Green Gulch Zen Center
Muir Beach, California

This guest house serving the Green Gulch Zen Center, located within the Golden Gate National Recreation Area in Marin County, California, is sensitively designed to minimize its visibility and physical impact on the land. The octagonal plan and simple elegance of the twelve-room guest house reflect the Asian origins of Buddhism. The building’s centering geometry is further articulated by a two story central core, used as a gathering and meeting space.

The design of the guest house supports and respects human search for beauty. Handcrafted Japanese joinery is used throughout the house with strict attention to detail. The building incorporates recycled timbers and a passive solar heating system designed to meet human needs without destroying the fabric of the living world. All construction was done by the Center’s own expert team of builders trained in both Western and Japanese traditions. The design supports and respects human search for beauty.

The Green Gulch guest house is a truly peaceful place. Two other projects were also completed for the Green Gulch Zen Center a few years earlier - a house for the Abbott and the Wheelwright Center.