University of California Botanical Garden, Berkeley: A Walk Through the Site
A university research garden in a canyon in the Berkeley hills — organised by continent, which makes the light change from bed to bed.
Rosewood Sand Hill, Menlo Park: The One Decision That Governs Everything
A low modern hotel in the oak country of the Peninsula foothills — and one decision that settles how the whole day is lit.
Berkeley Hotel: One Frame, and How It Is Made
A historic hotel in Berkeley, and the one frame an old building like it gives better than anything modern.
Pema Osel Ling, Corralitos: What It Suits and What It Does Not
A retreat centre on a Santa Cruz Mountains ridge — quiet, wooded, and built for something other than weddings, which cuts both ways.
Nestldown, Los Gatos: Field Notes
A private garden estate among coast redwoods above Los Gatos — the darkest woodland in this guide, and the clearings that rescue it.
Hakone Gardens, Saratoga: The Problem, and Four Ways Out
A Japanese-style garden on a steep foothill slope — designed for a single walking eye, which is not what a wedding is.
Cavallo Point, Sausalito: The Light Through the Day
A former military post at the north foot of the Golden Gate — white buildings, a parade ground, and weather that arrives through a gap in the hills.
Fairmont San Francisco: The Building’s Own Logic
A grand hotel at the top of a San Francisco hill — built on a ceremonial spine, and standing above the fog more often than in it.
Viansa Winery, Sonoma: The One Decision That Governs Everything
A hilltop above the wetlands at the cold southern end of Sonoma — where the wind comes from, and what that means.
Sunstone Winery, Santa Ynez: Field Notes
A stone winery in the Santa Ynez Valley — warm limestone, oak savanna, and a valley that lies the wrong way round.