Mill Valley’s Octagon House ‘a study in geometry’
Building in the Bay Area is always a challenge, but a lot on Cleveland Avenue in Mill Valley offers an example of just how extreme it can be.
At only 30 feet wide, the lot provided the design team and builders a particularly small envelope to work within. Regulations also limit how tall a structure can stand in this space, and the sloping lot offered physical limitations for crews.
The answer? A series of cascading octagons that step down the hillside.
“Nowhere will you find another home like this one; it’s a study in geometry that
results in a singular piece of art,” said Cathy Youngling of Paragon Real Estate Group, who is listing the three-bedroom for $2 million.
Recycled, engineered timber figures prominently in the construction.
More than 90 percent of the lumber used in the flooring, framing and roofing is recycled, according to the builders.
Each level enjoys a roof terrace with a foot of topsoil for flowers and vegetable gardens. Because the gardens are located on the rooftops, they are naturally resistant to becoming snacks for neighborhood deer.
Mill Valley homes always offer a wealth of energyefficient amenities, and the Octagon House is no exception. Roof gardens and exterior landscape areas are irrigated by a system of cisterns and pumps that hold up to 12,500 gallons of rainwater. The water is collected from the roof, and the builders estimate about 80 percent of the rain that hits the roof is reclaimed and used for irrigation.
The reclaimed water also percolates on the rooftop sculpture garden and is used for the entry level’s koi pond.
Learn more at www.marinmasterpiece.com.
Listing agent: Cathy Youngling, Paragon Real Estate Group, (415) 272-5899, cyoungling@paragon-re.com.