Mid Century Modern Home

Vina, California

LOCATION:
 Vina, California 

ARCHITECT:
 Mario Corbett 

 OWNER:
  Moritz Thomsen 
 
COST FACTS:
$16,500 in 1950. 1344 square feet at approximately $12 per square foot.

MATERIALS:
Natural fieldstone from the site. Redwood finishes, left unpainted or stained, inside and out.

PLAN FACTS:
A most unusual construction technique has been employed by architect Mario Corbett for this house designed for a bachelor-rancher in the fertile Sacramento Valley.

Two huge end walls of local fieldstone seem to suspend the airy structure in between. The east wall is extended out beyond the actual enclosed living space to include a garden room with a two-story high plastic screen wall on a redwood frame.

The house is opened to this garden room (which acts as a "galleria" affording access to both levels) in the hot summer months. Redwood and glass enclose the western side of the house.

All of the living arrangements are concentrated on the second-story level, while the lower level at present serves as work space for the owner and will later be made into two bedrooms and a bath. The "cool" rooms at this lower level also act as a refuge during the hot season.

ECONOMIES:
Space for rooms on the lower level enclosed within the original structure, but will be completed at a later time ~ thus saving approximately $2,000 in original building budget.

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