HISTORICALLY SENSITIVE RENOVATION
This 4-story 1920’s Spanish Colonial steps from the Marina suffered many insensitive renovations in the 60’s-80’s, leaving its flow awkward and its expansive views of the Golden Gate Bridge obscured. Our clients—newlyweds with a shared a passion for renovation—had fallen in love with its period charm and tasked us with reimagining its design. Together, we created graceful spaces that paid homage to the home’s original heritage, yet fully supported their 21st century lifestyle (entertaining, serenity, the latest conveniences), ideally creating a new version of the home that appeared as if it had been built that way from the start.
Our design was rooted in a faithful study of the Spanish Colonial Revival period that emerged from San Francisco’s Panama Pacific International Exposition of 1915, held on the land that was to become the Marina District. Exuberant and expressive, this new iteration of Mission-Revival design borrowed from the entire history of Spanish architecture—Moorish to Byzantine and Renaissance—and featured carved doors, spiral columns and pilasters, tiled courtyards, cast ornaments, and patterned tile floors and walls.
Photography: Brad Knipstein