Architects Grassi Admires: Henrik H Bull

Klaussen Cabin

With winter upon us, we think of Lake Tahoe with its snow-capped mountains, crystal-clear water, and classic cabins. One of Grassi's favorite designs is the Klaussen Cabin, built in 1955 on a steep slope of pre-Olympic Squaw Valley. Legendary Norwegian American architect Henrik H Bull (1929-2013) created it, launching his career. An avid skier from the age of three, Bull began his career designing simple ski retreats. He pioneered the A-Frame ski cabin, which is both elegant and functional. His friend, Peter Klaussen, commissioned the two-level, 876-square-foot home. It ended up on the cover of Sunset Magazine. 

Henrik H Bull A-Frame Ski Cabin

Born in 1929, the native New Yorker grew up in Vermont while enjoying Norwegian summers. Bull earned his architectural degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where California Modernist architect William W. Wurster served as Dean of the Department of Architecture. A trailblazing faculty taught him, including futurist Buckminster Fuller, Finnish architect Alvar Aalto, and multi-faceted Ralph Rapson. Henrik's summer internship in the San Francisco office of 2nd Bay Tradition architect Mario Corbett led him to settle out West. He opened his San Francisco office in 1957, later expanding to Bull Field Stockwell and Volkman in 1967. 

Gingerbread Klaussen Cabin

Bull's site-specific philosophy throughout his career was, "I believe strongly that all good architecture must work with and enhance nature. A fine building must feel like it grew there - like a temple in Kyoto, a Scandinavian stave church, a castle on the Rhine, a barn in Mendocino." He created private homes and public spaces, garnering 43 significant awards, including ones for the Northstar-at-Tahoe resort. Bull's firm continues the legacy today as Bull Stockwell Allen. In 2020, the company's Director of Interior Designs, Peter Williams, paid homage to his Klaussen Cabin by crafting it as a mid-century gingerbread house.