With a demure footprint of just over 400 square feet, a California guesthouse is a master class in effective space planning. Awash in sleek amenities and clever fittings, this one-of-a-kind dwelling in Marin County was designed by Mork-Ulnes Architects, who are based in San Franciso and Oslo. According to the firm’s founder and principal, Casper Mork-Ulnes, the setting had multiple challenges, including a sharply-angled hillside location and a compact garage foundation serving as its base. Flexible furnishings maximize the interior space, while outside decking expands the usable square footage in a region celebrated for its gentle climate.
Gwen Donovan: How do the owners use this innovative home?
Casper Mork-Ulnes: The owners and their children have actually been using it for several years as their main home while they wait for their larger vacation residence to be designed and built on the property. Once that is done, it will become a guesthouse.
GD: What were some of the project’s biggest design challenges and how did you resolve them?
CM-U: Given that we had to fit the building on the existing foundation of the former garage, the most challenging part of designing this guesthouse was fitting all of the desired programming into the small foundation that remained. We worked around this challenge by making the space flexible.
GD: What are some of the furnishings you customized for this guesthouse and how do they enhance the livability of the home?
CM-U: Since this project is so tiny, the building really had to have Swiss Army Knife functionality. A Murphy bed folds out, a floating kitchen island can relocate to the outside for outdoor cooking, the bathroom is split in two and built along the wall, furniture is tucked in wall niches, and a ladder reaches up to a hidden loft above the bathroom. We had to strive to make every square foot count and program almost every surface with some sort of function. This made the project a bit unusual because we had to place the focus on programming all surfaces, while also of course maintaining focus on the typical elemental architectural concerns like space and light.
GD: How did you design the architecture to be harmonious with its natural setting?
CM-U: Because of the site’s very steep location and wooded site in California, there were stringent rules and regulations related to fire danger. Our aim was therefore to create a building that would be as fire-resistant as possible given the tools and budget we had. This means that there are no roof projections, the exterior cladding and roofing is cement board and the windows and doors had to be metal. From a spatial and natural lighting perspective, we worked to make the space feel spacious while allowing light to travel through the building to naturally illuminate the little house throughout the day. High clerestory windows face the hillside and expansive sliding doors allow light to enter from the deck, as well as extend the living area to the outdoors towards the view.
GD: What are some of your favorite features in the home?
CM-U: We love how the space is a big open room and feels even more spacious when it is opened up to the large outdoor deck. The bonus loft space, whether used as a writing room or a secondary sleeping alcove, is very quiet and private with a perch out to the trees. The all-green bathroom is a novel space as when it opens out to the forested landscape; it feels like you are showering in the woods.
Photography by Bruce Damonte.
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