Hi! It’s Tour Day!

Homes open at 11am, and tickets are still available!
Here’s how you can tour with us today:

  1. Download the Tour Map by clicking here. (You can also scroll down to this page to view the homes and an online map – click on a number for the exact address)
  2. To purchase your ticket online, click here, or bring $50 cash or check (to Modern Home Tours LLC) to any Tour home to begin your Tour! (you’ll save a small ticket fee this way)
  3. Enjoy the day meeting the architects and touring the homes that showcase the heart of the American Modern movement!

2019 Silicon Valley Modern Home Tour

A Tour of Exemplary Homes on June 8th, 2019

Tour the Homes.

Meet the Architects & Designers

GET INSPIRED!

You know “that house” you pass by every day?

The Silicon Valley Modern Home Tour is your change to GET INSIDE and meet the architects, builders and designers that made it happen – and maybe even ask a question or two about your own project playing around in the back of your mind!

How it Works

It’s as easy as:

1) Click here to get your tickets (You can preview the map and homes below!)

2) About 48 hours before Tour day begins, check your email for our printable map and any last minute instructions

3) Starting at 11AM on Tour day, visit the homes in any order you wish and at your open pace.  Meet the architects and designers, and find inspiration for your own modern lifestyle!

2019 Silicon Valley Modern Home Tobin Dougherty Architects

The 2019 Silicon Valley Modern Home Tour Homes

Starburst Construction Company

Starburst Construction Company

The interior was opened up by removing a center wall and fireplace. Full windows and glass doors at the front and the back of the house further extended, visually, the living space of this home and created a bright, open space.
Details & Gallery

Tobin Dougherty Architects

Tobin Dougherty Architects

The Wang residence scored well over the required 50 points with Build it Green, scoring 181 total points for their sustainable design.
Details & Gallery

Camargo and Associates, Inc.

Camargo and Associates, Inc.

Details & Gallery

ANAV Design

ANAV Design

The option to separate the family room from the rest of the common area by a wall with big scale pocket doors, creates a smaller scale cozy space for the family to gather and enjoy time together or get some privacy when needed.
Details & Gallery

Acadia Architecture

Acadia Architecture

We like to think about this house as a ship. Perhaps because the substandard narrow long lot is flanked by a creek with tall concrete banks. But also because of its elongated proportions, its sharp quality (the long curved standing seam roof).
Details & Gallery

Acadia Architecture

Acadia Architecture

The house was built with SIPs panels in lieu of conventional stick framing, and mostly by the homeowner himself. The energy efficiency is thus highly increased and the internal quietness almost surreal.
Details & Gallery

Tamalpais Street

Builder: Starburst Construction Company
Architect:
Ogawa Fisher Architects
Photography: Cesar Rubio Photography 

The tight spaces created by the segmented style of this Mackey home gave these owners a lot of small spaces to live in. They loved the indoor-outdoor style of their home but needed more room. The interior was opened up by removing a center wall and fireplace. Full windows and glass doors at the front and the back of the house further extended, visually, the living space of this home and created a bright, open space.

The kitchen was shifted to one side and islands on wheels offered many different layout possibilities. White IKEA cabinets, colorful mosaic tiles, and walnut accents brightened the area and tied it into the living space by blending easily with the custom walnut built-ins (which provided hidden storage and served as furniture).

The bathroom was given an updated modern look with wood accents and floating cabinet and decorative cement floor tiles.

New wood floors and paint throughout completed this makeover.

Wood decks were installed around the house to allowing easy movement between the interior and exterior to capitalize on space and create nice floor for indoor/outdoor living.

Westridge Drive

Architect: Tobin Dougherty Architects
Photography: Bernard Andre

Design Objectives: Maximize views of the Western Costal Range and the Eastern bay view. B) Preserve natural characteristics of site, C) Create private and free flowing public zones to accommodate multiple family functions. D) utilizing sustainable principles throughout the design while protecting from the extreme western exposure.

‘Design Program: The Wang Residence is sited and oriented towards the costal range and Windy Hill views. The location’s sprawling and natural oak tree environment lends itself to the elevated home design taking full advantage of this stunning site views. To ensure that the views were incorporated throughout the home, the design lent itself to an open design. The entry was thoughtfully placed between the first and second floors allowing for a gradual almost undetectable rise in elevation as you enter the house. The half flight of steps leading from the main entry allows for the dramatic panoramic views to unfold gradually and bringing your eyes and focus to the views beyond.

The open living room, and circulation spaces with expansive floor to ceiling double height windows, serves as the core of the home. Pointed views of the distant coastal range and sprawling property on one side and the valley and bay views framed in the adjacent dining room, the living area of this home embraces you into the beauty of its surroundings. Many of the unique qualities of this home are evident in this space from the use of finishes to the articulation of the ceiling and walls. Utilizing terrazzo tile flooring, western cedar plank ceiling panels interplay with walnut clad beams (for texture and acoustics) and limestone tile, finishes were selected for their ability to translate to outdoor use, reinforcing indoor/outdoor connection.

This connection is even more striking in the adjacent kitchen, which features a twenty-two-foot nana wall along the entire length of the room allowing for the stunning outdoors to easily be brought indoors. Cedar planking extends from the kitchen to the open deck to create one large covered space.

The planking creates an interior soffit that provides shade and accommodates recessed electrical and lighting without disrupting the ceiling plane. The kitchen features a large 10.5 feet recycled quartz island with waterfall edge, both functional and low maintenance. Custom bleached walnut cabinets with accent detailing are both modern and timeless and are used in the kitchen and throughout the home, along with walnut flooring for continuity.

Sustainable Principles: The sustainable principles of the home were implemented by using a heavily recycled insulated thermal envelope, giving the home lower energy demands. Solar orientation of the home allows for photovoltaic panels that give the home a 100% of the home’s energy. In addition, the Wang residence employs energy efficient lighting, automated shades, and a 98% efficient mechanical split heating system. Furthermore, having the bottom half of home set into the cool earth allowed for stack ventilation to be implemented by passively drawing the cool air from below to upper floor areas. The home was certified by HERS II and Build it Green. The Wang residence scored well over the required 50 points with Build it Green, scoring 181 total points for their sustainable design.

Silent Hills Lane

The owner of the Silent Hills Lane home met architect Maurice Camargo as a young man, when he was just 16-years-old. With aspirations of becoming an architect, Camargo and Associates hired the young owner-to-be and started teaching him the ins-and-outs of being an architect. Learned drafting skills with his love of swimming brought the owner to a job of designing pools, before entering commercial real estate and development.

Camargo and Associates designed the owner’s previous two homes. For the third Pearson Residence home, the owner had just three requirements: a large salt water aquarium, a great swimming pool, and wood shingles (based on the owner’s love of Robert Stern’s work on the East Coast. All other architectural and design aspects of the home were derived from the architect’s relationship and friendship with the owner over the last 37 years.

When you visit the Pearson Residence, here are some features to observe:

  • The Luis Barragan open steel fence and integrated gate design which allows visual continuity of the front landscape, while still indicating a definite Property line to the public.
  • The olive orchard planted on a grid pattern.
  • The clever layout of the vineyard with the rows being visible from the Great Room’s panoramic window, the owner’s corner office window, the pool, and the outdoor kitchen.
  • The detached four-car garage, featuring one whole garage bay dedicated to the resident German Shepherds, and includes full bathing, feeding and sleeping facilities with a dog run in the back.
  • A small lift and set of stairs on the side of the house that provide direct private entrance to the attached guest house.
  • The grape vine graphic design in the overhead porch, eluding to the vineyard in back.
  • The center of the home features two large salt-water aquariums that are seen immediately upon entering the home, with the bay view deck straight ahead. Additional note: the tanks appear to be one large aquarium from the dining room side, but you will find they’re two! They can be seen separate and enjoyed from both the Great Room and Kitchen.
  • There are eight clerestory windows high above the main hallway on each side. See if you can figure out why they are set back in with opposing vertical bevels on opposite sides.
  • The two flagpoles on the upper sun deck in back, tilted at 15°, that proudly fly the Stars and Stripes on one pole and flags of the 49’rs, the Sharks, or the Warriors, depending on which game is being played that day, on the other.
  • The tall ceiling in the gym afforded by the split-level configuration of the house.
  • The wine cellar, which is behind smart glass that allows the fine selection to seen or hidden from view.

Rudy Drive

Designer: ANAV Design
Photography: Boaz Meiri

With young kids, the owners embarked on this project to create a home that will encourage kids to spend time indoor and outdoor, exploring and playing in a safe calm environment.

Living, dining, kitchen and family rooms are all connected to a large deck and to the outdoor. The option to separate the family room from the rest of the common area by a wall with big scale pocket doors, creates a smaller scale cozy space for the family to gather and enjoy time together or get some privacy when needed.

Single-level open planning, tying indoor and outdoor spaces together, letting light and air get inside, created house that reflects the owner’s family modern lifestyle.

South Court

Architect: Acadia Architecture
Builder: DBLIN Construction
Photography:Aga Agnieszka

We like to think about this house as a ship. Perhaps because the substandard narrow long lot is flanked by a creek with tall concrete banks. But also because of its elongated proportions, its sharp quality (the long curved standing seam roof).

The many projecting volumes also contribute to this complex composition of something almost mechanical.

The narrow triangular daylight plane, the tight setbacks, and maximum floor area constrained many plan choices, but also optimized the use of space, looking for vertical interlocking shapes to get back a sense of ariose space.

Skyline Boulevard

Architect: Acadia Architecture
Photography: Agnieszka Jakubowicz

Los Gatos, Skyline to the Sea trail.

Down along a crescent hill, with views toward a private manège, this house follows the natural contours and terrain steps while dodging existing trees.

It is mostly built with Structurally Insulated Panels in lieu of conventional stick framing.

The energy efficiency is thus highly increased and the internal quietness almost surreal.

The overall aesthetics was for the building to blend as much as possible with the surrounding scenic views offered by Skyline Blvd.

2019 Silicon Valley Modern Home Tour Map

FAQ

Most frequent questions and answers

It’s easy!   Just buy your tickets, then about 48 house before the Tour you’ll receive an email with links to your Tour map.  Then, on Tour day, start at any house and proceed in any order at your own pace to the homes that interest you the most – or to all of them!

Unfortunately due to repeated issues, we must request that no children under 12 attend the Tour.  This is a new restriction for 2019, and we sincerely apologize for any inconvenience.  However, we do realize that some of our best guests are aspiring architects and designers and we therefore invite kids 12 and up to learn about the exciting world of architecture and design!

Giving back to the communities and homeowners that so generously welcome us every year is one of the most important things we do.  That’s why we partner with a housing or education organization in every Tour city, and why we are working to establish a scholarship fund for aspiring architects and designers.

SHARE:

Like this:

Like Loading...
%d bloggers like this: