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Linnet & Coe, home
A two-storey house at dusk under a large gum tree, its dark timber and black-panel walls opening onto a lit kitchen and dining room.

Buildings drawn for the ground they stand on.

A 19-person practice in Oakland and Portland designing houses, small hotels and workplaces, and developing a few of our own.

Start a projectSee the work

Gum Tree House, Lafayette, California · 2025

The practice

We take on nine or ten commissions a year. Each one starts with two visits to the site and ends with a return visit twelve months after handover, because that is when a building tells you whether it works.

Most of our clients are owners and operators who will live or trade in the building for decades. A few are developers who think the same way.

Selected work

Eight projects from 2021 to 2026. Drag, swipe or use the arrow keys.

08 projects, 2021 to 2026

Scroll sideways through the projects with arrow keys, swipe or the buttons.

  1. Two-storey house at dusk: an upper floor clad in black panels with tall narrow lit windows, above a pale ground floor and a lawn.

    Wren Street House

    Place
    Portland, Oregon
    Year
    2024
    Scope
    New build, 2,670 sq ft · architecture and interiors
  2. White two-storey house with deep cantilevered floor plates and warm timber soffits, reflected in a long pool.

    Calloway Residence

    Place
    Coral Gables, Florida
    Year
    2023
    Scope
    New build with pool court · architecture and interiors
  3. Pool with timber sun loungers in front of steep-roofed guest pavilions, palms and green mountains behind.

    Kaipo Pavilions

    Place
    Hanalei, Hawaii
    Year
    2022
    Scope
    14 guest pavilions, pool and restaurant · masterplan and architecture
  4. White stucco house of stacked cubic volumes with small deep-set windows, a paved path and a lawn beside a pine.

    Juniper Court

    Place
    Santa Barbara, California
    Year
    2021
    Scope
    Courtyard house, 3,450 sq ft · architecture
  5. Open living room with a pale modular sofa, round marble side tables and a full-height timber-lined wall, kitchen beyond.

    Ashby Lane

    Place
    Austin, Texas
    Year
    2024
    Scope
    Full interior remodel, 3,100 sq ft · joinery and lighting
  6. Guest room with a low platform bed, a slatted timber bench at its foot and folding timber doors open to a garden.

    The Inn at Calder Fork

    Place
    Ojai, California
    Year
    2023
    Scope
    Renovation of 22 guest rooms · interiors and furniture
  7. Long office corridor lined with glass-walled rooms under a slatted white ceiling, with charcoal walls and a built-in kitchen.

    Pier 9 Workplace

    Place
    Oakland, California
    Year
    2025
    Scope
    Tenant fit-out, 18,400 sq ft · workplace interiors
  8. House with white rendered walls and a two-storey volume clad in vertical timber, stepping stones crossing a new lawn.

    Halsey Street House

    Place
    Denver, Colorado
    Year
    2026
    Scope
    Developed in-house · architecture, interiors and sale

  9. Twenty commissions in the index

    Sector, scope and status for every project we are allowed to show, including six not in this reel.

    Open the project index

How a building gets made here

Four stages, the same on a 640 sq ft cabin as on a 22-room inn. The durations are typical for a new house.

  1. Hands sketching on drafting paper beside a scale ruler and a roll of trace on a timber desk.

    Stage 01 of 04 · 3 to 5 weeks

    Brief and ground

    We start on site, not at the desk: two visits at different times of day, a measured survey, soil and zoning checks, and a long conversation about how you live or trade. The brief we write back is eight to twelve pages, short enough to argue with.

    • Survey and sun study
    • Zoning and feasibility memo
    • Written brief with a budget range
  2. White card massing model with three tall openings and a stepped side, small scale figures standing in front.

    Stage 02 of 04 · 6 to 8 weeks

    Models before renderings

    Schematic design happens in card and basswood at 1:100 and 1:50. People read a model they can lift the roof off much faster than a rendering. We build three options, then one, and price it with a builder before going further.

    • Three massing options
    • Chosen scheme at 1:50
    • Early cost check with a builder
  3. A pencil resting on a dimensioned construction drawing next to the edge of a scale ruler.

    Stage 03 of 04 · 10 to 16 weeks

    Drawn to the joint

    Permit and construction drawings are where budgets are kept. We detail every junction we expect a builder to price, and schedule finishes, fixtures and joinery so that tenders come back comparable.

    • Permit set
    • Construction drawings and specification
    • Tender comparison of three builders
  4. Overhead view of a concrete slab under construction, with reinforcing bar, cable reels and two workers in orange vests.

    Stage 04 of 04 · 8 to 20 months

    On site every week

    We stay through construction: a weekly site walk, a written report by Friday, and every decision logged so nothing gets lost between the drawing and the wall. Handover comes with a building manual and a return visit twelve months later.

    • Weekly site reports
    • Cost and change log
    • Building manual at handover

Twelve years, measured

buildings completed
23since 2014, from a 640 sq ft cabin to a 22-room inn
median to schematic sign-off
11wksfrom first site visit, across the last 15 commissions
average cost variance
3.1%accepted tender against final account, last 12 projects
repeat clients
68%commissions from returning clients or people they sent us

“We stayed open through the whole renovation. They phased the rooms four at a time and we never lost a weekend booking. Occupancy is up 19 points on the year before.”

Marisol Achterberg, Owner, The Inn at Calder Fork

Come and see the models

Most projects start with a visit. Bring a survey, a few photos of the site, or nothing at all.

Book a studio visit
Bright studio meeting area with tall factory windows, pale timber shelving, grey and green upholstered chairs and a black floor lamp.

Oakland

Our main studio, in a former box factory. Twelve desks, a workshop and the room where most first meetings happen.

Address
2210 Kestrel Street, Unit 4Oakland, CA 94608
Hours
Mon to Fri, 9:00 to 18:00
Phone
(510) 555-0147
Email
oakland@linnetcoe.example
White model room lined with slatted partitions and shelves holding architectural study models.

Portland

Opened in 2021 for our Pacific Northwest work. Home to the model room: about 140 study models from twelve years of projects.

Address
1107 NW Larch Avenue, Suite 3Portland, OR 97209
Hours
Tue to Fri, 9:30 to 17:30
Phone
(503) 555-0182
Email
portland@linnetcoe.example

A studio visit includes

  1. 45 minutes with the architect who would lead your project
  2. Models and material samples from comparable buildings
  3. A frank view on budget, timeline and whether we are the right fit
  4. No fee, and no follow-up unless you ask for one

Tell us about the site.

A lot, a building that needs a second life, a hotel that has outgrown itself. Send an address and a few lines; an architect replies within two working days.

Start a projectstudio@linnetcoe.example