Miner Road House

Miner Road House is a profoundly site-responsive and sustainability-driven residence by Faulkner Architects located in the wooded hills of Orinda, California. Originally conceived as a remodel of a 1954 ranch house resting at the foot of a hill beside a seasonal creek, the project evolved into a new three-bedroom home that retains the original footprint while engaging in a deep ecological dialogue with its context. The clients, a couple of environmental scientists and their two children, approached the design with a clear, unwavering objective: to create a net-zero energy home that harmonizes with its landscape and climate. This ambition informed every design decision, from the building’s massing to its material selection and environmental systems. A weathered steel rain screen — durable, low–maintenance, and visually responsive — envelops the exterior, grounding the residence within the surrounding oak canopy and giving the form a quiet, sculptural presence. Retaining the existing concrete fireplace from the old house as a structural anchor allowed the design to preserve the intimate relationship with an adjacent valley oak tree, minimizing grading and honoring the site’s natural order. Inside, a double-height living space, defined by expansive floor-to-ceiling glazing, forges a direct connection with the landscape and floods interiors with natural light. The open living layout transitions seamlessly to outdoor patios, extending the spatial experience into the garden and reinforcing a profound relationship between inside and out. Material tactility plays a critical role in the sensory richness of Miner Road House. Unfinished white oak for walls, ceilings, and floors provides warmth and texture, while concrete and steel articulate the home’s structural clarity and environmental resilience. This restrained palette complements sustainable strategies — including an 8.1 kW photovoltaic system that generated more energy than the house consumed during its first year of operation — high-efficiency glazing, and advanced HVAC systems — achieving substantial reductions in both heating and cooling loads. Innovative water management systems further underscore the project’s ecological performance: rainwater is harvested from the roof and directed to buried tanks that supply toilets and laundry uses, while greywater is reclaimed for irrigation. Energy recovery ventilators and variable-speed heat pumps enhance indoor environmental quality and comfort with minimal energy expenditure. Through its thoughtful integration of architecture and landscape, Miner Road House exemplifies Faulkner Architects’ commitment to sustainable design that is both technically rigorous and deeply attuned to the rhythms of the site. The result is a residence that celebrates environmental stewardship, material clarity, and a seamless connection between human life and the natural world.