A 1915 Home With Golden Gate Views Gets A New Life

Details

transitional entry foyer staircase piano

In updating a 1915 Willis Polk home in San Francisco, designers James Hunter and Shannon Jue bleached the entry foyer's original gumwood paneling to lighten the space. They placed a piano atop a Stark carpet and added Jacob sconces from the Workshop Collection by Phoenix Day and a Rose Tarlow Melrose House ottoman from Shears & Window.

transitional living room gray sofas...

A Trumeau Architettura cabinet by Fornasetti helped establish the palette for the living room. Custom ivory shagreen coffee tables by Ironies and two Antoine sofas by Gregorius Pineo, all from Kneedler Fauchere, pair with slipper chairs by Roman Thomas. The silk-wool rug is by Mark Nelson Designs.

transitional white kitchen pendants oak...

Barstools by Altura Furniture from De Sousa Hughes pull up to the kitchen's island, over which hang pendants relocated from the breakfast room. Out of the Woods Custom Cabinetry fabricated new doors for the existing cabinets. The range is by La Cornue, and the oak floor was installed by First, Last & Always.

transitional bar marble wall white...

A new wet bar features custom nickel-plated shelving designed by The Wiseman Group Interior Design and fabricated by Phoenix Day. The wall is sheathed with marble from Integrated Resources Group, and the cabinetry is by Out of the Woods Custom Cabinetry.

transitional family room window seat...

In the family room, a comfortable window seat was added and appointed with a cushion made with a Perennials fabric. A custom coffee table features leather inserts, and the window shades are by Conrad.

transitional white bathroom chandelier

James Stancil of Stancil Studios painted a mural in the powder room based on a Sol LeWitt work. Ochre's Celestial Pebble chandelier from Coup D'Etat cascades in front of a custom Cadre mirror.

transitional dining room library

A formal dining room doubles as a library and features a custom cabinet by Out of the Woods Custom Cabinetry. Vintage solid-mahogany lamps from Thomas Hayes Studio in Los Angeles rest on a customized walnut table by Coraggio. The high- back side chairs are by Bright Chair Company from De Sousa Hughes.

transitional neutral bedroom canopy bed...

A Holly Hunt walnut bed with a brushed-nickel tester defines the master bedroom. At its foot is a bench, also by Holly Hunt from Kneedler Fauchere. The draperies were made with a Rogers & Goffigon linen.

transitional bedroom neutral lithographs

A set of Agnes Martin lithographs from Orange in Los Angeles are displayed above a walnut cabinet with vellum-wrapped doors by Roman Thomas in the master bedroom.

Intent on restoring the character of a Willis Polk house overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge, a San Francisco couple hired a design team to help refresh the space and modify past renovations that left the rooms in their 1915 residence feeling a bit disjointed.

“I’m a huge fan of consistency,” says the wife. “I’d rather have consistency of materials and finishes instead of making each room unique. It’s more soothing.”

To keep the top and ground floors in sync with the home’s original vibes, James Hunter and Shannon Jue, from the Wiseman Group Interior Design, reconfigured the spaces, reintroduced traditional millwork and worked in classic, yet modern, furniture silhouettes.

The designers also lightened up that palette of the house, particularly in the entry hall, which previously felt brooding with its mahogany-stained gumwood paneling. The wood was stripped, bleached and touched up to make it “perfectly imperfect,” says Jue.

In the end, the homeowners were left with a cohesive look befitting both their casual lifestyle and the home’s historic roots.