Photo owned by Pratt Guys - NOTE: This photo can only be used/published online, digitally, TV and print with written permission from Pratt Guys.

Audacious in its massive size, the look of this bold beauty is polished yet casual. With its elegant veining, Aberdeen makes a statement at once luxuriant and eminently livable.

Pool with glass tile and infinity edge spa with outdoor dining and entertainment area. photo credit: Larry Taylor

On either side of the pool deck, the backyard is covered in faux turf with a golf putting green to the left and an open area large enough for a touch football game on the right. This home is designed for healthy living, offering the family a multitude of ways to embrace and enjoy feasting, fresh air and frolicking in the sun.

A custom cedar gate leads through a tall brick wall and hides the driveway from the pool terrace. Photo Credit: George Dzahristos

To help set the mood the pool features an Atom LED lighting system. It can be programmed to display a single colour or one of its colour-changing light shows. Although this backyard is small, it is brimming with a bounty of alluring practical features.

This 14,000 square foot Holmby Hills residence was an exciting opportunity to play with its classical footprint while adding in modern elements creating a customized home with a mixture of casual and formal spaces throughout.

My client for this project was a builder/ developer. He had purchased a flat two acre parcel with vineyards that was within easy walking distance of downtown St. Helena. He planned to “build for sale” a three bedroom home with a separate one bedroom guest house, a pool and a pool house. He wanted a modern type farmhouse design that opened up to the site and to the views of the hills beyond and to keep as much of the vineyards as possible. The house was designed with a central Great Room consisting of a kitchen area, a dining area, and a living area all under one roof with a central linear cupola to bring natural light into the middle of the room. One approaches the entrance to the home through a small garden with water features on both sides of a path that leads to a covered entry porch and the front door. The entry hall runs the length of the Great Room and serves as both a link to the bedroom wings, the garage, the laundry room and a small study. The entry hall also serves as an art gallery for the future owner. An interstitial space between the entry hall and the Great Room contains a pantry, a wine room, an entry closet, an electrical room and a powder room. A large deep porch on the pool/garden side of the house extends most of the length of the Great Room with a small breakfast Room at one end that opens both to the kitchen and to this porch. The Great Room and porch open up to a swimming pool that is on on axis with the front door. The main house has two wings. One wing contains the master bedroom suite with a walk in closet and a bathroom with soaking tub in a bay window and separate toilet room and shower. The other wing at the opposite end of the househas two children’s bedrooms each with their own bathroom a small play room serving both bedrooms. A rear hallway serves the children’s wing, a Laundry Room and a Study, the garage and a stair to an Au Pair unit above the garage. A separate small one bedroom guest house has a small living room, a kitchen, a toilet room to serve the pool and a small covered porch. The bedroom is ensuite with a full bath. This guest house faces the side of the pool and serves to provide privacy and block views ofthe neighbors to the east. A Pool house at the far end of the pool on the main axis of the house has a covered sitting area with a pizza oven, a bar area and a small bathroom. Vineyards were saved on all sides of the house to help provide a private enclave within the vines. The exterior of the house has simple gable roofs over the major rooms of the house with sloping ceilings and large wooden trusses in the Great Room and plaster sloping ceilings in the bedrooms. The exterior siding through out is painted board and batten siding similar to farmhouses of other older homes in the area. Clyde Construction: General Contractor Photographed by: Paul Rollins

M. James Northen - Northen Exposure Photography