Nestled into the wooded landscape of Carmel-by-the-Sea, Adagio embraces the natural beauty of its site while respecting the town’s stringent design guidelines. The home’s dark, textured exteriors, and green roofs allow it to recede into the surroundings, taking visual and material cues from the Monterey cypress and coastal terrain. Designed to be both modern and contextually harmonious, the house steps down the sloped site, burying 30% of its program underground. This strategy preserves the natural topography while ensuring a modest street presence. Every detail, from custom hardware to buil
