A Weekend Getaway to San Francisco - Day 2
If Day 1 of this weekend trip was devoted primarily to art, Day 2 was devoted to modern architecture in Silicon Valley. With a little bit of planning, I managed to get two friends in the Bay Area to join me on this adventure...
The Modern Home Tour is one of many offered by MA+DS Home throughout the year in different cities/areas such as Silicon Valley CA, Denver, Seattle, Portland and San Diego, my hometown. There were five homes on tour in Silicon Valley.
We started with the residence in Palo Alto by Buttrick Projects A+D. It was a favorite of ours. The neutral palette was the perfect backdrop for the artworks throughout. And, amazingly, this was the guest house! The main house is on the adjacent lot.
There were many people at each of the homes on tour. My images do not necessarily reflect this as I try to time my photo taking when everyone has left the room (yes, I'm the one who lags behind the group).
The second residence we toured, by architect Craig Steely, was nestled within the trees in Cupertino. Quite the example of open design and minimalist living. The deep purple cushioned conversation pit was a focal point. The floor to ceiling glass walls brought in an abundance of natural light. For more about the space, read here and also in Dwell.
After the Cupertino home, we visited a pair of renovated Eichlers in Sunnyvale. The Eichler neighborhoods are fun to visit. In fact, one of my friends lives in an Eichler in another such neighborhood in San Mateo, so she knows all about the different floor plans. I just enjoyed touring the Eichlers and did not take any photos of the exterior, which is a shame. Would have been nice to have captured the butterfly roofs. The Eichler homes reminded my friend and I of the homes in Hawaii, where we both grew up.
Our final stop was in Los Altos Hills at an amazing one-of-a-kind residence by M. Design Architects. The cantilevered dining area, sited high above a beautiful mini-tile mosaic pool, was quite the showstopper, along with the garage door wall that opens to the sky hydraulically.
Heading back up the peninsula after the tour, we stopped in Burlingame for dinner at Mingalaba, a Burmese restaurant. Just a pic of the Rainbow Salad below, before it was tossed table side. The standout dishes had great flavor and were well-executed. We ate them before taking pics. I would make a special pre-airport trip to Mingalaba to order the Rainbow Salad, Parantha and Sauteed Green Beans - those dishes are that good!
A terrific day, spent with friends touring a nice mix of modern homes. Perhaps repeat this next year?
