HAVEN:
THE SPIRIT OF PLACE: AN INTERVIEW WITH BRETT MOYER, MANAGING PRINCIPAL, RICHARD BEARD ARCHITECTS
31 March 2026
When I first met Brett Moyer in 2022, introduced by a mutual friend, I was immediately drawn to his warmth and his kindness. In late 2022, as we emerged from the challenges and isolation of the Covid pandemic, I sat down with him to discuss how we work together, translate our clients’ stories, celebrate fellow creatives and support well-being. In the three years since, our relationship has continued to grow, and I feel fortunate to call Brett my friend. As I spend this year looking more deeply into what it means to have a heart-centered life and practice, I wanted to circle back to Brett for another conversation. Our jumping-off point was the spirit of place — how we honor it, align with it, and bring our own sense of beauty to it. I have always admired Brett’s sensitivity to others and his devotion to beauty and, as I expected, the conversation was moving and filled with meaning. I hope you enjoy it."
Photography by Matthew Millman
Whatever a house is to the heart and body of man—refuge, comfort, luxury—surely it is as much or more to the spirit."
— Mary Oliver
Mead: Since we first met, you’ve become principal and partner at Richard Beard Architects. It’s a wonderful development. You and Richard complement one another so well.
Brett: Richard and I have the same innate sense of the poetry of space. We believe in designing a home from the inside out. That alignment has been there since we first met.
Mead: Where did you develop your perspective?
Brett: It probably started with my education at the University of Oregon, which was the first architecture school to break from the Beaux Arts tradition of the critique, as early as the 1920s. Their approach is not about competition, but about collaboration, spirit and soul. It’s where I started to learn that there is more to architectural design than physical beauty.
Mead: Your approach to architecture is so thoughtful and intentional; it’s one of the things I admire most about you.
Brett: Being deeply intentional in our work is how we honor a place, and the humans who live there.
Mead: That’s part of why we’ve connected so much over the years.
Brett: It sounds intellectual, but it’s not. It is deeper than that. It’s hard for me to think of architecture any other way. We all strive to make the process enjoyable for our clients. I actually want to make the process more meaningful. Taking on the design of a house is a huge commitment for clients, and I want to honor that. If they just needed shelter, they would just buy a house! Their choice shows a passion, and I want to engage with that passion.
Photography by Sam Frost
Mead: It takes time to tap into that. What is your process? How do you tease it out?
Brett: Honestly, if you start talking about meaning, as we’re doing here, people will almost always engage. We also present alternative ideas and ways of looking at the use of space. It opens our clients’ minds up to possibilities they might not have thought of. It helps us tap into the spirit of the humans that will live there.
Mead: Can you share an example?
Brett: For one client, we’re designing a “snug.” We’ve created a place, set at the top of the stairs between the bedrooms, where the family can come together — it’s set on the floor, intimate, cozy, like a window seat for the whole family.
Mead: Can you tell me what “spirit of place” means for you?
Brett: It translates to taking what our clients love most about a place and bringing it into the design, making it an integral part of the home, and of their life there. One example is a project in Southern California, for a client with an amazing tiered hillside garden built over the past 15 years, growing things that would never grow there without her intervention. She’s deeply connected to the land, and to the space she’s created within it. But the existing house just doesn’t work for her, so she asked for our help. We started with the foyer, expanding it and creating space for a central table, which we called “the flower table.” Every day, this space would be a reminder of her connection to the garden, bringing the spirit of the place she’s created into the house. It’s a simple solution, practical but soulful.
Honoring the spirit of a place is not just about the land, it’s about helping our clients connect with the land. It’s not just about the tree, it’s about engaging with the tree."
Photography by Douglas Friedman
Mead: Transitions are so important — our homes are our nests.
Brett: We try to approach the threshold between the outside world and the home thoughtfully, sequencing the experience within a multi-layered space. I want to honor the spirit of the place, as well as the spirit of the humans within it. We do that by getting to know them and designing a space that meets their needs. Sometimes that means thinking outside the box.
Mead: Can you give an example?
Brett: In one home we flipped the arrangement of the kitchen island, turning it to face outward toward the garden instead of toward the stove and sink. It’s not the usual order of things, but it reflected our client’s priorities. We designed another project around four outdoor rooms, each oriented to one of the four cardinal directions — east to capture the morning light, south overlooking the meadow in winter, north for use in summer sheltered from the sun, and west to watch the sunset — so our clients could be immersed in the site in every time of day and year.
Mead: Our work is about orienting humans toward nature.
Brett: The simple act of studying a site, then sharing what we’ve learned about the context — wind patterns, where the sun falls — helps give our clients perspective. It creates a common language, and deepens their feeling for the site. Walking the site slows things down; when you do, it’s interesting to see where people naturally stop. It’s very telling.
Mead: It’s more than a technical exercise. Do you talk about this with clients?
Brett: I do. A lot. I bring it back to feelings, how the land is experienced, how spaces are experienced. Everyone has their own sense of connection, of geographic orientation.
Mead: So what is your ideal project?
Brett: My ideal project is where the client is really engaged on this level, where every detail elevates their life. One of our clients is building a home on native land that has sacred meaning for his family; it needs to honor and echo that meaning. The house is oriented toward the folds of the land, rather than toward the wider views, so they can connect with the land. I loved hearing a client use the word "sacred" in a meeting.
Mead: It takes time to design with that level of intention. How do you do it?
Brett: We’ve taken time to put strong systems in place so that we can focus on design. It stems from what I learned at the University of Oregon: support and collaboration.
Mead: It’s that collaboration I’m leaning into this year, where we leave our egos at the door.
We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak."
— Epictetus
Mead: What is your greatest inspiration?
Brett: The 28 wildly creative people here who have come together to do this work, standing on the shoulders of what Richard has built. We’re poised to grow.
Mead: …and poised to do beautiful, soulful, rigorous work.
I love to end each conversation with some fun, rapid-fire questions…
Who -- or what -- inspires you?
We’ve been growing over the past several years, and our team of 28 inspires me every day. They’re kind, diligent, and wildly creative - I deeply admire all of them.
If you weren't doing this, what would you be doing?
This might sound a little obscure. For years I’ve wanted to enroll in Pacific Graduate Institute’s program in Archetypal Studies in Santa Barbara. The program is for creatives looking to bring a mythopoetic point of view to their work and also … it’s Santa Barbara.
How do you love spending time outside of work?
I routinely, maybe obsessively, circumnavigate Mount Diablo. The trail offers some of the best views of the Bay Area, including the Sierras on a clear day. It's a perfect Sunday afternoon, offering just enough solitude and wide open spaces to recharge.
Last book you read?
I started the year re-reading Meditations, Marcus Aerelius, hoping it would be a refreshing nudge to follow one’s inner compass.
Do you have a favorite quote? If so, we'd love to hear it!
"Good ideas come from everywhere. It’s more important to recognize a good idea than to author it." Jeanne Gang.