24 DIGS.NET
| 2.6.26
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P R O F I L E | F E L D M A N A R C H I T E C T U R E
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west, each gesture calibrated to the ridge's
dramatic fall line.
What emerges is a study in horizontal
stratification. Stacked planes hover above
the Healdsburg hills like geologic layers
exposed by erosion, an architectural logic
that mirrors the site's own character. This
formal strategy does more than look good in
photographs; it reorganizes how the family
inhabits their property. The relocated pool
now runs parallel to the main living spaces,
transforming what was once a recreational
afterthought into the compositional spine
of the entire project. Between main house
and pool house, a trellised outdoor room
creates exactly the kind of flexible, climate-
responsive space that makes Northern
California living feel effortless, adjustable
shade for punishing summer afternoons,
shelter for evening gatherings when fog
rolls across the valley floor.
e r c h e d a t o p a r i d g e i n
Healdsburg wine country, where
the dramatic topography unfolds
toward Mount Saint Helena on
the horizon, a family confronted
an architect's paradox: how to
rebuild better after fire consumed their
mountain home in 2017. The answer
lies not in replication, but reinvention, a
strategy that has produced The Phoenix,
a residence that reads the landscape with
uncommon intelligence while addressing
the practical and emotional needs of
contemporary living.
The name carries weight beyond metaphor.
This isn't simply about recovery; it's about
evolution. The original structure, while
serviceable, never quite solved the
relationship between dwelling and terrain.
Its most glaring failure? A pool marooned
downslope, severed from the house
by vertical distance and poor planning.
Feldman Architecture confronts this legacy
head-on, reorganizing the entire site into
a composition of elongated, rectilinear
volumes that march confidently from east to
