Table to Farm

Table to Farm | AIA Merit Award 2015

The story: an entrepreneur who spends her days in the city conceiving and managing high-concept restaurants and other creative real estate ventures needed a retreat. A place that would take her closer to the type of land that supplies her customer’s tables, and that reflected her love for wide-open spaces. Cue: Somis, CA. The 70’s-era country house plus avocado ranch she found there was in need of extensive renovation, but with sweeping valley views and on rich alluvial farmland it had more than enough potential to fit that bill.

The overall site plan includes terraced steps, retaining walls, and planters, all made with a combination of board formed concrete and reclaimed wood planking. Together, they form a considered geometry, with sharp angles and linear patterns that both mirror and frame the rows of agricultural plantings below. The pool area is bookended by an Argentinian barbecue – for a traditional asado – and a cabana with wet bar, making it the perfect retreat for outdoor entertaining amidst an idyllic rural setting.

We chose materials with an equal emphasis on beauty, function and sustainability – exposed steel I-beams and hog fencing on the attached decks, corrugated steel barn siding for the house and pool cabana, and reclaimed wood planks for decking.

somis, ca (view site plans and renderings here)

Kurt-Jordan.logo_circle-50-squareall images by kurt jordan photography