Pacific Heights Residence 1

This San Francisco Residence is a conscientious integration of a 1910 Edwardian style building with the contemporary needs and style of the family. Located in Pacific Heights, the former two-unit apartment building was converted into a single-family home with nanny’s quarters. Now encompassing 10,000 square feet on four floors, the project was completed in 2003. A teak lattice framework wraps around the street-facing façade of the house leading to the entryway. This wooden ribbon visually mediates between the twin Edwardian bays on the top portion of the façade, and the contemporary, monolithic garage massing at street level. Vines planted around the lattice will transform it into an arbor in a few years’ time. The entry posed a particular challenge to the design team, because, typical to an apartment duplex, the space was narrow and confined. The solution was to open the area by emphasizing the verticality of the space by cladding the double height structural column in figured maple, and behind it, placing four flights of steel and glass stairs. The stairwell creates a dramatic atrium that stretches from the base of the first floor to the ceiling of the fourth floor. Skylights and interior courts are the organizing elements of the project. For example, on the fourth floor, a generous solarium sits between a sunny dining space and the open-air patio. The design team paid particular attention to the house’s interiors. The private spaces, such as the bedrooms, all retain reconstructions of the original Edwardian casing, doors, baseboards, and ceiling crowns. Conversely, the public areas, such as the kitchen and entry hall, were gutted and then treated with flush, concealed, minimalist details and finishes. The interior furnishings are a lush synthesis of translucent and opaque finishes, colors and textures which brings life to a modern aesthetic.