Just a few minutes outside of Petaluma, tucked into the rolling hillside off a country road, is the award-winning Owl House. This all-electric residence features a 2,400-square-foot footprint with substantial glazing for spectacular valley views. The single-story home incorporates a butterfly roof of Structural Insulated Panels (SIPs) supported by bent steel frames at 12-foot intervals, minimal interior walls, and exposed, board-formed concrete shear walls at each end of the structure. An open floorplan beneath the butterfly roof includes a central kitchen, living and dining areas, and an adjacent master suite. Set back into the hillside is the north wing, holding a guest bath, study, pantry, laundry room, and mechanical room, all tucked beneath a simple wood-framed shed roof.
Gypsum board and Douglas fir finishes, along with exposed structural steel and concrete elements, are incorporated throughout the interior of the residence. The exterior consists of fire-resistant material, including Corten siding, concrete end walls, metal roofing, and rated cedar eaves. Solar is hidden atop the structure between the upturned “wings” of the butterfly roofline.