950 San Francisco

Originally built in 1907, this Bay Area Craftsman had been reshaped by decades of remodels that gave the interiors a cleaner modern expression, but left the home feeling disconnected from its own history. SkB’s work centered on the main house, cottage, outdoor patios, kitchen, living and dining areas, bedrooms, and guest spaces while retaining the existing walls, windows, and overall footprint. The client wanted the house to hold memories of places they had traveled to and loved, without reducing those references to literal or theatrical gestures. SkB translated those references into a collected design language of regional craft, texture, lighting, color, and objects that feel accumulated and curated. The original smaller-room layout remained, allowing each space to hold its own identity while the design refined circulation, clarified relationships between rooms, and made dailylife feel more connected. The project’s larger thesis is one of repair: not restoring the house to a single period, but giving it back a sense of continuity. Bay Area Craftsman character and a modern concrete-and-glass lower-level addition are brought into conversation through material warmth and restraint. Existing polished limestone floors were kept and softened with varied wood tones, golden hues, patterned textiles, and crafted furnishings. Original diamond-patterned leaded glass windows, once treated as background, became part of the house’s renewed language. The main house feels lighter and more refined, the lower level richer and more enveloping, and the cottage quieter and more retreat-like. Together, the house and landscape support entertaining, work, family gathering, and slower moments outdoors.