The Caretaker’s Cottage

The Caretaker’s Cottage, an accessory dwelling unit located in the mountains of San Diego County, was completed in 2022 to house the Ilan-Lael Foundation’s Caretaker. The purpose of the Foundation, an arts education center, is to provide a place to explore the arts through engagement with the natural world and to inspire people of diverse backgrounds to celebrate their creativity and use it as a catalyst for positive change in the world.

Constructed with the latest green technologies, the cottage’s contoured walls were built with insulated composite concrete blocks, which consist of post-consumer Styrofoam, Portland cement, admixtures, and water. The rolling arched ceilings were built with Tridipanels, which are framed pre-fabricated recycled expanded polystyrene panels. Both of these materials are known for their strength in high winds, fire-resistant properties, design versatility, and high thermal insulation qualities. All of these advantages are essential in the hills of Santa Ysabel, where fires, Santa Ana winds, and intense temperatures are an ever-present possibility.

Walking around the magical property, one realizes the Cottage blends into the surrounding environment as if it was always meant to be there. Designed by father and son team, James and Drew Hubbell, it features Hubbell and Hubbell’s ability to make resilient designs come to life, utilizing low-impact materials, while creating a stunningly beautiful home in harmony with nature for the property’s caretaker. Embellished with stained glass doors and windows, floors and walls adorned with mosaics, rock work with stones harvested from the property, ornate brickwork, skillful woodwork built with reclaimed cedar, and intricate metalwork details, all of these features are designed by James and built by his craftsmen and women. The Cottage can be described in two words – sculptural architecture.