Property of Mr. and Mrs. Fred Shingle | San Francisco, California | Architect Clarence Mayhew | Photograph Roger Sturtevant

IN a region abounding with spectacular vistas, the Shingles acquired a particularly spectacular one-a headland on a point jutting into the blue waters of San Francisco Bay. In Marin County, near San Rafael, it is only forty minutes by way of the Golden Gate Bridge to downtown San Francisco. It is difficult to say when it is most attractive. Comfortably furnished in neutral tones, the interior offers little competition to the spectacular view outside. Some prefer it when the sun is sparkling on the water, setting off the panorama against a deep blue sky. Some like it best on a rainy, winter afternoon, when one seems to be floating in a world of gray sky and water, and when the crackling wood, blazing in the fireplace, is an invitation to easy conversation and quiet reading. But at all times it is magnificent!

On the bay side of the property a sheer cliff drops sixty feet to the water. On the shore side, a thickly wooded slope rises steeply from the mainland. From the edge of the cliff is an arc of unobstructed panorama and to the west the Marin County hills culminate in Mt. Tamalpais. South are the islands of the bay beyond which can be seen the Bay Bridge and also the larger buildings of San Francisco itself, while to the east is the attractive shore line of the trans-bay counties. To the southwest is the channel leading from the San Rafael yacht harbor.

The view, the shape and slope of the land, as well as economy in grading and preservation of trees, together demanded a long, narrow house near the cliff's edge, on an east-west axis. Service access from the public road re- quired that the kitchen be on the west end. In a straight-line house, however, this would have obscured the view of Mt. Tamalpais, as an east bedroom wing would have cut the view of the trans-bay shore line. This difficulty was overcome by the simple expedient of bending the house in the middle, making an observatory of the living-dining room. From the combination room can be seen practically the full sweep of view that existed before the house was built. Heightening this effect is a sliding window wall at the dining end which seems to bring the woods on the northern side of the house inside. The view is so well caught, in fact, that a diner, no matter where he sits at the table, can absorb great slices of beautiful scenery along with his food.

Bending the house was proved advantageous in two other ways. It provided space near the kitchen for an outside sitting and dining area and the bend gives many degrees of shelter from the cool summer trade winds. Architecturally, the simplicity of the house is out of conscious respect for its site. On the bay side, its flat roof, clean wide eaves, and horizontal siding stained a dark brown, unobtrusively par- allel the cliff top. The soft green trim of win- dow frames and eaves is a mere echo of the simple planting of the lawn and garden. From the land side, there isn't any house at all- just a hint of roof line through the trees from which the garage protrudes into a driveway.