Design board continues Straitsview Drive remodel and ADU/garage proposal to May 1 for redesign work

The Tiburon Design Review Board continued review of a substantial residence remodel and a proposal to add a two-car garage above an accessory dwelling unit at 1945 Straitsview Drive to its May 1 meeting to allow the applicant to return with revisions to reduce the perceived vertical massing at a steep corner of the project.

Architect and property owner Alex Seidel presented the project, which includes interior updates to an existing 1950s house, a new two-car garage accessed from the uphill driveway, and a roughly 1,000-square-foot ADU tucked beneath the garage. Seidel said the team arranged the garage above the ADU to consolidate massing on the site, and noted the project avoids placing separate buildings lower on the hillside where they would be more visible to neighbors.

Board members and staff raised concerns about a tall exposed foundation/retaining face at one corner of the proposal. Members who visited the site praised the extensive use of glass on the first floor, which reduces perceived bulk from some viewpoints, but several said the corner’s verticality read as a large monolithic plane from the adjacent cul-de-sac and uphill houses. Board member comments suggested possible ways to break or better anchor that face — for example, different materials, inset massing, or additional landscape terraces — and urged the design team to explore options to reduce vertical massing and improve landscaping at the visible corner.

The applicant agreed to revise drawings and return. The board continued the item to the May 1 meeting and requested the applicant explore additional detailing, material treatments, and landscape strategies to reduce the visual impact of the high corner and to provide clearer sections and massing diagrams to address board questions about cut, fill and headroom.