A housing developer approached Franklin Studios to design an eight-unit, gated community on a five-acre hillside lot in eagle Rock, CA.  While maximizing the number of homes and their square footage was a priority for the developer, he also expressed an affinity for modern architecture and recognized that good design would add market value to his project.  The rocky terrain and sweeping views suggested an aesthetic of horizontal plates that emerge from the site and step down the steep grade.  The individual homes are anchored by vertical stone piers seemingly notched and eroded by the wind that washes this ridge.