A Stairway to Heaven

For this Spanish/Mediterranean home on the border of San Francisco’s Marina and Cow Hollow neighborhoods, our client’s art collection needed a sophisticated modern setting on par with her taste. Our signature design addition was a new floating stair from the second floor kitchen to a completely remodeled ground floor family room. The stair consists of chunky maple treads with open risers hung from the ceiling by metal rods. The new family room features wall-to-wall folding black-painted aluminum doors by Western Windows for a seamless flow between the interior and the exterior. For the family room we also designed an accent wall consisting of vertical slats of alder, a huge sliding barn door and a wall of bookcases. At the main floor, we stole space from a central atrium to enlarge the kitchen, allowing for a distinctively long island, accented by new skylights and a raised ceiling with a discrete, direct connection to the new stair. Finishes include birdseye maple and backpainted glass cabinets for that “Euro” look and soapstone counters. We also designed new layouts for the bathroom and powder room at the main floor, with all new finishes and fixtures. The new bath features floating cabinets with a concrete counter, a wall-mount faucet, a round vessel sink, an electric mirror, a living wall in the shower, and a calico hickory slat ceiling. The compact powder room is outfitted with a limestone counter, a chic, black vessel sink, matching faucet, and coordinated toilet - small in scale but big on style.