This Martis Camp masterpiece is a shining example of the possibilities when an expert builder is allowed to assemble his dream team

A large stone fireplace anchors the great room, which features a coffee table by Nevada City’s Bruce Hart Woodworks and sofa and accent chairs by Troscan Design out of Chicago

As a highly regarded project manager with Jim Morrison Construction, Eben Schreiber has built a goodly number of custom luxury homes in the Tahoe area—but a recent Martis Camp project was more than just another 8,296 square feet to add to his portfolio. It was personal.

Schreiber’s high school friend planned to build a home in Martis Camp and asked him to spearhead the project.    

“They asked me to help build the A-plus team,” Schreiber says.

Jim Morrison himself had a Martis Camp lot ready for some action, so the clients bought it and told Schreiber to pick the architect and interior designer he wanted to work with. Schreiber immediately suggested Brendan Riley, who was with Ryan Group Architects at the time.

“Schreiber [is] one of my favorite contractors,” says Riley, who launched his own firm, designSense, during the project. Still, he stayed on as an asset for Ryan Group throughout the build to ensure continuity. 

For the interiors, Schreiber suggested Sarah Jones, owner of Sarah Jones Interior Design.

The home’s sleekly outfitted kitchen includes quartzite slabs from Da Vinci Marble, counter stools by Sossego Design and cabinets by Westgate Hardwoods

“We have been working together since the beginning of time, it seems,” Jones says. “He knew the client well, he knew me well, and he thought we’d hit it off.”

Bringing together multiple talented professionals to coordinate a shared vision for a high-end home can sometimes be a balancing act. But Schreiber says there was nothing but collaboration and “a lot of fun” throughout this project. The positive interaction shows in the final design: a playful and upscale take on modern mountain living that stands out without being gaudy.

“Among the roots of great architecture is the architect’s ability to listen,” Riley says. “It’s not only the ability to listen to the client, it’s also listening to Mother Nature. It’s listening to the site. It’s understanding what makes that view special. In this case, it’s the view over a meadow and rolling landscape in the background. Blue sky. Jeffrey pines.”

The owners didn’t want a cliché cabin, so they encouraged the team to create a structure with warmth, charm and even humor. 

The three levels of the home are connected by an impressive floating staircase surrounded by glass

“They wanted a statement house, but not something that was overly formal or museum-like,” Jones says. “It was more like, ‘We want a house that’s fun. We’ve got kids, we’re an active family. [We want] something that looks homey and lived in, but at the same time has a strong design sense to it.’”

“They live in their house,” Schreiber adds. “They want to use their house.”

Riley decided to create what is essentially a series of pavilions, each reminiscent of a box with the lid partially lifted off, as if some massive forest spirit decided to peek inside and marvel at the details. There’s the game room with a pre-cast concrete bar. There’s the primary bathroom shower clad in quartzite slabs. There’s the custom wine storage with an attached steel buffet cabinet.

Perhaps because the roof gives such an open impression, the exterior is almost literally grounded by stone, which Riley wanted to use as an anchor for the design.

“It’s heavy,” he says. “It’s earthy, [but] unlike the traditional Tahoe vision of lumpy granite and an amorphous, organic texture, it’s more clean, refined. It’s taking expected material and twisting it toward today’s tastes.”

The stone is fractured or cut into rectangular shapes that are set into courses for the lower levels of the house. The exterior then transitions upward to cedar, while black metal completes the trio of standout exterior materials, hinting at the “lifted box top” aesthetic.

Riley credits Morrison for saying, “We don’t want to forget where we are.” In other words, he explains, modern architecture can run the risk of becoming “placeless.”

Acknowledging the natural elements that make Tahoe such a draw—the stone, the trees, the huge scope—counters this trend toward the generic, instead rooting the home in a very real, unique and beloved geography.

The home includes spacious outdoor living areas both covered and uncovered overlooking the meadow beyond

The interior continues that ideal with white oak paneling that’s “maybe not so much associated with the Sierra Nevada,” Riley says, but that “creates warmth that feels right for a mountain house.” The ceiling is hemlock, casting a warmth and “glow you would associate with the word ‘cabin,’ even though there’s nothing actually cabin-y about the space.” 

While this home may invoke a giant’s eye view from above, a more human-scale vantage point from the street reveals a primary suite that is essentially its own building tethered to the rest of the house via a bridge spanning a dry creek. Everything looks to the west, but the suite is also slightly rotated from the other structures to provide a unique view. A great room and garage sit on this same level, with bunk rooms and an activity-friendly media/game/craft room below and two bedrooms and two bathrooms on the level above. 

Just about everything is distributed in a way that blends flow and privacy, making the home spacious enough for multiple families to coexist, but cozy enough for one family to not get lost among echoing emptiness.

The lofty, light-filled primary bedroom is outfitted with a built-in bed and window seat by Westgate Hardwoods

Riley says the downsloping lot necessitated a three-story home—“but it’s never more than two stories at a time.” The three levels are connected by what he dubs “a pretty amazing staircase” flanked by a steel, wood and glass banister, all cleverly concealing the structural components. Surrounding steel windows from Jada in Grass Valley bring light into the stairway and offer unique views and perspectives. 

Those steel windows also illuminate the bridge and great room, which boasts an encircling black band under a clerestory window. The transparent top of the central gathering area allows the sun to pour in 360 degrees of illumination. Riley’s goal was to make the entire room a portal that felt bright and open, using its overall shape to direct viewers toward the main visual attraction outside.

While nothing can truly eclipse Tahoe’s great outdoors, this home’s indoors—and especially that great room—come close. 

“I think that room speaks to all the different qualities we were going for,” Jones says. “It has an array of unique pieces and a color palette that flows throughout the house. It also showcases an engaging variety of custom pieces. All in all, we’ve achieved an elevated casual look.”

Epitomizing the fun nature of the home’s design, a burnt orange double ski lift chair by Ski Lift Designs resides in front of a Pierre Frey wallcovering at the end of a hallway

Jones explains that each piece has a story or some sort of element that makes it unique. A coffee table, a log bench in the downstairs hall and the dining table were all custom-made by Nevada City’s Bruce Hart Woodworks. A modern abstract by Wendy Westlake in the entryway evokes water and bolder elements of the lake, a Galbraith & Paul light fixture over the dining room table is reminiscent of a hanging branch, and a refurbished ski lift chair swings at the end of a hallway, enhancing the trompe l’oeil effect of the Pierre Frey mountain wallpaper behind.

On the opposite end of the scale, size-wise, are the small items scattered throughout the home, like the cushions and pillows. Truckee Sewing does all of Jones’ custom upholstery, and their handiwork can be found on the bunks and beds in the sleeping areas. The attention to every minute element—including the very threads that welcome the busy family’s tired heads each night—allows the disparate elements to blend into a comfortable whole. In that way, the entire project echoes the collaboration of the three top-tier professionals who brought this house into existence.

That’s not always this easy, Schreiber says. As a builder with more than 25 years of experience—18 with Jim Morrison Construction—he’s worked on his share of projects where the other team members didn’t align on the overarching vision. That dynamic can still result in incredible designs, he says, but the reality is that, “I’ve got to be able to build these complex designs, so continuity is key.” Still, for his part, he strives to understand the entire design, the integrity, the interest and the aesthetic of every project.

“This is the deepest I’ve ever been able to take that type of teamwork,” Schreiber says.

Award: Grand Design

Building Design: Ryan Group Architects

Builder: Jim Morrison Construction

Interior Design: Sarah Jones Interior Design

Landscape Design: Blide Landscape Construction

Square Feet: 8,296