A small, oddly-shaped, steep down-sloping vacant lot (only 1350 square feet) in the Cole Valley neighborhood of San Francisco created considerable design challenges for a new home. The reward for transcending these obstacles were expansive views to the North, West, and to the Pacific Ocean beyond. The responding vision was for a “mini-residential tower”. Comprised of five floors and a rooftop deck, organized in a reverse-floor plan that situates the living spaces on the upper levels, each level (including the garage) of the north and west facades is skinned in floor-to-ceiling glass. A floating open-riser stair with a continuous translucent patterned glass wall connects all the floors and organizes the house both visually and spatially. The result is a dynamic model of efficiency and transparency for vertical living.