HIGH LEVEL

Stone, wood and glass combine in a house at one with its natural setting in California’s Napa Valley

- SHONQUIS MORENO

The road to private house Bibendum narrows and winds uphill through California’s Napa wine country, past ancient oaks and green shoots coaxed to the surface by recent rains. Almost invisible during the approach, the house emerges suddenly, a study in counterpoint: its intersecting planes of low-slung stone contrast with the surroundings while, at the same time, appearing cradled by the slope and woven into its foliage.

Designed by San Francisco-based architect Daniel Piechota during his partnership in Sagan Piechota (he has since founded Piechota Architecture), Bibendum is the home of two veterans of Silicon Valley venture capitalism. Piechota had previously renovated the couple’s copper-clad house in Big Sur, which is now their second home.