Wooded Bliss

With its down-to-earth demeanor, casually collected cool factor, and seriously stunning surroundings, this happily disconnected Northern California cabin puts the "why" in Wi-Fi.

- By Rhonda Reinhart

With its soaring redwood ceilings and plank walls, Emily Ward's Northern California vacation home feels almost as if it was carved out of a massive tree. "It just feels so warm," she says of the 2,000-square-foot house perched on a wooded parcel that backs up to state parkland. "It's like heaven on earth."

Emily, who, with Louisa Pierce, makes up one-half of the L.A.-based design duo Pierce & Ward (pierce and ward.com), and her boyfriend, actor Giovanni Ribisi, purchased the rural property a couple of years ago and promptly changed nearly nothing about the 1960s-built house. For the couple and their two kids, 4-year-old twins Maude and Enzo, the wood-wrapped interiors were ideal just as they were and fell perfectly in line with Emily's style of decorating. "I am really drawn to earth tones," she says. "It was easy to just go with the nature of the house the way it was."

To complement the architecture's earthy palette, Emily peppered works from her eclectic art collection-from hand-thrown pottery to vintage coastal landscapes throughout every room. "All the art in the house is really special or personal," says Emily. "I never look for a piece to just fill a wall." Mingling with the cherished artworks are antique rugs in muted hues; antique furniture upholstered and reupholstered in textural, neutral-colored fabrics; and well-loved vintage wood furnishings all pieces Emily chose for their casually cool appeal. "I didn't want the house to feel designer-y," she says.