"In a 1957 house by Esherick in the same area of Marin County as his original 1950 'barn' (Esherick house, Kentfield), the same form and spatial arrangement are used, but the difference in scale, in addition to the breaking of the volume with an extended service wing that forms one side of the entrance court, creates more the impression of a lavish shingle-style villa in the line of McKim, Mead and White than of the California barn."

— Sally Woodbridge, Ed. Bay Area Houses. p202.

The Creator's Words

"We need to establish a system having two characteristics: that the system itself does not structure our view either of the environment, formulation or solution of the problem; and that the design and decision processes are embedded in the problem itself, and man-oriented. We ought to generate many divergent thoughts and a number of different alternatives, and then develop some method of selection that is not arbitrary but has a definite criterion. You have to prove that A is better than B under some quite particular terms. To do this by the usual architectural system of drawing is too hard and time-consuming. We should be able to produce a general of abstract case in some way and then manipulate it. When you look at a formula in mathematics you can see the limitations of how a change of any one symbol alters a particular phenomenon. By specifying what the design problem is in a loose, general sense, you quickly define the domain and the limits without specifying the solution. The result is the opportunity to predict outcomes and work on a variety of alternatives, and on refinements that you do not normally have time to consider."

— Joseph Esherick. from Paul Heyer. Architects on Architecture: New Directions in America. p113.