Studio Schicketanz Crafts a Big Sur Cabin on the California Coast
A decrepit logger's cabin makes way for a new home that honours its roots.
Big Sur, a long stretch of coastline in California, is widely regarded as one of the most scenic areas in the world. The area draws up to seven million tourists per year, but in comparison to other coastal California areas with stunning views like Malibu or Carmel, the residential population is remarkably low.
This is, in large part, due to the Big Sur Coast Land Use Plan, which highly restricts development and new buildings, particularly if they are visible from the iconic Route 1.
When new buildings are allowed in the area, it is an almighty responsibility, which weighed on the Carmel firm Studio Schicketanz when it was tasked with replacing a dilapidated cabin in a wooded area of the coast. The cabin is in Palo Colorado, historically an area where loggers harvested tanbark oak and redwoods from the surrounding forest and shipped it from nearby Notley’s Landing to San Francisco.
As a result, the bulk of the homes in the area are loggers’ cabins that have been passed down from generation to generation and are now in need of upgrade or replacement after over a century of use.
The new cabin on this site is 1,194 square feet, but its footprint surpasses most of the historic cabins in the area. Studio Schicketanz used this extra space by separating the cabin into three sections; a bedroom, great room, and bathhouse. Each of the three also features a small patio to allow the homeowners to enjoy the towering trees on the site.
The wood used for the cabin was entirely salvaged from fallen redwoods and milled locally, further blending the cabin into its surroundings and tying back to the history of the community. The bedroom hovers above the forest floor on a pillar, and large windows mean the redwoods act almost as a wallpaper for the master suite.
This cabin shows that even in areas where building is difficult or highly regulated, thoughtful and purposeful architecture can make even the newest building blend in with the oldest forest.
