Tahoe Truckee | Residential Design · Land Use Planning · Permit Plans
AUSTIN RIDGE MOUNTAIN RETREAT
AUSTIN RIDGE MOUNTAIN RETREAT
Martis Peak Estates Truckee California
MASTER PLAN / DESIGN BUILD:
NEW POOL HOUSE
IN-GROUND POOL
PERGOLA
EVENT SPACE
Project Team
Designer:
MASTRIDICASA
Contractor:
CMJR Construction Inc
Structural Engineer:
Shear Force Engineering
Mechanical Engineer:
15000 Inc.
Interior Designer:
Owner
Photography:
Dave Donnelly / MASTRIDICASA
A phased mountain retreat shaped around land, views, infrastructure, gathering, and long-term flexibility.
Set on 20 acres in Martis Peak Estates, this property had the scale, privacy, and view corridors to become more than a residence. The owner envisioned a place for family, friends, guests, and community — a mountain setting that could support recreation, gathering, quiet retreat, and year-round use.
MASTRIDICASA helped develop the master plan and design-build strategy for the first phase of improvements, including site circulation, infrastructure upgrades, an in-ground container pool, raised pergola platform, firepit and patio, outdoor kitchen and bar, sports courts, and pool barn/cabana.
The result is a retreat that feels expansive without feeling scattered — a property shaped for gathering, movement, and mountain life.
This design-build project garnered the 2024 CATT Award for Best Commercial Project.
EXISTING CONDITIONS
The property offered an extraordinary starting point: 20 acres of ridge-top land, long views, privacy, and an existing residence with a strong relationship to the landscape.
But the opportunity came with real site demands. Before new outdoor living spaces could take shape, the project team needed to understand the existing infrastructure, access, utilities, grading, circulation, records, previous permit documents, and the practical limits of construction on a mountain property.
The work began with careful observation, documentation, and planning. That early effort helped clarify what could remain, what needed to be upgraded, what needed to be replaced, and how each phase could support the larger vision for the property.
MASTER PLAN VISION
Before ground was broken, the project team spent time walking the property, studying the land, and testing ideas in the field.
The owner had a clear vision for a retreat that could support family time, guest use, outdoor recreation, and larger gatherings. The challenge was not simply adding features. It was organizing them in a way that felt natural to the site and useful over time.
MASTRIDICASA developed a multi-phase master plan to help coordinate the improvements, infrastructure, views, circulation, staging, and construction sequence. Accurate 3D modeling became an important part of that process, allowing the owner and project team to study sightlines, relationships between features, grade changes, and the overall experience from multiple vantage points.
The goal was to make each improvement feel connected to the whole property — not like a collection of unrelated amenities.
MASTER PLAN VISION
This project depended on more than design intent. It required infrastructure, sequencing, and strong field coordination.
The first phase included generator installation, driveway paving, excavation for the in-ground container pool, site preparation, utility coordination, structural planning, and the early layout of outdoor gathering areas. Construction access, material staging, equipment movement, grading, and year-round mountain conditions all shaped the strategy.
Because this was a true design-build effort, collaboration with the contractor was critical. We modeled site features in 3D, studied views and spatial relationships, coordinated with consultants, and worked closely with the builder as conditions evolved in the field.
Good design-build work depends on clear communication, practical problem-solving, and respect for what the site reveals during construction.
Before construction began, Austin Ridge Retreat was a large mountain property with extraordinary potential and very little of the infrastructure needed to support the long-term vision. The early work began with reading the land, understanding access, and planning how the site could support gathering, recreation, utilities, and future phases.
BREAKING GROUND / INFRASTRUCTURE
The retreat began with a blank slate — and a lot of work below the surface.
Before Austin Ridge Retreat became a place for gathering, recreation, and long weekends outside, the site needed the infrastructure to support it.
Grading, access, utilities, conduit, data, lighting, controls, and coordination were all part of the early work. More than two miles of CAT5 cable and conduit were installed to help prepare the property for comfort, security, communication, entertainment, and long-term flexibility.
The goal was simple: build the backbone first, so the finished retreat could feel effortless later.
The outdoor kitchen gives Austin Ridge Retreat a place to gather without leaving the rhythm of the landscape. Close to the pool, patio, firepit, and pergola platform, it supports the kind of long, casual outdoor living the property was designed for — cooking, serving, lingering, and staying outside as the light changes across the mountain setting.
PHASE I - IV COMPLETE
The custom ModPool and patio anchor one of the main outdoor living areas at Austin Ridge Retreat. Designed as part of the larger site sequence, the pool connects naturally to the firepit, pergola platform, outdoor kitchen, pool barn, and surrounding views, creating a place for recreation, gathering, and unhurried time outside.
PERGOLA
A quiet outdoor space set at the edge of the cliff, overlooking Truckee and Northstar-at-Tahoe.
Raised above the surrounding grade and positioned at the edge of the property’s dramatic overlook, the pergola platform creates a defined place to gather without feeling separated from the land around it.
From this elevated edge, the structure helps frame long views toward Truckee and Northstar-at-Tahoe while connecting naturally to the pool, patio, firepit, outdoor kitchen, and surrounding outdoor living spaces.
More than a shade structure, the pergola gives the retreat a center of gravity: a place to pause, gather, look out, and take in the scale of the mountain setting.
POOL BARN INTERIOR
A quiet interior hub for life around the pool.
The pool barn interior supports the outdoor living sequence at Austin Ridge Retreat, giving the pool, patio, pergola, firepit, and outdoor kitchen a practical place to land.
Designed for changing, storage, gathering, cleanup, and easy movement between inside and out, the space helps the retreat function smoothly without interrupting the mountain setting around it.
It is not the main event — and that is the point. It works quietly in the background so the rest of the property can be lived in fully.
