MAYACAMAS ARCHITECTS
RESIDENTIAL DESIGN ARCHITECTS
Selected Residential Projects
Stag's Leap Residence
Napa Valley
The Stag's Leap Residence was a labor of love for a San Francisco couple dreaming for years to move to Napa Valley. Nestled in the vineyards, it is situated to take advantage of the gorgeous mountain views of Stag's Leap while incorporating all of the amenities of a superb Napa Valley indoor-outdoor lifestyle. The 4,000 s.f., three-bedroom, three bath residence includes a swimming pool, outdoor dining pergola and a large sleeping porch off the master bedroom suite. Special features include a large chef's kitchen with custom refrigerated wine cabinets that stores up to 52-cases of wine.
Foothill Residence
Calistoga
A farm-inspired modern home in Calistoga with stunning views of the rocky Palisades to the east, the 3 bedroom 3 bath 3,000 square foot home is built on a sloping lot where the upper floor master bedroom suite feels like it is floating in the trees, with large windows that overlook the pool, the valley floor vineyards, and a modern Water Tower. Living spaces on all sides of the building guarantee a place to enjoy the outdoors all year long, rain or shine, and a field-rock fireplace on the patio encourages socializing late into any Calistoga evening with a freshly roasted s'more and a glass of Charbono.
Cloudy Meadow Ranch
Paso Robles
The 40-acre property is one of 100 lots in a 3,000 acre ranch preserve. The 6,000 square foot residence has 3-bedrooms, 3 1/2 baths and a 3-car garage. Special features include a countertop cooking fireplace, a temperature controlled wine room and an adjacent 1,500 square foot painting studio with art gallery.
Madrona Residence
St. Helena
In town, westside St. Helena, living in a compact format but with all the style and elegance you could want on a 6,000 square foot lot. This modern American farmhouse included double-height ceilings, striking corner windows, a statement fireplace hand-crafted from local stone, and a small, modern, yet refreshing garden surrounded by white dogwoods.
Diamond Mountain Estate Home
Calistoga
The 6,500 square foot 6 bedroom, 6 1/2 bath home on a 12 acre site sits on a topographical bench perched above the valley floor with 360 degree views of Mt. St. Helena, the Palisades, hillside vineyards and a redwood grove. The residence consists of two buildings: the main house and a guest house (shown in photos) wrapping around two sides of a central swimming pool with terraced lounge areas, a fire pit and spa. Simple and geometric, the design epitomizes low key sophistication letting the beauty of the location and the view speak for themselves. Check back in with us for updates.
Stag's Leap Residence
Architectural Details
Foothill Residence
Architectural Details
Cloudy Meadow Ranch
Architectural Details
Madrona Residence
Architectural Details
Diamond Mountain Residence
Estimated Completion 2025
Related Residential Experience
Marin Sustainable Living Community
California
The 28-residence, ultra-sustainable community consists of 2, 3 or four-bedroom residences in (4) seven-residence ‘estate buildings’ that are designed to look like large, contemporary estate homes. While each residence has a dedicated workspace - amenities provide a co-working studio, cafe, gym, yoga studio, spa, swimming pool - plus indoor and outdoor dining and lounging areas. Services include housekeeping, landscape and building maintenance, and electric car-sharing. Kids amenities and services include daycare, co-learning and a shuttle van. I.e. all of the support residents need to work productively when they work from home.
45% of a community’s ‘useable’ electricity will be generated by rooftop solar PV arrays, 45% by hydrogen fuel cells and 10% stored in batteries. We will electrolyze grey water into hydrogen using ‘excess’ electricity generated by solar arrays, and store it for use in a fuel cell to power a community at night, and during cloudy and rainy days. Heat pumps, water heaters, refrigeration and ventilation systems will be leveraged for energy efficient radiant heating and cooling. Each estate building is designed to power itself, but all are connected by a micro-grid so that electricity produced in a community is available where and when it is needed - thus communities can operate ‘off-grid’.
Site-specific proposal for a community designed for ARIEL Sustainable Technologies, Inc.
Fountaingrove Lodge
Santa Rosa
A ground breaking and award-winning LGBT project with 70 independent residential units in the Mayacamas foothills. Nestled among oak trees and with views across Santa Rosa towards the Pacific, Fountaingrove Lodge amenities include swimming pool, wine cavern, dining hall and bar room.
Andrew was the Lead Architect for Oakmont Senior Living
Chen Jia Clubhouse
Shanghai, China
The 30,000 square foot clubhouse serves a new residential community in Shanghai. The program includes a reception area, restaurant, bar, private dining and conference rooms, a game room and outdoor terraces. The landscape and architectural designs play on the site's marshy natural landscape and together offer a glazed tea lounge that spans a weir-like waterfall.
This project was designed by Mark while he was a Principal at BAR Architects.
Rendering by Thai Nguyen
The Canyons Villa
Park City, UT
The 18,000 square foot, 7-bedroom, 8 1/2 bath, 7-car garage ski-in/ski-out estate home is located on a "Canyons" ski run. Architecturally the residence is designed as a modern hybrid of a Japanese villa (asymmetrical exterior) and a European villa (bi-axial plan). The program includes an indoor swimming pool with a spa treatment room and a 15 seat movie screening theater.
The mountain resort villa was designed by Mark while a Design Principal/Owner of BAR Architects,
Rendering by Thai Nguyen
Agassi-Graf Lifestyle Center
Peninsula Cacique, Costa Rica
The resort is one of five planned for Peninsula Cacique by Revolution Places. Andre and Steffi have traveled the world but found few tennis-oriented resorts they liked. This was an opportunity to create what they felt was missing, The project includes 21 for-sale villas and a lifestyle center.
This resort villa was co-designed by Mark while Principal at BAR Architects.
Rendering by Thai Nguyen
HCM Communities
Japan
Over a 12 year period, Mark co-designed eight luxury senior living communities throughout Japan as a Principal of BAR Architects. This photograph looks toward a bridge-like promenade spanning a modern reflection pond designed by the SWA Group. The extraordinary quality of the exterior and interior finishes is typical of each community - expertly constructed by Japanese contractors - exhibiting some of the world's highest levels of craftsmanship.
These multiple projects were co-designed by Mark while Principal at BAR Architects.
Insights
Making Estate Homes Self-Sufficient and Resilient
Power Outages Are Becoming More Frequent
Wildfires, extreme weather events and ‘public safety power shutoffs’ make it critical that estate home properties have the capability to be fully ‘off-grid’, because their high net worth home owners often work from home remotely and can’t afford to be disconnected from their business operations. Gas generators are noisy and designed for short term emergency use. Most residential battery packs only store enough electricity to run a house for 12 hours (less if the household has one or more EV’s). Given a week or more of extended smoky, cloudy, rainy and/or snowy conditions, an estate home property would require a dozen or more battery packs. A more comprehensive solution is required.
Solar PV Arrays + Hydrogen Fuel Cells & Batteries
Together, solar PV arrays, plus hydrogen fuel cells and fast charge/discharge batteries can economically power estate home properties 24/7 - 365 days per year. Solar PV arrays generate electricity ‘on-demand’, while their ’excess electricity’ can electrolyze purified grey water into hydrogen (stored for use in a fuel cell) to generate electricity at night and on non-sunny days. Fast charging/discharging batteries can be used when a lot of electricity is suddenly needed - such as quickly charging EV’s. It is important to compare the cost of hydrogen to the cost of lithium batteries, as both are ‘storage mediums’ for solar generated electricity.
Passive Design Elements, Building Systems & Micro-grid
To cost effectively use the electricity generated, estate buildings need to be well-insulated, have sun-control devices, a radiant heating and cooling system that runs off an energy efficient heat
pump, an AI-enabled interior environment control system, and a micro-grid that ties together the estate home with out-buildings. To take this a step further, Mayacamas Architects developed a master plan for a 125-acre vineyard community in Sonoma Valley, consisting of (7) estate home sites that share their electricity over a neighborhood micro-grid - taking the concept of ‘living off-the-grid’ to a new level.
OUR FIRM & DESIGN PHILOSOPHY
Mayacamas Architects is an architectural firm focused on designing estate homes and wine country residences in the Napa Valley, Sonoma Valley and Marin County.
We believe that the best designs are the result of collaboration between the client, architect, building contractor and design consultants, and that engagement and communication between stakeholders is critical for a project's success. We encourage creative problem solving among all participants and ultimately this leads to inspiring, effective buildings.
Although we look at each project through a contemporary lens, we don't have a set architectural style. For client's with a clear vision of what they want, we will follow their direction. In any event, Mayacamas Architects believes that designs should be informed by location, views, topography, climate and by our client's goals - thus each project is unique.
In the end, our work reflects our clients' personality and lifestyle. It draws from the environment, harvesting local light, colors, and textures to rekindle the soul and nourish the spirit.