Even among San Francisco’s extensive stock of legendary Victorian-era homes, this historic Queen Anne residence on Buchanan Street is distinguished. Through several years of strategic efforts with the city’s historic planners, scrupulous planning, and focused effort from the design and engineering teams, the house underwent a complete restructuring.
which can be dark inside, the corner
location allowed for more windows
along three sides of the house. These
three façades with their numerous
windows allowed the design team to
rethink the more traditional plan typically found inside a Victorian home.
With a brand-new interior layout, this refreshed home now easily accommodates the large family that commissioned it. The exteriors were repaired and preserved according to the Secretary of Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation and Guidelines for Rehabilitating Historic Buildings, giving a fresh and welcome look to this prominent corner of a historic neighborhood.
MODERN APPEAL
The first step in the renovation involving lifting the home to create a multi-car underground garage and basement while allowing for a more spacious interior layout. To avoid the need to back out onto one of San Francisco’s most prominent streets, the underground garage includes a unique motorized turntable that allows the owners to pull in and out.
The lower portion of the exterior was painted a dark charcoal color, contrasting with the clean, bright white of everything above. This two-color palette creates a striking, modern and timeless aesthetic. Paul Wiseman, founder of The Wiseman Group and the interior designer for the project, explains that the “darker color on the lower floor gives the house a sense of grounding while the white color enhances the airy living spaces on the upper floors.”
Traditionally, exterior color palettes for Victorian homes include a wide range of contrasting or complementary color. Here, a nearly monochromatic palette reveals nuances in the ornamentation in a subtle and fresh manner.
alcove, harmonizes with the exterior’s base color and serves as a transition between the classic exterior and the contemporary interiors.
The jet-black front door, located within a jet-black paneled alcove, harmonizes with the base color and serves as a transition between the classic exterior and the contemporary interiors. “We didn’t pull any Victorian details into the interior,” Wiseman notes. “The idea was that the interior was a counterpoint to the traditional exterior.” Wiseman emphasizes that the design team intentionally avoided incorporating Victorian details into the interior design, aiming for a deliberate contrast with the traditional exterior. As you enter the house, the front door reveals the modern interior with mahogany wood ebonized to maintain a cohesive flow that seamlessly blends the interior and exterior spaces.
INSIDE AND OUT
With outdoor space at a premium in San Francisco, the design team took advantage of the corner lot to create a series of gardens that anchor this home to the site. Along one side of the property, Strata Landscape Architecture created a linear garden located slightly above the street, defined by a low concrete wall topped with a decorative metal rail. A small south-facing terrace with adjoining garden is anchored by a firepit. Both spaces flow seamlessly from the second-level family room. On the third level, a small deck with direct access to the yard offers territorial views of the neighborhood.
Unlike many Victorian houses, which can be dark inside, the corner location of the house allowed for more windows along three sides of the house. These three façades with their numerous windows allowed the design team to rethink the more traditional plan typically found in a Victorian home. The abundance of natural light paired with light, airy and contemporary interior architecture is reflected most dramatically on the main floor, where a freestanding oak-clad volume defines the public spaces while concealing functional program elements, including a bar, powder room, storage, audiovisual closet and even a butler’s pantry.
The four stories, which are furnished in a minimalist style, are connected by a curvilinear staircase. The stair was an opportunity to create a more open and continuous flow of space between floors, a spatial quality uncommon in historic houses. Serving as a sculptural highlight across all floors, the stair features a minimalist steel guardrail by Chris French Metal and a continuous plaster-clad stringer. Large skylights on the roof channel light into the home to create a more expansive atmosphere.
The graceful curves of the staircase are echoed in various furnishings, including a long, slender dining table that accommodates 12 people, curvilinear banquette and the comfortable chairs throughout the home. Frequent entertainers, durable outdoor-rated fabrics were chosen to resist stains, spills and wear. The same stairway gracefully descends to a wine wall and game room. At the pinnacle of the staircase lies the fourth floor, where the primary suite is nestled. With a dramatic office at the landing, sleeping room with vaulted ceiling, compartmentalized bathroom and multiple walk-in closets, the entire floor is dedicated to the owners. For the primary bath, the team created a large wet room with freestanding tub and generous shower and then placed two vanities in one of the most dramatic spaces in any Victorian home—the turret. Modern light fixtures create a dramatic interplay between the contemporary and historic elements of this unique residence.
All the building materials for this home were selected for their durability with the goal of ensuring this Victorian home, built in the late 1800s, lasts another 50 years.
PHOTOS: Matthew Millman unless otherwise noted
Retrofit Team
ARCHITECT: Richard Beard Architects
INTERIOR DESIGN: The Wiseman Group
STRUCTURAL ENGINEER: GFDS Structural Engineers
LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT: Strata Landscape Architecture
LIGHTING DESIGN: Banks Landl Lighting Design
GENERAL CONTRACTOR: Centric General Contractors
Materials
EXTERIOR LIMESTONE: Coursed St. Paul Limestone Veneer
VERTICAL CEDAR SIDING: Horizontal Custom-milled Redwood Profile to Match Existing 1880s-era Exterior
WINDOWS, EXTERIOR DOORS AND STAINED-GLASS PANEL RETROFIT: Wood Windows & Doors
SKYLIGHTS: Velux
INTERIOR DOORS AND FINISHES: Charles Marpet Fine Woodworking, (541) 767-0672
HARDWARE: Linnea
HANDRAIL AT STAIR: Chris French Metal Inc.
GARAGE MOTORIZED TURNTABLE: Carousel USA
MODERN LIGHT FIXTURES: Lucifer Lighting
FLOORING: Artistic Tile
DISHWASHER: Miele
INDUCTION COOKTOP AND RANGE: Wolf
REFRIGERATOR, FREEZER AND WINE REFRIGERATOR: Sub-Zero
WALL OVEN: Gaggenau
WASHER/DRYER: LG
