This project was the transformation of what was (essentially) a forgotten earthquake cottage rental located on Russian Hill, about three doors from where Jack Kerouac wrote On The Road, into a unique personalized home for a couple.  What was most surprising about the space was that even though the cottage, small to begin with, was filled with detail, busy with color and pattern, and containing murals like the Blue Monkey Dining Room combined to make the space feel larger and roomier at the project’s finish.  In this project Siena was a major participant solving space issues, the novel joining of dissimilar materials, and suggesting alternate materials — all with the purpose of achieving the design intent.  It ranks as one of the most interesting projects from both as a participant and as a witness watching it unfold.

April Sheldon Design

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The house was built in 1895 by a San Francisco beer baron.  The exterior of the house was well preserved with ‘good bones” with exceptional locally made stain glass, but the interior had not be touched for well over 50 years, since the age of wood toilet seats and claw bath tubs.  The new owners, a family of six, were very conscious of the historic significance of the house and worked to preserve a great deal of the public areas — Foyer, Staircase, Parlor, Dining Room, using the original doors, window preservation and Hallway casing, base, etc.  — while updating the house from two bathrooms to six, creating a kitchen/family room and a great Room to accommodate the needs of a large family.

The work took the building back to the studs, required both additional foundation support, foundation underpinning, steel moment frames, and a structural slab at the ground level.  In the preserved areas PermaTite was installed over the plaster to control cracking and bring all the interior surfaces up to a Level 5 finish.  We were able to use 34 of the original 35 doors.  The finish carpentry was a hard nut to crack as the building had undergone differential settlement (it is now locked into place) was a challenge as the crown moulding runs were as much as 2 1/2″ out of level in the Kitchen but we were able to overcome the out-of-level condition as can be seen in the photos.  In addition, one of the crew offered a design for the door casings leading to the deck which the Architect and Owner liked and approved.

Everyone working on the project enjoyed it, would bring family members by to take a look and neighbors stopped by to see what was happening.   The project had a great deal going for it : historical interest, the melding of period and contemporary design to provide a living space for a large family, technical issues to resolve, and a tight knit team of people to see it through.

Geddes Ulinkas Architecture

Lauren Nelson Interior Designs

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