I have been lucky enough to work on several occasions with Jon and Susan Reiter and their incredible crew at Jon Reiter Home Building. Jon Reiter Fine Home Building is one of the premier luxury home builders in Sonoma and Napa County.

We all know there is an abundance of architecture that tries desperately to look old and quite frankly is not successful. Jon and Susan are one of the rare builders I have encountered that painstakingly and methodically create new homes that fade elegantly into the landscape. It’s as if the house settled there decades upon decades ago. Their spaces work because they are brilliant in their design intent and execution and, in part, because many of the materials they use are indeed architectural antiques. Jon and Susan make regular trips to Europe and purchase significant amounts of salvaged building materials abroad. They also incorporate the materials from the local land, such as stone from the building site will be used to create an outdoor wall or the base of a structure. And then, of course, the latest in green energy and technology makes each structure hum like an efficient 21st century machine.

This weekend I had the pleasure of touring Jon and Susan’s latest project, Fox Hill, which has just been featured as the Sonoma County Decorator Showcase House and has not surprisingly already been sold by Maurice Tegelaar. Fox Hill is a modern take on a French farmhouse.

I was honored to be consulted by Jon and Susan initially when they were playing around with the initial plans and again when Jon was looking for lighting fixtures for the property. The finished project is spectacular.

The great room with hand carved wood trusses and hand applied finishes

The U shaped floor plan is one of my favorites with the central lawn flanked by old growth Olive trees. And for you oenophiles, the wine cellar is below ground.

I adore the kitchen’s cream, beige and gray palette featuring an enormous custom Lacanche range and massive concrete counter tops. Behind the open kitchen is a wonderful working pantry and a mud room catered to the avid gardener.

A side door off the guest wing, all doors and windows are imported from Italy.

I love this unusually scaled antique French tile

For now I am going to leave the property Reiter and I are currently collaborating on, Montevigna, a surprise to you all…more to come soon.