PROJECTS
Rancho Ruiz Project 1
The project site is located in an
agriculture greenbelt south of Silicon Valley between San Martin and
Gilroy. The setting is country-gentry living and the architectural style
is neo-Spanish. The project consists of two identical shade-structures at
opposite ends of a large swimming-pool patio. Both arbors are stained
two-toned (California Rustic red and Canary yellow)
to highlight the natural wood-grain and amplify the details.
The arbors are constructed
entirely from rough-cut premium-grade cedar timbers imported from British
Columbia, Canada.
At first glance the arbors' design appears to be one
of those Stack-of-Sticks
structures criticized in the
Critiques. However, these arbors
handle the columns and beams in an entirely different manner.
The major beams are pierced by minor beams.
Moreover, the minor beams are pierced by 3-inch diameter cedar
lock-pins front and aft of each major beam. Both the major and minor
beams are undercut with broad arches having a style popular in 18-th
century Spanish architecture.
The support columns are decorated with
canary-yellow recessed panels on all four faces. Each column is topped with a hefty capital and collar
and anchored with a robust 10-inch-high base.
All of these column elements were glued together with polysulfide
caulk. The only fasteners even close to a nail were 2-inch
pin-brads, used in the trim-strips just to keep the pieces in place until
the caulk stiffened. The capitals, collars and bases are held together
with just the caulk. Not one nail was used in either arbor's
fabrication, anywhere.
Of course in the connections of column-to-beam, joist-to-beam and
canopy's topmost lath, all the fasteners are hot-dipped zinc-galvanized bolts,
ranging from 3/8-inch to 7/8-inch in diameter. Yet as is customary
with Mr. Deck's arbors, no screw, bracket or bolt is visible anywhere!
One of the key features of this design is the
boldness in color contrasts. To make it happen right, it takes the
designer and the owner, both, to have a personal flair for the
spectacular. In this project there was a perfect match. This
characteristic manifests itself even more boldly in the complementary
Ruiz Project 2.
This rustic construction is quite a departure from our usual
more finished arbor-style. It was designed with the owners'
insistence that it be reminiscent of California's earlier days. In
light of today's fast-paced work-styles in bustling Silicon Valley and the
fact that a home in the country offers the ideal sanctuary, there was a
serious interest in recapturing the look and feel of a more leisurely era.
Swinging under one of these vast shade arbors in a large hammock with a
warm breeze blowing across the valley is just the ready remedy the owners
were seeking.
What a great life!
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Copyright © Mr. Deck 2002
