The house is “50 percent inside and 50 percent outside,” Sally says, describing how she wanted the structure to be a part of the landscape. “We worked hard to make everything fit what was here, rather than introduce alien features.”

Sally refers to the house style as “ranch vernacular,” with barn-like sliding doors, a metal roof, and drainage pipes or culverts upended and used as supporting columns for roof  overhangs. The breezeway connecting the house and garage is screened on both sides to do double duty as a porch. The guest room-cum-lookout tower has a 360-degree view and its own terrace overlooking the garden. The main entry to the house is almost hard to find, in keeping with Sally’s desire for a low-key, country feel, a design trope that is carried out in the tranquil, uncluttered forms of the interior decor.

Above, Humphrey, Sally Cole’s Portuguese water spaniel, takes a snooze in front of the couch.