This modern home in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California was designed to provide a zen-like, comfortable enclave for the client. The varied linear and repeated structural elements in the design help to define and express the residential spaces. To establish the central room as a spatial and functional center of the home, the design includes a vertical screen of steel and mahogany planks. These elements, and the rhythms they set up, frame the graceful covered entry. Also accessible from the entry walkway is the main garden, which meanders through a sloped area overlooked by a custom exterior glass, steel and teak staircase. The walkway leads one past various framed views of the Pacific Ocean and ends at a meditation room bathed in light from a large overhead skylight.