AROUND
THE BLOCK

About Mediterraneo

We’re Mediterraneo Design Build, a construction firm in Menlo Park that has served the Bay Area since 1991, working closely with homeowners and architects on more than 150 new residential and major remodeling projects.

Our Philosophy

There was a time when builders could frame a house with little more than a broad ax to fell trees and hew them square, and a knife with which to whittle the wooden pegs that joined the great posts and beams. It took dozens of neighbors to help raise those massive frames, so at every stage, house-building took great skill, close collaboration and constant communication.

When builders used the word “true” in those days it was often a verb. When you trued a log, you made its faces as flat as humanly possible. A trued wall was perfectly plumb. “Almost” didn’t cut it: either it was true or it wasn’t. Likewise, if a builder was “true as his word,” you had no doubt about the craft, quality or integrity that went into his houses.

Times and tools change. Long ago the sawmill supplanted the hewer of trees, and the plumb bob gave way to laser levels that today do everything but brew your coffee. But we’d like to think that integrity still has great value to everyone who designs and builds homes, or lives in them. And that exceptional skill, unstinting standards, close collaboration and constant communication are still the best paths to building it true—true to the owner’s vision, true to the architect’s design, and true to the great traditions of honest building.

March 13, 2020

An Age of Barns rediscovered

Just recently I was browsing back through the books I acquired during my Masters in Architecture studies and rediscovered a beautiful piece called “An Age of Barns” by Eric Sloane.

I originally found this book while I was studying timber framing and joinery techniques of traditional Finish wood construction and architecture.  This book has a section of Eric’s gorgeous landscape paintings of barns and Americana but also many beautiful and detailed sketches of barn construction.  The book explores the history of barns, construction techniques, use types, and tools and is a lovely resource for anyone with a love of craft and workmanship.

Sadly it does not appear that the book is still being published but if you can pick up a copy from your local antique book seller I think it well worth adding to your shelf as well. 

Mediterraneo Builders