Novato / Crown



Although it looks like a Soviet Modernist  relic, this angular roof-line can be seen peaking out behind a grassy knoll on Highway 101 in Novato, CA.  It's home to an unlikely modernist tenant--Birkenstock. 

The building was initially constructed for McGraw-Hill Publishing in 1964 by the firm John Savage Bolles & Associates.  In 1992 Birkenstock took over the space from McGraw-Hill.  In 2007 the hippie sandal maker moved out of the building, only to return in 2012. It still functions as their distribution center.