The Neal house is a story of perseverance. Judy and Larry’s home was taken in the LNU fire in 2020 leaving them with the opportunity to create the home of their dreams, but also taking on the daunting task of starting from scratch. The almost 20 acre property in the hills of Vacaville with vistas to the rolling hills as well as Putnam Peak allowed for an enormous potential in the architecture of the home responding to the property.

The 3,900sf, 4-bedroom house is designed with “public” and “private wings connected by a breezeway that ties the front and rear wrap-around porches. The deep porches protect the home’s glazing from the hot summer sun and provides welcome weather protection during cold and wet winters. The L-shape parti responds to the desire to take advantage of North views to the Peak as well as East views to the hills beyond and a future pool that will be accessed from all rooms of the house.

The arched porch knee braces as gable trim details are a nod to Judy’s Swedish ancestry as well as the heart pendant at each gable, a nod to her father’s woodworking. The kitchen is surrounded by glazing, flooding the space with natural north light. The living space repeats the cross-brace heart motif in western red cedar, with a stair that sneaks up to a bonus game room accessed by a reclaimed arched door Judy sourced.