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"Solid Sensations for Sonoma\nModern and Natural Elements Soften a Northern California Residence\nWhile constructing a contemporary house for a couple in Sonoma, California, architect Harvey Sanchez and his son, Conrad, asked designer Ron Mann to help with the architecture and build out and decorate the interiors.\n\nA bridge cantilevers over the pool. Mann added the poolside terrace and used a large fragment of ceiba-tree root as a curtain for the outdoor shower.\nMann designed many pieces for the house, including the cypress bench and the hammered-aluminum-and-steel light fixture in the entrance courtyard.\nThe steel sculpture, right, and the pedestals at the end of the gallery, which support Yoruba headdresses, are also by the designer.\nOf his overall approach, Mann says, \"I want to see a new design of my own thinking, one that has not existed until I produced it.\"\n\nThe living area. His corrugated-steel-wrapped blue wall extends out to the courtyard. The sofa back and base \"monoliths\" are made of blue-gum wood.\nAn aluminum pendant light hangs above the dining table, which,along with its place mats, can rotate. The banana photomural is by Lenny Eiger. \"My intent is to have strong design elements but to leave space for people,\" notes Mann). Viking range, at Abt.com.\nInterior Designer Ron Mann.\nAn antique chariot wheel from Rajasthan, India, greets visitors to the wine cave. Soil was removed from either side of the entrance to create a natural stone passage. \"It was like an archaeological dig,\" says Mann.\nThe cave walls have a sprayed-concrete finish.\nA mixed-media work by Gugger Petter hangs on a wall of the master bedroom, where textures help define the space. The throw on the bed is made of Icelandic wool. A pair of swivel chairs are covered in a rose-pattern hemp. Glant silk chenille on bed, headboard and banquette.\n\nSee more Bedrooms \u00BB\nThe upper terrace and the living and dining areas employ a mix of contemporary and primitive elements. \"I'm working to harmoniously combine the modern, such as Conrad's houses, with a new, real California-country design,\" says Mann. Fabric on outdoor lounge chairs, Donghia."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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