Imagine the time, work, care and consideration that went into this modular building project in Sebastopol, California. Each tree in this orchard was painstakingly documented and individually assessed for long-term viability – the driveway, garage and house were all located based on that analysis. Nestled in an apple grove the Orchard House is a rural idyll. And with the voracious design appetites of a family of gastronomically inclined clients, this prefab construction is quite literally a movable feast of a home.

Set within an Eden-like natural environment in the midst of a fruit-bearing tree grove, this modular building blends the best of modern design with an existing modular grid of growing greenery that expand from the structure on all sides. It is a dynamic new addition that pays homage to and works with the old fruit farm already on the property.

This modular building is built with the strict rectilinear geometry of the tree grid, and equally exploiting the secondary diagonal surprises particular to human motion through an agricultural field. The site was intensely studied for the individual particularities of each unique tree within the orchard field. True to the character of the orchard, the modular building is laid out as long sequences of interior and exterior courtyards, defined by the adjacent trees, affording long, metered views along the rectilinear and diagonal axes of the field. The walls align with the rows of tree trunks, while the open volumes of the rooms and exterior courts align with the open space between trees, affording a direct spatial continuity between house and landscape, figure and void.

The clients liked the works of Anderson Anderson Architecture because their projects didn’t look the same. Principals Mark and Peter Anderson created an architectural container that would support a family’s daily life without interjecting a dominant design concept. They wanted the modular building to be really robust and kind of rustic.

Environmental and sustainable aspects of the planning, construction and maintenance of the modular building were particularly important to the owners. Architects Anderson & Anderson managed a difficult balance throughout this design, incorporating a respect for nature in terms of both sustainable building methods and on-site environmental considerations and a livable, modular, modern one-story home for contemporary residential needs.