client – is manifest in a design response that was able to integrate with a visual language defined and tightly protected by a set of highly regulated design guidelines for The Sea Ranch. Established before any ground was broken, the guidelines exist as a physical and philosophical framework for the region concerned with keeping buildings intimately connected to the land. The ambition of Judith and Norman for Ramirez Residence can perhaps best be defined by the building’s capacity to uphold the robust Sea Ranch design principles and simultaneously introduce a contemporary interpretation of the many great coastal homes that have come before.

Judith and Norman’s steel and concrete proposal integrates a conscientious resilience to the potentially adverse environmental conditions of the region.

The approach to Ramirez Residence is at first deceiving; two weathered steel boxes peek above a rise in the topography planted with native vegetation. A short journey down the driveway reveals an arrival courtyard and garage at a lower level, discreetly concealed by the landscaped rise. From the advantage of the arrival, a small compound of volumes presents itself within the context of a dramatic cliffside site. The residence comprises two primary forms located at opposite edges of the property. Along the northern boundary, the main house stretches away from the arrival space towards the coastline. To the southern boundary is a modest guesthouse aligned with the axis of the main home. The location of the two complementary buildings was constrained by several existing sea caves positioned deep within the centre of the site and “instead of the more obvious siting of the house parallel to the edge of the cove,” says Judith, “the sea caves led to a decision to site the main house and the guesthouse both essentially parallel to the boundaries with a landscaped space between the two.” The challenges of this context were effectively leveraged to take advantage of an opportunity to integrate a sunny outdoor garden space. Norman’s contribution is noticeable in the landscape design too, his hand physically involved in the selection and planting of native vegetation and the laying of meandering stone paths.

“It was critical to allow views of the ocean from both the main house and guesthouse,” explains Judith when describing the resolution of the building forms. The result of this fundamental design principle is clear in the long sections of the architecture. For each, a single open volume contains several other smaller volumes spread across stepped and terraced interiors – a style of occupation reminiscent of earlier Sea Ranch houses – oriented towards the sweeping views of the sea beyond. As the loft-like spaces retreat from the cliff edge, incremental level changes afford uninterrupted visual connectivity to the dramatic coastal scenery, the tones of which are emulated in the selection of exterior material finishes. Textured board-form concrete and corrugated Corten steel echo the distressed, weathered aesthetic of the coastal context irrespective of the departure from The Sea Ranch guidelines. “It was also a main goal to respect the original design principles of the original architects of The Sea Ranch, whose work we admire, and to move those forward,” comments Judith. “We wanted to make the expression of those principles more contemporary and more fire resistant.” In lieu of the exterior cedar shingles common to exemplary Sea Ranch buildings, Judith and Norman’s steel and concrete proposal integrates a conscientious resilience to the potentially adverse environmental conditions of the region.

“It was also a main goal to respect the original design principles of the original architects of The Sea Ranch, whose work we admire, and to move those forward,” comments Judith.

Departures from the design guidelines were hard fought and required a robust process of review and consultation with the local association. That the shift in material selection for Ramirez Residence was accepted – and even celebrated – by The Sea Ranch Association is a testament to the success of the house as a meaningful contribution to the collective design discourse of the wider community. This, coupled with the client’s enthusiasm for the experience of living within the landscape, defines the success of Ramirez Residence as an architecture befitting of its context.