Overlooking a scenic valley in Sonoma County is a 13 acre wooded property atop a steep hill near Healdsburg. This is the setting for a new, off-grid fire-resistant house. Characterized by a series of chimneys and wrap around porch, this house nestles into the top of the hill, fostering expansive west-ward views of the vineyard valley below. The multiple chimneys double function as architecturall expressive anchor points used on create exterior corner transitions while on the interior they act as passive cooling and heat evacuation towers. Deep porches promote an indoor-outdoor lifestyle while providing shade from the summer sun. Located in a fire zone, this house uses fire resistive materials, however, a root cause of house combustion during a forest fire is the vented soffit, required for venting the roof structure. However, the vented soffit ‘sucks’ embers past the fire resisitive materials and up into the combustible roof framing. To prevent this, we are exploring the use of the chimney’s as a roof ventilation system as the sole means of roof ventilation, thus increasing the structures fire resistance.
_Current Phase: Design Development
_General Contractor: Sawyer Construction
_Expected Construction: Summer 2023