The residence at Helena is a beautiful Cape Cod design by Cahill-Leese Architects and complimented by landscape improvements designed by Mark Tessier Landscape Architecture.
The home is situated on a private cul-de- sac in Brentwood, a favorite location offering privacy and seclusion to the home owner. The challenge and opportunity for the project is the topography of the lot which has a flat pad at the front yard and then a descending slope at the rear.
By developing a two-story residence above a half-basement (one that opens to the yard at the rear of the basement), the architect accomplished stepping the house with the descending slope of the property. The result is a home that takes advantage of the property, creating a pool and deck area over the slope of the rear yard and taking full advantage of the views and tree top experience on all three floors of the home.
The home is organized in a fairly traditional plan arrangement with an entry and office front, leading to a dining room, open to the family room, which overlooks the beautiful views of the property. The kitchen and morning room are adjacent to the family room and enjoy the same views.
Helena contains five bedrooms plus an office, five and one-half baths, a formal dining room, family room, kitchen with morning room and a recreation room/bar and wine cellar. The interiors, by Jill Wolff Interior Design, utilize fashion forward materials, fixtures and furnishings to compliment this classic architecture with contemporary specifications and feel.
The challenge of a site with topography is to design a home that will manage the function of different levels of the home to create livable indoor and outdoor spaces and relationships and taking advantage of the opportunities, like views and privacy in the case of this home, simultaneously. I think the design and construction team accomplished this for this home.
It was an honor and a privilege to build this home and we are so very happy to share it with all of you.
