Marian Berg misplaced almost every little thing within the Atlas hearth of 2017 — not simply the Napa, Calif., home she had constructed together with her husband, who died in 2014, however all of its contents.
“I used to be downstairs studying a guide, and I had a pal who known as and mentioned, ‘Your hill is on hearth,’” mentioned Ms. Berg, 69, an accountant. “I grabbed my canine and ripped the cables out of the again of my pc, threw that within the automotive, after which ran again for my passport. Then I used to be out of there.”
She had been by a fireplace scare earlier than, so she didn’t instantly assume the worst. “I truly thought I used to be going to come back again,” she mentioned.
However just a few days later, she heard from a pal that the home had burned down. There was nothing to return to.
Luckily, it was nicely insured, so she rented a spot close by whereas determining what to do subsequent. She contemplated transferring to Florida, however after a yr of mulling it over determined to remain put as a result of a lot of her buddies and shoppers — and the horses she loved driving — have been in and round Napa.
Finally, Ms. Berg determined to make use of the insurance coverage cash to rebuild on the identical sloped lot. However she had no intention of reconstructing what she had constructed together with her husband within the Nineteen Nineties. This was a possibility to start out over, to construct one thing fully totally different that mirrored her present stage of life.
After canvassing buddies for names of architects, she paid three companies to develop proposals for her. One got here again with a design paying homage to her outdated two-story home. “It hit me like a kick within the chest,” she mentioned.
One other offered a design she didn’t very like. However Fischer Structure, a Berkeley agency, proposed a modernist compound that she instantly beloved: a single-story construction dug into the hillside, with a non-public courtyard close to the road and a dwelling area with glass sliders that may supply an expansive view.
“Once we first went to go to, the location was a wasteland,” mentioned Andrew Fischer, who runs the agency along with his spouse, Kerstin Fischer. “Half of it regarded like a moonscape.”
“Our considering,” Ms. Fischer mentioned, “was to make the most of that downslope of the lot to press the home into the hillside, comply with the topography and create an oasis for her that may be shielded from the rebuilding that was occurring, and that’s nonetheless occurring.”
The design had different benefits, as nicely. It created privateness, provided extra usable out of doors area than Ms. Berg had earlier than, and enabled single-story dwelling to assist her age in place.
She appreciated all of these concepts. And though she describes herself as “a numbers particular person, not an artwork particular person,” she received swept up within the considered constructing one thing that may be fully new for the neighborhood. “It was so totally different,” she mentioned. “And I like totally different.”
Aiming to make the 4,660-square-foot construction as hearth resistant as attainable, the architects used concrete block, a utilitarian materials extra generally related to warehouses and industrial buildings. However reasonably than use typical blocks, they discovered longer ones made with an mixture resembling terrazzo and stacked them with staggered joints, spacing some out in entrance of home windows to create screens. Lastly, they utilized a thick limewash paint to the outside surfaces, so “it doesn’t appear to be your conventional Costco warehouse,” Mr. Fischer mentioned.
Topped by a standing-seam steel roof, the home is supplied with a sprinkler system that makes use of captured rainwater saved in tanks under the pool deck.
Inside, they added oak flooring, door and window frames for a heat, pure contact, specifying charcoal-colored Fenix laminate for kitchen cupboards and wall paneling. As for furnishings and equipment, Ms. Berg didn’t want a lot.
“The fascinating factor is that when every little thing burns, you don’t need something,” she mentioned. “You understand that every one that junk you had, as stunning because it might need been, you didn’t actually need it. It was simply one thing that wanted to be dusted or taken care of.”
With steering from John Stewart, an inside designer pal, she purchased the minimal variety of items wanted to reside comfortably. “There are not any valances, no sconces, no fancy stuff hanging off partitions, no material puddling on the bottoms of home windows — none of that stuff,” she mentioned.
It took about two years for the builder, Olson Bros., to finish the home, and Ms. Berg moved in nearly precisely 4 years after the fireplace, in October 2021. The overall price was about $6.4 million, roughly 90 % of which was lined by her insurance coverage firm. (She paid the remaining to cowl options she didn’t have in her outdated home, together with flooring with radiant warmth, automated window coverings and the pool.)
“You’ve simply received to be pleased about what you’ve received,” she mentioned. “And for those who’re actually fortunate like me, you find yourself with a extremely stunning home to reside in.”
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