“The client wanted something partially transparent that also provided privacy,” says architect Lawson Willard about this San Francisco garden wall. “A solid stucco base with cedar latticework in the middle and a metal screen on top picks up on the Japanese idea of layered spaces.” The fence runs 50 feet around the street elevation to create a secluded entry courtyard. Landscaping outside the 6-foot-high walls hints at a denser oasis within their confines. A solid-wood gate framed in powder-coated steel reaches 5 feet across (room enough for carrying furniture) and is marked by a raised trellis above. The fence and gate mimic the tall, narrow proportions of the house’s exterior.
Willard allowed the fence to flex with site conditions. At one point, the structure merges seamlessly with the second-story deck railing and another section follows the natural grade as it drops downhill. The gate is offset from the home’s entryway, so that as it swings inward and guests walk across the randomly spaced stepping stones they are forced to slow down and relax.
Builder: Structural FX, San Mateo, Calif.; Architect: Lawson Willard Architecture, San Francisco; Photographer: David Duncan Livingston.
