In Ross, An Extraordinary Home Set In A Redwood Grove, $12.5M

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Where: 9 Woodside Way, Ross
Asking: $12,495,000
What: A stunning 5-bed, 4.5-bath new home set in a redwood grove, new construction by Lowell Strauss and his design/build firm Amalfi West, built at a level rarely seen even in custom homes. What’s fascinating is the design’s echo of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Usonian Houses, a series of horizontally-oriented residences designed by the master between 1939 and 1958, in redwood planking, stucco and stone.

Good Feng Shui: The entry is almost ceremonial, with the house unfolding as we walk towards the welcoming entry (at top) past a water feature. The deep eaves are finished in copper, and yes, that’s a green roof.

Like so many Wright designs, this one is set into the hillside, with a progression of spaces– in this case, an elegant stone staircase leading down to the main living spaces. You can read more about Wright’s Usonian Houses here.

What Wright did not have, however, were walls of floor-to-ceiling glass that would completely open up, cantilevering the roof into the landscape. The house was sited and planned around the existing redwoods.


There’s an adajcent famiy/media room with a sophisticated sound system.

Below, one of Northen California’s best hot tubs,

What We Love: Open kitchens? Cooking and clean-up are fundamentally messy, so Strauss included a prep kitchen/butler’s pantry (not shown) off the main kitchen to address that. Plus having the kitchen seamlessly open to the patio and pool area? Genius.

Caution: This home can induce serious bath envy. The master bath, clad in stone panels, has a tub carved from Koa wood set against 12-foot high sliding glass doors.

More: Go to the property’s outstanding dedicated website for additional details, images, floor plans, and a truly seductive video. Represented by Pacific Union International’s Scott Woods and Bill Smith.