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Collection by Lawrence Li

San Francisco

beyond Victorian

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"You need to score concrete to relieve cracking. We laid the concrete this way because it emphasizes the linearity of the space," says Saitowitz of the corridor leading to a shared mail room, an elevator, and a garage.
"You need to score concrete to relieve cracking. We laid the concrete this way because it emphasizes the linearity of the space," says Saitowitz of the corridor leading to a shared mail room, an elevator, and a garage.
Tasked with transforming a 93-square-foot brick boiler room into a guesthouse, architect and metalworker Christi Azevedo flexed her creative muscle. The architect spent a year and a half designing and fabricating nearly everything in the structure save for the original brick walls. "I treated the interior like a custom piece of furniture," she says.
Tasked with transforming a 93-square-foot brick boiler room into a guesthouse, architect and metalworker Christi Azevedo flexed her creative muscle. The architect spent a year and a half designing and fabricating nearly everything in the structure save for the original brick walls. "I treated the interior like a custom piece of furniture," she says.
Once a split-level jumble of small, dark rooms, the main floor now offers a clear sight line from the patio straight through the kitchen, dining room, sitting area, and spare room to the street-facing window (with two skylights for added illumination).
Once a split-level jumble of small, dark rooms, the main floor now offers a clear sight line from the patio straight through the kitchen, dining room, sitting area, and spare room to the street-facing window (with two skylights for added illumination).
If there were a theme song for architect Christi Azevedo’s rehabilitation of the crumbling 1885 abode she purchased in San Francisco’s Mission District, it would have to be “Love the One You’re With.” Instead of an extreme makeover, the self-described modernist undertook a thoughtful refurbishment—–preserving trim, retaining the layout, making furniture from framing lumber excavated from the site, and fabricating new elements as needed. Musing on the Victorian hybrid that she shares with her partner, Katherine Catlos, Azevedo notes, “I think the world will look more and more like Blade Runner, where you have an old Chevy Nova as well as some crazy thing flying through the air. There’s room for both.”
If there were a theme song for architect Christi Azevedo’s rehabilitation of the crumbling 1885 abode she purchased in San Francisco’s Mission District, it would have to be “Love the One You’re With.” Instead of an extreme makeover, the self-described modernist undertook a thoughtful refurbishment—–preserving trim, retaining the layout, making furniture from framing lumber excavated from the site, and fabricating new elements as needed. Musing on the Victorian hybrid that she shares with her partner, Katherine Catlos, Azevedo notes, “I think the world will look more and more like Blade Runner, where you have an old Chevy Nova as well as some crazy thing flying through the air. There’s room for both.”
The walnut cabinets in the kitchen, which update and warm the space, were designed by Nilus de Matran and fabricated by George Slack.
The walnut cabinets in the kitchen, which update and warm the space, were designed by Nilus de Matran and fabricated by George Slack.
Mechanical engineer Jan Moolsintong and industrial designer Peter Russell-Clarke get epic views of San Francisco from their 1,800-square-foot house overlooking the Mission District. On warm nights, they eat dinner perched on Eiffel side chairs by Charles and Ray Eames around a table from Room & Board. The distinctive facade has operable porthole windows and a slatted garage door custom-built by Raimundo Ferreira.
Mechanical engineer Jan Moolsintong and industrial designer Peter Russell-Clarke get epic views of San Francisco from their 1,800-square-foot house overlooking the Mission District. On warm nights, they eat dinner perched on Eiffel side chairs by Charles and Ray Eames around a table from Room & Board. The distinctive facade has operable porthole windows and a slatted garage door custom-built by Raimundo Ferreira.