Sticks and Stones specializes in residential work in the East Bay of the San Francisco area. Our work includes home remodels, additions, bathrooms and kitchens. We also design and build landscape structures; paths and stairs, decks and trellises, retaining walls and planter boxes, and, on occasion, even bridges and waterfalls.

Designing for Health, Comfort and Sustainability. A home should not only protect us, but should also enhance our health. We favor natural materials free of toxic substances. We open the house to the sun and air, and control inside temperatures throughout the seasons. We look for a balance between shelter and openness through the careful articulation of transparent and solid boundaries.

Our homes strive for a level of comfort where body and soul can rest and are nurtured. Comfort is both physical and spiritual, and each project has to find its own unique balance which depends on its location and on the specific needs of its users.

We attempt to tread lightly on the environment. Our projects fit into the existing environment, and integrate as much as possible existing structures. They use a minimum of energy, materials, and space. We pride ourselves on making small spaces feel large, of tying spaces and functions into a tight and flowing whole.

Designing between Tradition and Invention.
The inspiration for our work comes from the long tradition of regional building styles that have grown out of local environments. We like the wood structures of the European Alps, the stone houses of Italy’s hill towns, the courtyard houses of  Mexico and the Mediterranean, and the traditional Japanese dwellings. They all share a few essential and timeless qualities, the use of natural materials, responsiveness to climate and topography, a simple eloquence in articulating the material and spiritual needs of their inhabitants.
The San Francisco Bay Area has traditionally been receptive to these qualities without neglecting new ideas and developments. The ‘green building’ movement has reinterpreted many of the timeless qualities of traditional buildings. New technological inventions have surfaced which deserve attention; new energy saving devices, alternative energy sources, LED lighting, new and improved insulation materials, improved window systems etc

Designing for Beauty. A timelessly beautiful project is our goal, be it a small garden deck or a large addition. The beauty we strive for is the result of a process of integration, of melding into a whole of the many and unique aspects of a project. Beauty is the result of an intense exchange of ideas and information between everybody involved in the project, especially the clients and the builders.