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There’s a moment when you step through the front door — and everything shifts. The threshold disappears, the line between inside and outside softens, and light pours in from every direction, leaving you unsure where the home ends and the outdoors begins. That was always the goal.
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The expansive multi-slide door that leads to the patio and backyard allows for the open floor plan of the dining room and kitchen to feel even larger by connecting it to the outdoors.
Set along Solana Beach in San Diego, this 5,000-square-foot custom home was designed and built around a feeling as much as a floor plan: openness, connection, and a sense of arrival that never wears off. “The wow factor — that’s very important for me,” says builder Travis Jones of Talbot Construction. “When you walk in this room, the door feels good. It feels like you’re living indoors and outdoors.”
High transom windows bring in ambient light from above while expansive glass openings stretch sightlines outward, drawing your eye to the sky, the horizon, and the shifting tones of the day. “You don’t feel trapped in,” Jones says. “You feel more connected with what’s happening outside. You feel the temperature change. You see the light changing. It just makes you feel home.”
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The clerestory and transom windows throughout the home allow for a continuous view and create access to the outdoors by visually opening the entire space.
In the main living area, that connection becomes immersive, with the kitchen opening seamlessly into the living space, which opens just as easily to the outdoors, creating not a series of rooms but one continuous environment. “You come in and you feel like you’re on a patio, but you’re actually in the home,” says Derek Berg of MADesign & Drafting Services.
That experience begins at the front door, where a 6-by-10-foot pivot door by Western Window Systems makes an immediate impression in both scale and presence. “That’s really huge for a front door. It’s really cool,” Jones says.
But what makes it work isn’t just its size — it’s the precision behind it. A flush threshold creates a seamless transition from exterior to interior, with no step, no interruption, and no hesitation. “No tripping hazards. It’s a beautiful door. Amazing door and easy to operate,” Jones notes.
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As the first opening encountered in the home, the front door sets the tone. The large pivot door is engineered with a flush threshold to initiate the smooth transition that is consistent with every opening throughout; creating even less of a barrier between the indoors and the outdoors.
Throughout the home, every opening, panel, and movement is engineered to feel effortless. “(Western Window Systems products) are strong, solid, smooth to the latch and the locks. Everything is so smooth,” Jones says. It’s the kind of detail you don’t always notice right away, but you feel it every time you interact with the space.
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Building any home takes close collaboration, but add giant windows and doors into the mix, and you want a team that has extensive knowledge and precision to execute pocketing 90-degree multi-slides with a thinline sill.
Behind the scenes, the project came together through close collaboration between builder, designer, and supplier, each playing a role in bringing the vision to life. “It takes a team to get stuff done, and it takes a team that knows the right products and how to use them,” Berg says.
For Jones, the product choice was straightforward: “I lean on Western because it looks the best; it feels the best.” That decision shows up not just in performance, but in how the home is experienced. “It’s fun to work on a home where people come up and say, ‘What kind of doors are these? What kind of windows are these?’” Berg says.
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The ability to fully open your home to the outdoors allows not only breezes and natural light, but come dusk, sunset views can be experienced from the comfort of your own living space, whether indoors from the living room or outdoors on the patio.
As the day unfolds, the home changes with it — morning light filtering softly through the upper windows, afternoons opening wide into the surrounding landscape, and evenings turning the space into a front-row seat to the sunset. “You see a lot of sunset views,” Berg says.
In the end, it’s not just about creating a beautiful space, but about creating a place where inside and outside don’t compete — they belong to each other.
Architect: MADesign & Drafting Services
Builder: Talbot Construction
Dealer: Sierra Padre Windows & Doors
Photography and Videography: Lee Media
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A pristine bayside perch. Sweeping bay and city views. Architect Rob Wilkinson knew the proverbial real estate stars aligned when he stumbled upon this choice Mill Valley site along California’s central coast. He and his business partner were casually searching for a north bay property to design and build a luxury move-in ready home for sale.
Tucked along Richardson Bay, the homesite is located just north of San Francisco between the upscale and picturesque hamlets of Sausalito and Tiburon. The sloped terrain offers incredible views of the San Francisco Bay and city skyline to the southeast. “The views are spectacular, and in a lot of cases better than some of the views as you get further into Tiburon because they're more panoramic,” says Wilkinson. The homesite is also near the main highway yet set back from the thoroughfare, offering privacy and quiet.
Unveiling the beauty of the San Francisco Bay with our series 7600 multi-slide door, seamlessly pocketed to maximize the stunning views.
To take advantage of the views, Wilkinson designed the home so all primary and functional living spaces orient toward the back of the structure to face the bay. With his inclusion of the Series 7600 Multi-Slide Door, the living room gives way to the sparkling waters of both the infinity pool and bay, verdant rolling hills, and soft blue skies. “I wanted it to feel like [the pool] was part of the living space and that the outdoors was very usable and literally could draw you out there.” The pool’s edge appears to vanish into the bay itself and anchors the upscale and serene indoor-outdoor living experience.
The sliding door system’s generous opening and the panels’ ability to disappear into the wall helped him achieve his vision for an expansive and effortless flow between the indoor and outdoor spaces. Further afield, the Salesforce tower in the San Francisco skyline is centered in the glass sliding door and infinity pool. “Western Window Systems has a great system for these large pocket sliding doors that disappear into the wall. That gave me the confidence that I could make this a true indoor-outdoor space by literally creating this opening that works with the scale of the space that I had in mind.”
At the start of the project, Wilkinson found himself in a unique position that provided him intimate insight into the property, which inspired his design. It so happened his own home was in the middle of an extensive remodel, so he and his family moved into the older existing home on the new property prior to its demolition.
Savoring every meal with a side of breathtaking views through the dining room window.
The ability to work on the new home’s design while living onsite afforded him around-the-clock access to its rhythms, sights, and sounds. He walked the property extensively, experienced all the views, and witnessed how the light looked at all times of the day and across the seasons. “Sun angles and natural light into spaces . . . they were the things that changed my initial ideas after living there and using the site in different ways,” says Wilkinson.
Expansive fixed windows frame another captivating view of the Bay.
His experience informed his approach to the new home’s size, layout, and orientation. “It was also important when figuring out exactly where on the site to place the building to maximize the best views,” says Wilkison. He selected the Performance Line for all of the home’s windows and most exterior doors. Their slim profiles and modern style enhanced the home’s contemporary architectural style and detailing.
With views as a highlight of the home, Wilkinson’s choice of a window supplier was pivotal to achieving his vision for the property. “This was a very difficult site and a very big house, and so I feel thankful that I was connected with Western on this [project].”
The home frames bay and city views from every room. Large vertical windows and floor-to-ceiling windows were installed in all bay-facing rooms, including secondary bedrooms, the dining room, and home office. In the primary suite, a second sliding glass door was installed that opens to a private deck. Even the stairwell’s two-level glass wall offers views and drenches the space in natural light.
Wilkinson also wanted the home’s entry to make a statement and command a sense of arrival. He credits his Western Window Systems representative for the design idea — a dramatic glass front door surrounded by glass panels spotlights a wide open sightline to the home’s rear windows and an expansive bay view. The entry creates an unforgettable moment all its own and hints at the visual delights that await beyond the threshold.
Dramatic pivot door sets the stage for a grand entrance.
Architects commonly have their favorite spaces in their designs, and Wilkinson is no different. In this home, he particularly likes the casita-style space next to the pool. A breezeway disconnects it from the primary dwelling for a sense of privacy, and the upper level is accessible by a second-level loggia flanked by windows on each side. “It feels like a separate little building that’s attached by this glass bridge.”
Wilkinson’s contemporary design epitomizes the carefree and relaxed luxury that defines California coastal living. The home offers an exceptional one-of-a-kind living experience for a lucky Bay Area buyer.
Dealer: West Coast Window Co.Builder: Wilkinson Architectural GroupPhotographer: Peter Lyons Photography
Savoring every meal with a side of breathtaking views through the dining room window.
The ability to work on the new home’s design while living onsite afforded him around-the-clock access to its rhythms, sights, and sounds. He walked the property extensively, experienced all the views, and witnessed how the light looked at all times of the day and across the seasons. “Sun angles and natural light into spaces . . . they were the things that changed my initial ideas after living there and using the site in different ways,” says Wilkinson.
Expansive fixed windows frame another captivating view of the Bay.
His experience informed his approach to the new home’s size, layout, and orientation. “It was also important when figuring out exactly where on the site to place the building to maximize the best views,” says Wilkison. He selected the Performance Line for all of the home’s windows and most exterior doors. Their slim profiles and modern style enhanced the home’s contemporary architectural style and detailing.
With views as a highlight of the home, Wilkinson’s choice of a window supplier was pivotal to achieving his vision for the property. “This was a very difficult site and a very big house, and so I feel thankful that I was connected with Western on this [project].”
The home frames bay and city views from every room. Large vertical windows and floor-to-ceiling windows were installed in all bay-facing rooms, including secondary bedrooms, the dining room, and home office. In the primary suite, a second sliding glass door was installed that opens to a private deck. Even the stairwell’s two-level glass wall offers views and drenches the space in natural light.
Wilkinson also wanted the home’s entry to make a statement and command a sense of arrival. He credits his Western Window Systems representative for the design idea — a dramatic glass front door surrounded by glass panels spotlights a wide open sightline to the home’s rear windows and an expansive bay view. The entry creates an unforgettable moment all its own and hints at the visual delights that await beyond the threshold.
Dramatic pivot door sets the stage for a grand entrance.
Architects commonly have their favorite spaces in their designs, and Wilkinson is no different. In this home, he particularly likes the casita-style space next to the pool. A breezeway disconnects it from the primary dwelling for a sense of privacy, and the upper level is accessible by a second-level loggia flanked by windows on each side. “It feels like a separate little building that’s attached by this glass bridge.”
Wilkinson’s contemporary design epitomizes the carefree and relaxed luxury that defines California coastal living. The home offers an exceptional one-of-a-kind living experience for a lucky Bay Area buyer.
Dealer: West Coast Window Co.Builder: Wilkinson Architectural GroupPhotographer: Peter Lyons Photography