CAMPout House Is a Wildfire-Proof but Still Very Stylish Basecamp and Family Home

This collective existential dread explains the rather recent boom in conceptual art inspired by and designed for a post-apocalyptic future, especially regarding shelter in this kind of scenario. Whether we’re talking about flesh-eating zombies or some kind of radiation mishap, there is always one designer or architect willing to create the perfect shelter for the one-percenters: luxurious, bulletproof (or zombie-proof), and still visually stunning. No one’s going to care how your house looks after the end of the world, but it should still look good.

The CAMPout House is today’s version of a post-apocalyptic abode: it’s the perfect, custom-tailored family home that doubles as basecamp for adventure and shelter against today’s calamities brought on by climate change. It is very real, very sleek, and beautiful in a rugged, brutalist way.

CAMPout House was built on commission for a San Francisco-based software CEO who loves mountaineering, skiing, and thrilling adventures in general, preferably with his whole family. It was designed by Faulkner Architects and completed in 2009, and is meant to encourage and nourish an inside-outside lifestyle, while also offering protection against wildfires. The fact that it’s located in the Californian forests, at the base of an extinct volcano in the Sierra Nevada range, played a significant part here.

Unlike most pieces of real estate we occasionally cover here, this one isn’t car-centric. But it is built with a focus on sustainability and is, ironically to a certain extent, a sign of the times. Faulkner Architects tells Dezeen that CAMPout House was put to the test last year, when Caldor Fire came within 25 miles (40 km) of the property. Family homes have to adapt to the new reality brought on by climate change, and in the case of Californian residences, it’s wildfires. This means constructions with fire-resistant materials and a more enclosed structure.

“As climate change increases the magnitude of wildfire events, we must enhance the construction systems and materials to withstand these disasters,” the studio says. “The form can take on a protective posture. Materials can be non-combustible.”

With the CAMPout House, this means a form that’s nestled into the hillside on one side and extended into the adjoining guest house on the other, and the use of concrete, stone, weathering steel and engineered wood as the main materials. The house is made of separate blocks comprising a seemingly impenetrable cell: the walls have few openings and even less glazing, with all the windows reserved for the interior patio that connects the main house and the guest house.

It’s not unlike a castle, if you think about it, except that there’s a decidedly superior level of comfort and elegant styling. Sustainable highlights include smart energy management, radiant hydronic heating, and the use of thick insulation.

There’s an interior patio with a firepit, and there’s even a shed with a slanted steel roof that allows in natural light in an economic but efficient fashion. In total, the home offers a floorprint of 3,800 square feet (353 square feet) divided between open-plan but well-defined living areas. There’s a master bedroom with ensuite, an office, a media room, an open-plan kitchen and dining, and the guest unit.

The interior by NicoleHollis from San Francisco matches the brutalist exterior, but is elegant, sleek and somewhat cozy at the same time. Finishes include exposed concrete, granite countertops, stone floors, and sugar pine ceilings, with expansive, floor-to-ceiling glazing on the walls that give into the patio. It’s a beautiful, elegant family home, one that doubles as basecamp for the owner and the kids on their adventures. “The home is simultaneously a base camp for adventure and a serene escape from the urban sprawl,” the studio explains.

It’s also a visually striking, current take on the fabled zombie-proof home of the future.