Brett and Patti McGovern have called Larkspur home since 2002, and even built a Craftsman-style house there in 2018, where they currently live with their three teenage daughters and two dogs. Still, they longed for a weekend retreat to host their large, locally based extended family and many friends. “Between the two of us, Brett has two brothers, and I have one sister,” Patti says. “There are 10 cousins, and we spend a lot of time together, and that’s before friends. We wanted a big space to get together.”
After joining the Sonoma Golf Club in 2015, the McGoverns were sold on Sonoma, but they put their second home hopes on hold for a time following completion of the Larkspur house. When a property in Sonoma caught their attention in 2021, however, it was just too tempting to pass up.
The three-acre property included architectural plans for a house designed by Kentfield firm Holder Parlette and, serendipitously, it was located across the street from the home of their Larkspur house builder, Mike Boufford of Fairway Design and Construction, who helped them make the purchase. Best of all, the property is close to Sonoma’s many amenities, yet surrounded by nature and only a 40-minute drive from the McGoverns’ primary residence.
“We love the privacy and beauty of the property — the native grasses, oak trees and sense of expansive space,” Brett says. “Plus, it’s located only about 500 yards from Sonoma Golf Club!”
The McGoverns were hesitant to embark on another new build, and the contemporary, gabled-roof home design was much more modern than their Larkspur house, but the developer had nearly completed the permitting process, which would save considerable time over starting from scratch. The home promised to offer plenty of space for entertaining, too: 4,000 square feet, including four bedrooms and five bathrooms, laid out in an “H” shape with the wings of the house forming small courtyards around the existing oak trees on the site. Sealing the deal, the plans also included a one-bedroom, one-bath ADU for overnight guests; a pool; and pool house.
“We sought to achieve a strong indoor-outdoor connection, as with all of our projects, carefully siting the house with views of the oak trees and mountains to the northwest,” says Chris Parlette, principal architect at Holder Parlette. “The main challenge was trying to retain as many oak trees as we could. That really drove the shape and layout of the house.”
Ready to begin building, the McGoverns reassembled the dream team from their Larkspur house project: Fairway Design and Construction and San Francisco-based interior designer Julie Baker, who would be instrumental in ensuring the new home reflected their personal aesthetic. “We liked the architectural plans, but we wanted to put our own touches on the finishes, color, living areas and surrounding landscape,” Brett says. “Julie was referred to us by our Larkspur home builder, and we had a great experience with her. It was a no-brainer to get her involved in this new project, too.”
Baker provided guidance on all aesthetic aspects of the project, including the selection of interior and exterior materials, finishes, color palette, furniture and even landscape plants. “Overall, they didn’t want anything to feel too ‘new,’” Baker says. “They were interested in using materials that would show age over time.”
To that end, the floors in the main house are concrete, “which always eventually cracks and is more of a living finish,” Baker says. Likewise, the dark-stained cedar siding on the home’s exterior is intended to fade with exposure to the intense Sonoma sun. Softening the interior spaces, walls are finished in plaster, the artful work of decorative painter James Derieg; custom cabinetry designed by Baker and built by Classic Mill & Cabinet in Cloverdale is crafted from two shades of Shinnoki veneers; and many vintage furnishings complement new pieces.
In addition, the McGoverns wanted to ensure that guests feel comfortable in the home, so Baker prioritized functionality over formality when it came to making material and furnishing choices. “We didn’t want anything to be off limits for the kids and animals,” Patti says. “This is a home for our family and friends, and I don’t want to own things anyone has to worry about ruining.”
The resulting aesthetic achieves the ideal balance between “new” and “nature” that the McGoverns were seeking — clean, geometric architectural forms overlayed with organic textures and hues. “Although we would never have originally designed a house in this style, now we can’t imagine any other house on the property — it fits perfectly,” Patti says.
The heart of the home is the great room, encompassing the kitchen, dining and living room spaces under a vaulted ceiling clad in European oak planks. A glass entryway faces a large expanse of glass pocket doors across the room that opens to the pool deck, landscaped by Totem Landscape Services.
In the kitchen, plaster sheaths the hood above the cooktop and surrounding wall, extending vertically toward the ceiling, while Neolith sintered stone in two different patterns forms the countertops, backsplash and an entire wall above the sink. Two niches flank the hood, providing decorative storage space with dimmable LED lights. A pantry with a speed oven, dishwasher and sink is accessible behind the wall via two sets of pocket doors. Adjacent to the kitchen, the dining table seats 12 — perfect for large get-togethers. “What I love about this space is how the materials are radically different from each other but feel so good together, like how the oversized glass light fixtures play against the linear wood light fixture above the island,” Baker says.
On the other side of the great room, the fireplace mirrors the kitchen hood, faced in a contrasting darker shade of plaster. A custom wine chiller and bar, backed with metallic tile, is located on the wall opposite the pool.
Each of the bedrooms in the main house has its own ensuite bathroom. Baker designed built-in storage cabinets in each bedroom and sourced much of the bedding and decorative pieces for the rooms from Amber Interiors. The primary suite offers views and access to a private garden space, while the girls’ bedroom features a twin-over-full-sized bunk bed with built-in niches for charging devices and artwork from Big Daddy’s Antiques in Los Angeles.
Adjacent to the pool deck, the pool house is outfitted for outdoor entertaining. Open on both sides, it encompasses a bathroom, seating area, sink, dishwasher, refrigerator, freezer and 85-inch TV, while a trellis shades an outdoor dining table and three different grills: a traditional gas grill, a Santa Maria-style grill and Big Green Egg charcoal grill. Behind the pool house, the firepit area is the McGoverns’ favorite place to sip morning coffee under the oaks — one of the many activities the family enjoys when spending time at their Sonoma home.
“We love everything about the property and try to make it up most weekends,” Brett says. “It’s so easy to get to from Larkspur, yet it feels like you’re on vacation even though you’re so close to home.”
Lotus Abrams has covered everything from beauty to business to tech in her editorial career, but it might be writing about her native Bay Area that inspires her most. She lives with her husband and two daughters in the San Francisco Peninsula, where they enjoy spending time outdoors at the area’s many open spaces protected and preserved by her favorite local nonprofit, the Peninsula Open Space Trust.