We are comfortable working with a variety of styles, believing that good design can come in a variety of packages. We stress the core principles of: balance and proportion, natural light, connection with the outdoors. Our work is connected to the evolving "San Francisco Bay Area Architecture", which originated in the early 1900's, with Bernard Maybeck and Willis Polk, and carried on more recently with William Wurster, and Mickey Muening among others. This tradition generally combines modern principles and philosophy with local vernacular and materials, with special regard for attractive, comfortable spaces integrated closely with the environment.
I became interested in architecture and construction at an early age. With the usual blocks, Lincoln Logs, construction equipment, and constant drawing. My mother took great interest in home styles and older homes, we often toured neighborhoods admiring and critiquing the homes. My father took a greater interest in the a bridge or tall building or an old and rundown, picturesque scene. Both of were enthusiastic nature lovers, imparting an appreciation of the wonder of the “cathedrals” of the forests and mountains. When I was five we added a family room to our house. I took great interest in the process and can clearly recall the planning sessions at the kitchen table, the blueprints, and taking was probably a bit of a pest to the contractor during construction.
Growing up in the Santa Clara Valley I watched it transformed from an agricultural paradise to the “Silicon Valley” as one orchard after another fell to the bulldozer and was replaced by a maze of roads, new housing subdivisions and strip malls. I enjoyed roaming the houses under construction, seeing how they were built and trying to understand which rooms were which. But the experience was an appalling change, and the often poor planning design construction of these developments left a kind of wasteland to my mind. I am sure this had something to do with for my commitment to creating quality homes that are well designed, sustainable construction and well integrated with the site.
By the time I graduated from high school I was pretty sure I wanted to study architecture, but also had strong interests in other arts, particularly photography. The art department at UC Davis was new, but “hot” with a number of well know, cutting edge artists. But it turned out that it was the chairman of the department, an architect, that led me to transfer to UC Berkeley to study architecture, he introduced me to the work of Buckminster Fuller and Sim Van der Ryn , then at Berkeley (click here for more info), pioneers of ecological design. I took great interest in geodesic domes, solar energy as well as the wonderful historic buildings in Berkeley by Bernard Maybeck and others in the Arts and Crafts movement.
Following graduation, I worked with companies developing modular housing and kit homes. Then feeling that my education had been lacking the practical “nuts and bolts” I took the opportunity to participate in the construction a new home from the ground up, as an apprentice carpenter. I enjoyed the work and experience and spent the next few years as a carpenter by day and at the drawing board in the evening and on rainy days.
I established John Craycroft and Associates in 1985 as a Design/Build firm, completing several dozen custom homes in the Santa Cruz mountains,. We specialized in difficult sites and energy efficient solar homes, including our own home built in 1987, built on a southwest facing knoll, in a clearing in the redwood forest. During a housing downturn in the mid 1990’s we turned to design and project management for retail environments for Levi Strauss Co. and Macys department stores.
In 1998 I decided to return to focus on residential design and my son Zachary joined the firm. He was fundamental in transitioning the firm to computer aided design. Since then we have be able to downsize our office without compromising quality or production. We create a specialized team for each project comprised of related professional design professionals and consultants in separate offices yet closely connected.
John Craycroft August, 2007
