Designed James Hubbell, the curvaceous gunite home is packed with whimsical details, and it was hand built by a single family over the course of four years.
Location: 1025 Alpine Boulevard, Alpine, California
Price: $775,000
Year Built: 1979
Designed by: James Hubbell and Robert W. Thiele
Footprint: 800 square feet (2 bedrooms, 1 bath)
Lot Size: 0.66 Acres
From the Agent: “The Davidson family embarked on a multiyear endeavor of building a home for themselves. While that sounds fairly routine, what followed was anything but. Following their purchase of two thirds of an acre along Old Highway 80, Carl and Marilyn Davidson connected with multimedia artist James T. Hubbell to develop a sculpture that the couple and their four daughters could reside within. Working together under the banner Earth Form Builder, Hubbell and architect Robert W. Thiele created a set of plans for an oval-footprint dome-like sculpted structure of steel, rebar, wire mesh, and gunite. Beyond the redwood cabinetry and stairs, almost every surface is brought to life through a richly textural and colorful palette of stone, tile, copper, steel, and glass. Standing as one of only a handful of structures to see the artist’s vision fully realized (and still intact), the home symbolizes a bygone era while remaining timeless. The surrounding acreage of native plant species draws visitors to the lower portion of the land—the idyllic Alpine Stream, which creates the property’s southern boundary.
After receiving the plans, the Davidson family constructed the home over the span of four years.
Collin Erie
James Hubbell and Robert W. Thiele only built one other home through their firm, Earth Form Builder.
Collin Erie
Collin Erie
See the full story on Dwell.com: Want to Live Like a Hobbit? This $775K SoCal Home Is Straight Out of Middle Earth
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