An Eichler home in need of some serious design love gets the Cinderella treatment, seamlessly transforming into the ultimate trophy residence.
The living room is perfect for lounging with a cozy Maxalto sofa, Knoll Barcelona daybed and soothing B&B Italia rocker.
THE CLIENT
The head of a global real estate network, the homeowner originally purchased the dilapidated 2,000-square-foot Eichler home—one of only 97 of these single-family architectural icons built in San Francisco—with the intention of flipping it. During the extensive renovations, however, the home’s long-term potential unfurled, and he ultimately decided to keep it for himself.
The home’s design perfects the art of California indoor-outdoor living.
THE PROJECT
When the dilapidated property was purchased in 2016, years of tenants and alterations had left the home practically unrecognizable. At this time, the only original element left was the cement fireplace. “This was an interesting design challenge as there are many schools of thought on how to restore an Eichler,” says interior designer Stacey Lim of Stacey Lim Designs (staceylimdesigns.com), tasked with decorating the home’s interior. “How do you pay homage to this design, or do you use this as a jumping [off] point for a new vision?”
Slide through a secret bookcase into a speakeasy-style room.
THE ARCHITECTURE
Tapping Todd Davis for the architecture (tdarchitecture.com), the homeowner requested a modernized aesthetic that still respected architect Claude Oakland’s original design: an elevated take on Eichler’s vision of indoor-outdoor California living. Davis started by updating the layout and replacing the ceilings with clear cedar.
The front facade features a square-within-a-square effect.
The front facade posed quite the challenge, with Davis creating a square-within-a-square effect using different depths and materials as well as a Japanese technique of wood preservation called shou sugi ban. Designed to change during the day based on the shadows, Davis says the home lights up at night “like a beacon.”
Inside, the new layout created an additional and unnecessary room upstairs. To combat this, Davis crafted a secret room off the hallway with a cheeky pivoting bookcase serving as the door.
A Cambria countertop and tractor stools from DWR stand out in the black-and- white kitchen.
THE INTERIOR
An all-black kitchen stuns in the central living area with bold backsplash tiles from Fireclay Tile, a Sub-Zero fridge and wine fridge and a sleek Viking range. A challenge? The client requested a massive 11-foot seamless island. “We were fortunate to get a preproduction version of a Cambria super slab in order to achieve a seamless island of this size,” Lim explains. “It took a year to find!”
Pieces from local vendors and artists are scattered throughout the space, including artwork by Robert Ogata (robertogata.com), Silvia Poloto (poloto.com) and Jenn Shifflet (jennshifflet.com), plus original pieces by Rex Ray. Vintage midcentury furniture pieces round out the exceptional decor.
Chic accessories, like an RH rug and Arteriors table lamps, pull the bedroom’s design together.
Photography by: BRUCE DAMONTE
