Standard Pacific Homes
Bringing the Intense Passion and Unique Style of Spain to Fairfield
By Georgeann H. Ikuma
Standard Pacific Homes' latest masterpiece, Andalucia, is located in a picturesque valley in Fairfield's prestigious Rancho Solano area with two neighborhoods of Spanish-inspired homes. Residents overlook rolling hillsides and sweeping vistas that have been specially integrated as part of the interior of the homes. Andalucia, which pays picture-perfect homage to its Spanish namesake, creates a seamless indoor-outdoor living experience, while successfully introducing and incorporating the notion of "third places" into the homes' architecture.
Builder Architect magazine sat down with Standard Pacific's East Bay Division President Glen Martin to learn about the inspiration for this community, the vision behind the planning and the efforts that were ultimately employed in bringing a bit of Spain to this lush Northern California community.
Fairfield's premier Rancho Solano community, Andalucia will offer sites nestled against rolling foothills and open space. (Photo courtesy of Standard Pacific Homes.)
B/A: You have introduced a new concept called "third places" into residential design. What does it mean to you, and more specifically, what is its relevance to architecture?
GM: Psychologists define "third places" as comfortable spaces that aren't home or work, where people want to spend their time. Current examples include bookstores like Borders or Barnes and Noble that encourage people to "hang out." I wanted to bring this concept into the architecture of these homes by creating special places that encouraged people to linger. Why not create a space within our homes where people find the solace they've been seeking elsewhere? So we expanded the living space of the home beyond the traditional room configurations, brought the outside in and achieved what we set out to do.
(Photo courtesy of Standard Pacific Homes.)
B/A: How did you know this would be such an ideal setting to create an indoor/outdoor living experience?
GM: When I first walked the neat little valley that has become our Andalucia community, I realized that each home site had unique and distinctive views, and that our Marbella and Sevilla neighborhoods were the perfect backdrop for homes that integrated indoor and outdoor living. Each floor plan has a variety of locations around the home that invite you to linger. Places where one can embrace the sun in the morning or retreat for shelter during the warmest times of the day. Also, inside these homes there are amazing view corridors that draw your eye through the house. It's like the space flows from the outside to the inside, and back again. It's a true transitional space.
(Photo courtesy of Standard Pacific Homes.)
(Photo courtesy of Standard Pacific Homes.)
B/A: How did you go about implementing a strategy for this indoor/outdoor living theme?
GM: With 217 lots in a big valley and two different sized product lines, we had a magnificent canvas from which to create. First, we worked with Frank Stoltz of South Coast Architects to begin designing the architecture with a true Spanish style. Unlike many new home neighborhoods, we wanted all of the architecture within the entire community to reflect a single theme.
(Photo courtesy of Standard Pacific Homes.)
Once we established the basic architecture, we brought in Don Rose at Rose Associates Landscape Architects and emphasized how important it was for the landscape architecture to "talk" to the housing architecture. This open line of communication was imperative, if the two were going to be able to capture the same feel and texture. Again, the emphasis was on the single theme or vision that we had for the community, from the plant materials to the design, everything had to support the common theme. Finally, as the community started to gain momentum, we brought together the architect, the landscape architect and the interior designer in order to integrate all of the aspects of this community into one consistent whole.
Standard Pacific teamed with Rose Associates to develop the indoor-outdoor designs of Andalucia. Homes at Andalucia feature up to approximately 3,940 square feet with the option to include up to seven bedrooms. (Photo courtesy of Standard Pacific Homes.)
Each home at Andalucia is immersed within the backdrop of Rancho Solano and its sweeping vistas and rolling hillsides. The community’s two-story Olvera plan, shown here, is a five-bedroom design that can feature up to approximately 3,816 square feet. (Photo courtesy of Standard Pacific Homes.)
B/A: Do you think distinctive architecture of this nature is be- coming a more important factor for new home buyers?
GM: The buyer is certainly much more exacting in their demands of the product than ever before. In order to meet their expectations, we have to do something that resonates not only with price and quality, but also with overall lifestyle. With Andalucia, it was incumbent upon us to develop both architecture and an overall theme that was right not only for the setting, but also right for our future homeowners.
Unique outdoor living areas are incorporated into the homes at Standard Pacific Homes' Andalucia community at Rancho Solano in Fairfield. Shown here: An exterior courtyard off the community's single-story Aracena floor plan. (Photo courtesy of Standard Pacific Homes.)
B/A: You've seen Andalucia go from idea to reality. How does that feel?
GM: I'm proud of all we've accomplished. Standard Pacific, South Coast Architects and Rose Associates pulled together and produced a fantastically synchronized project. From the Spanish-styled theme, to the indoor/outdoor ambiance and our "third places" idea, we accomplished our goal with an extremely well-executed and special community.
November 2006 Builder Architect Edition Issue