Robinhood

The owners had lived in the house for seventeen years without making any changes so they knew what they wanted - a more open floor plan while incorporating a wabi-sabi aesthetic. The attempt was to have a sense of the wabi (simplicity) without being overbearing in the sabi (nature, flaws and all). The house has a number of touches that are reflected in this ethos: the hand-troweled concrete counters, plastered island and hand-crafted wood details throughout are examples of this.

The goals were simple - harmonize the mid-century modern feel of the house with the 21st century, open it up and give better access to the outdoors while blending in Japanese-styled elements. The kitchen was an inefficient L-shaped room and cut off from the rest of the house - making it part of the public spaces of the house was paramount. The rear deck was also oddly designed, as the only portion on the same level with the house was directly off the kitchen - the main deck was half a level down and there was no access from the living room. Resolving these issues was the crux of the design challenge.

One of the issues with trying to renovate older homes in San Francisco is that the city deems anything over forty years old as a potential historic resource, so drastically altering the exterior of older buildings is difficult at best. The original home was designed in the 1950's by John Bolles, who went on to design Candlestick Park (where the San Francisco Giants and San Francisco 49ers used to play) among other notable buildings.

In respect to these restraints, this intervention consisted of small additions to the front and rear of the house while maintaining the main elements of the main public space in the house - the living room. The original open-beam ceiling along with the brick fireplace surround and dining room planter were retained as vestiges of the mid-century gestalt.

Characteristics of the wabi-sabi aesthetic include asymmetry, roughness, simplicity, economy, austerity, modesty, intimacy, and appreciation of the ingenuous integrity of natural objects and processes. The original structure had much of this already incorporated into it - it was a very simple floor plan, with a typical mid-century modesty that showed off its few natural touches - notably, the exposed wood ceiling and brick elements throughout.

Some of the new details that attempt to capture this authentic, natural feel include:
* An amoeba-shaped island in a not-quite-rectangular kitchen with an oculus centering things.
* Hand-troweled, cast-in-place concrete counters, with micro-cracks and all.
* A stair rail made of randomly placed steel pickets ("sticks") carefully designed to meet local codes so a 4" sphere cannot pass through any portion of it.
* Japanese soaking tubs with wood caps, finished with a proprietary Japanese glass-infused sealer for protection, along with custom-designed wooden tub spouts.
* A wooden "haiku" screen designed with a subtle 5-7-5 rhythm, emulating the traditional short Japanese poetry form.
* A stone sink in the guest bath, resting on a live-edge chestnut counter .
* Custom sconces made from the same chestnut.
* Restoration of the brick fireplace surround, indoor planter and exterior facade element.
* Rehabilitation and reuse of the original ceiling beams and wood ceiling, made possible by placing insulation on the top side of the roof.

Architect: Rossington Architecture - Phil Rossington, Maryam Nassajian, Irina Gunica
General Contractor: San Francisco Deign and Construciton - Tim Chupein
Structural Engineer: SEMCO Engineering - Shaun Moynahan
Landscape Architect: Shades of Green
Furniture: Rara Design
Photography: Eric Rorer Photography, Phil Rossington