Carr Jones was a San Francisco area architect who built homes there from 1910 to 1960. All of his houses have one thing in common--they are the stuff dreams are made of. To this day, his work is admired by passersby who pause to dream in front of his weathered, brick Old World creations that have arched doorways, gabled roofs and turrets.

One couple did more than pause to dream when they saw one of Jones' houses in Orinda, CA. They bought it and moved right in. The house they previously had been living in burned to the ground in the 1991 Oakland hills fire; a dream house is exactly what they had in mind.

The house, however, did have one major flaw. Darkness. According to lighting designer Tom Mourant, president of Lightech in San Rafael, CA, the house was originally built in 1948 as a single story structure with a sod roof. Jones' stepson, Doug Allinger, who now builds homes of the same ilk as his stepfather, added a second story to the house. Allinger used medium-dark wood beams and one-foot-wide planks to stretch the house up to its present day 22-foot peak.

"The ceilings were magnificent during the day," says Mourant. "But at night, the house became so dark it was almost spooky. Floor lamps did absolutely nothing to light the ceiling. And using uplights on the ceiling left the living space dark and dull."

Mourant set about using the latest lighting technology to illuminate the three areas of the great room: the breakfast nook, the dining area and the living area. Three runs of two-circuit track lighting were specified; on each track, one circuit operates ambiant lighting, while the other operates spot lighting. With the touch of a button on a pair of simple wall panels, different lighting scenes can be brought forth.

For example, in one scene, spotlights on the dining area can set the mood for an intimate dinner while the remainder of the room is bathed in a dim glow. Push another button and the whole room is brightly lit.

"The beauty of Lutron's Grafik Eye lighting system is that the dimmers 'talk' to one another," says Mourant. "A computer chip in each facilitates this, so the owners don't have to play with switches to get the lighting scene they want. They touch one button and the system does the rest."

Alongside the great room is an inglenook for cozy nights by the large fireplace. In contrast to the great room's ceiling, the inglenook's ceiling reaches only seven feet. Wall sconces placed along the nook's heavy timbers and recessed lights above the mantle enhance the space's atmosphere.

In the breakfast area, Mourant installed recessed lighting in the ceiling just in front of the hutch. The lights not only draw attention to the pottery collection stored in the hutch, but wash light on the rustic brick wall. The recessed wall wash fixtures were not designed or placed to light the arched entry to the master bedroom as this would create glare when entering the breakfast area from the bedroom.

In the kitchen, Mourant again used recessed lights to brighten a quaint little nook surrounded by tile that is original to the house. The lights are actually recessed into the cabinetry outside the nook and directed into it. Prior to these lights, the nook was all but concealed in darkness.

Beyond the kitchen is the wine cellar, which is built into the hillside and has extra thick brick walls for natural cooling. Originally lit by a single dangling light bulb, the wine stored in racks on all four sides of the room was difficult to see. Mourant used track lighting and flood fixtures with louvers to reduce glare in the small space and illuminate the bottles of wine. The wide lights prevent the racks from being cast in shadow.

Upstairs Gallery
When Allinger added the second story, a gallery was built that runs the length of the house. At one end of the gallery there is a family room and at the other end a door goes into a small hallway leading to a guest bath and bedroom. Mourant wanted to make the family room and gallery part of the great room, so when the lights for the great room are turned on below, ambiant and accent lights in the gallery and family room turn on, as well. Two large gables in the family room can be lit in two different ways. Lighting can shine up into the gables, or the lights can be turned down for quiet reading on a bench beneath the gable.

At the other end of the gallery, the two stained glass windows that look down upon the great room are actually in the guest bath. Lighting in the bathroom sets the windows aglow.

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