Selected Work

Sketches, studies, and built work.

Every project starts on paper. Below, a featured residence followed by recent studies from the practice.

Featured Project

Crown Avenue Residence.

A Mediterranean-inspired hillside home in the Oakland hills — designed and built by John, set into a quiet parcel with views of the Bay.

3 / 3: Bed / Bath
2,350: Sq ft
0.27 ac: Lot

Oakland, CA · Designed & built by John Kinstle

Watercolor rendering of the Crown Avenue residence by Barbara Tapp — Watercolor rendering — Barbara Tapp, from John's drawings

Open dining room with hearth and garden view

Kitchen with checkered tile, granite, and forest views

Bedroom opening to a private deck and trees

Powder bath with copper soaking tub and venetian plaster

Stone-walled garden with shaded reading nook

View of the San Francisco Bay from the upper terrace

"Concrete floors with radiant heat. A hearth that opens to the garden. A copper tub in a venetian-plaster bath. The kind of details that take a lifetime to learn how to draw — and another to learn how to build."

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Selected Homes & Interiors

Rooms with bones, light, and craft.

A handful of details from custom homes John has designed and built — timber framing, stone hearths, and the small carpentry decisions that make a house feel like it has always been there.

Robinson Drive residence — multi-level stucco home with cedar balcony and terraced garden — Robinson DriveCustom home · Built

Living room with reclaimed timber posts, divided-light windows, and saltillo tile floors — Timber & LightRobinson Dr · Interior

Vaulted kitchen with exposed king-post trusses and walnut cabinetry — Truss KitchenVaulted ceiling · Built

Built-in banquette under a clerestory with mullioned windows on three sides — Banquette NookBuilt-in dining · Built

Hand-laid stone fireplace with carved limestone mantel and woodbox alcoves — Stone HearthMason work · Built

Corner sunroom wrapped in divided-light wood windows with chandelier — SunroomWindow seat · Built

Compact study with handcrafted wood ladder to a sleeping loft — Loft LadderSmall space · Built

Two-story stucco cottage with arched entry and tile roof — Stucco CottageSpanish revival · Built

Painted garden cabin tucked among magnolia and citrus — Garden CabinBackyard retreat · Built

Studies & Details

From the drafting table.

Board-and-batten ADU with orange door under a heritage tree — Garden ADUBoard & batten · Built

Cedar-lined interior with French doors to a treetop deck — Treetop RoomCedar interior · Built

Red-stained hillside ADU with mullioned windows — Hillside CabinBerkeley Hills · Built

Artist's studio with French doors opening to a wood deck — Artist's StudioWorking ADU · Built

Green ADU on a slope with a long planted deck — Slope StudioHillside · Built

Sun-filled interior with red molded chair and French doors — Garden RoomInterior · Built

Garden cottage at the end of a leafy path — Garden CottageBerkeley · Built

ADU under construction, framing visible from inside — In ProgressMid-build · 2024

Elevation sketch — Elevation StudyPencil on trace

Floor plan sketch — Floor Plan1 BR · Schematic

Site plan sketch — Site PlanLot & ADU placement