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Craftsman-Style "home with soul" harks back to the 1920s
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Sebastopol builder Chuck Johnson grew up in the hills of Marin,
where he came to love the inviting and homey old brown shingle
homes built during California's 1920s Arts and Crafts period.
Now his company, Artisan Builders, has translated his love for
that style into a one-of a-kind twenty-first century Craftsman
home, just completed and on the market for sale.
"I researched the market, and was horribly disappointed with what
people were getting for half a million," Johnson says. "The homes
I say lacked originality and soul."
Johnson, a self-taught designer who learned from reading, working
with architects, and twenty years of hands-on experience with smaller
projects, believed, "there was a buyer out there who would pay a premium
for true custom craftsmanship." So he took a big gamble. He bought two
acres just outside Sebastopol and designed a 3300-square-foot, 4-bedroom
home that takes the visitor back to 1925, except that it's prewired for
high-tech equipment and has a central vacuum system. It's also more open
and airy inside than the typical 1920s home, with a two-story central
great room and a dramatic bridge linking the two sides of the upper story.
Johnson works with a team of artisans who do all the work on a home from
site preparations to staining the trim, a group that he says resembles a
medieval guild. "My crew is obsessive about quality," he comments.
"We're artists." Artisan Builders has been remodeling and building
custom homes in Sonoma County for eight years.
As much as possible, Artisan Builders uses natural materials to avoid
indoor pollution and salvages old redwood to take advantage of its beauty
and durability. All the trim in the new home is made from recycled clear
heart redwood, which is deep, rich chestnut hue. The beams were recycled
from the Strawberry Shopping Center in Marin. The floors are finished in oak,
tile and pure wool carpeting.
An admirer of Frank Lloyd Wright, as well as the Arts and Crafts architects
Maybeck and Greene and Greene, Johnson was concerned that his home fit into
its surroundings, and is using landscaping to maximize privacy. His design
takes advantage of the south light and the site's pastoral views.
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