Marin Home / BACKSTORY
8 inches.) Even the stained wood is made of
vertical-grain lumber rather than horizontal
because, says Ghodsian, “it’s far more stable
against the elements.”
While the house has solid bones, it’s the
aesthetics that hit you first. Ghodsian, who
says he has “a penchant for the vernacular of
colors,” custom-blended all the paints, creat-
ing a rich palette in varying shades of gray.
The kitchen/family room alone has seven
shades of it, from the paint on the wall to the
blue-gray tile of the backsplash to the stained
wood of the white oak island. Even eyesores
like electrical outlets are out of sight, neatly
tucked under kitchen cabinets.
The attention to texture and color extends
to the outdoors, too. Off the kitchen, the black
slate deck is ringed by a sensuously curved
railing and a wall made of manufactured
stone, in — surprise — gray.
One of the home’s most delightful rooms
is its smallest. Open the door of the first-floor
powder room and you’re hit by a waterfall of
handmade glass mosaic, in gray, that extends
from floor to ceiling. The effect is startling.
Todd Gray emphasizes how unusual this is,
and how happy it’s made the Stauffers. “I can’t
tell you how many times I’ve sold new con-
struction and at least the paint gets changed,”
he says. “But this house was just perfect.” M
IT SAYS EVERY THING about Michelle and Brad Stauffer’s Mill Valley home that when they moved in, they didn’t so much as change a doorknob. “Usually, when I look at a house, I
Michelle. “But I walked in and thought, I love
this home just as it is.”
The Stauffers weren’t really in the market
for a new home. They were enjoying loft living
in the city with their t wo children when Brad,
who is president of Tiburon’s Digital Foundry
(Michelle is the marketing consultant), started
having neck issues from the long bike com-
mute. So in December 2012, Michelle Googled
houses within five miles of the office and found
this home, which resonated, she says, with their
“clean modern aesthetic.”
Their realtor, Todd Gray, insisted that
they see a few other properties in the area,
but none came close to the workmanship and
design of this newly built home, so they bit
on it quickly. That’s no small tribute to the
builder, Shahram Ghodsian, who prides him-
self on hand craftsmanship and construction
that lasts a long time. Ghodsian’s ethos is vis-
ible in details throughout the house, from the
handrails, which were constructed on site,
to the elegant eight-foot-tall interior doors
(compared to the standard, which is 6 feet
From top: The
kitchen’s backsplash
and counters offer
varying shades of
gray; the family
room continues the
theme with a Room
and Board cowhide
rug; the exterior rail
curves sensuously.
I walked in and thought, I love
this home just as it is.
