Artful Living

This classic San Francisco Victorian still has its ornate 1892 façade. However, the back had an outdated 1970s renovation that owners Eric Smith and Mark Garrett wanted to update to create a better connection to the private backyard.

The back wall is clad with copper shingles, with contrasting stucco for the two bump-outs. Remodeler Jeff King replaced the shingled deck off the master bedroom with a slate deck wrapped with an open rail. The same railing was used on the new deck off the attic. A space-saving spiral stair from the upper deck to the yard adds an architectural element. The owners worked on the backyard hardscaping themselves, and their friend Jeff Bail, a Portland, Ore., master gardener and pebble mosaic artist (www.jeffreygardens.com) created the Moorish-style mosaic.

Photo Credit: Treve Johnson Photography

“The kitchen was closed off. The roof deck on the back bedroom was a rickety wood structure that would shake when you stood on it,” homeowner Smith says. “But the rest of the house was solid as a rock and the original detailing was intact. The guts were great, but we wanted to make the house more livable and practical.”

Smith and Garrett turned to San Francisco remodeler Jeff King, of Jeff King & Co., to open up all three floors of the house to the outdoors. Using two bump-outs with expanses of glass and open decks provided this connection without encroaching too much on the small yard.

The couple began the renovation soon after purchasing the property, renting a place in the neighborhood during the remodel. “We knew we wanted a modern addition on the back,” Smith says. “But [we] wanted to integrate it. We did not want an abrupt transition from Victorian to modern.”

The owners had an architect draw the plans, then King worked closely with Smith and Garrett, value engineering the materials selections to customize the basic design to suit the couple's taste. “That was the exciting part of working with these clients — the capability to collaborate and make minor changes along the way,” King says.

Smith gives King credit for helping them make choices. “That is why we wanted to bring a contractor into the process early on,” Smith says. “[And King] had good visual design suggestions, as well as good quality work. My partner and I were creative and had a vision. We needed someone who did this professionally to take our ideas and help make them more realistic, aesthetically as well as logistically.”

The owners had seen copper shingles on another house in the neighborhood and thought the low-maintenance material would be perfect for the back of their home. However, King suggested stucco for the kitchen and master bath bump-outs to add some contrast. On the attic level, King replaced the existing window with a French door and a deck. The new, larger windows and glass doors flood the interior with light.

The lavender cabinet color adds a modern touch. The owners use the large windows over the sink as a handy pass-through to the grill in the backyard.

Photo Credit: Treve Johnson Photography

Continuing with the low-maintenance theme, the team chose aluminum-clad windows and doors. For the attic, master bedroom, and exterior spiral stair railing, King's crew installed powder-coated metal to match the aluminum cladding. The remodeler says that the railing caps — as well as the attic and first-floor awnings — are made of ipé wood because the owners wanted a softer look than the standard copper cap King usually specifies.

The team did run into an issue with the kitchen bump-out, which was originally going to be slab on grade. Once excavation began, the subcontractor discovered a brick wall, which was subpar, under the existing house. Because the house is in an earthquake zone, the subcontractor suggested replacing the original brick wall with a new 9-foot-high concrete wall. Since that work required extensive digging, the owners requested that the in-ground garage on that lower level be expanded to create space for a workshop, so the sub built the new retaining wall a few feet farther out.

“That was a hurdle,” King says. “The [house is] on a hillside with lots of water issues. There were logistics that I had not previously had to contend with. [But] I've always hired professional subcontractors and had confidence in their ability to execute.” The sub was able to protect the retaining wall from water leaks by lining it with French drains.

“You don't see it, but it is a worthwhile change,” Smith says. The additional work extended the schedule by one month and doubled the original wall-replacement estimate. “[The workshop] is the most expensive room in the house,” Smith says, laughing.

Three large windows in the extension and the new French door flood the kitchen with light. After visiting a few open houses, Smith and Garrett decided on painted cabinets for the kitchen. “It's modern. We liked traditional-style cabinets, but the paint gave it a more modern feeling,” Smith says. For the countertops, the homeowners found a slab of granite that has hints of green, and they selected a complimentary lavender color for the cabinets, working with King's cabinetmaker to customize the color. “It's grounded but still gives the kitchen a personality,” Smith says.

The spa-like master bath features limestone flooring, gold mosaic tile, and a steam shower that opens to the deck. The custom vanity cabinet is topped with a long trough sink. Above the vanity is a transom that allows light to pass into the adjacent walk-in closet.

Photo Credit: Treve Johnson Photography

In addition to color, King says, custom cabinetry allows for the use of every inch of space — a priority in a small kitchen. “Non-custom is on a 2-inch grid, so for leftover space you would have to use a filler. This kitchen has 9-foot ceilings, so rather than using non-custom cabinets and having space left above, we could choose the exact height,” King says. He also has his cabinetmaker install the units. “The more specific the cabinetry, the more important it is to have the maker install them,” King says. “They deal with any issues and have a much cleaner installation.”

Upstairs, the rear-facing master suite now has a French door that opens to the slate deck. The owners gave up a rear bedroom next to the master bedroom to create space for a spa-like bath with limestone flooring and gold-mosaic wall tiles. The bathroom is on the exterior-wall side of the space and a new walk-in closet is on the interior. A transom above the vanity admits light into the closet.

Photo Credit: Treve Johnson Photography

The tub in the master bath is set in the small bathroom bump-out lined with windows. To create the steam shower the owners wanted, King designed a large shower space with one of its glass doors opening to the deck. For this exterior opening, King specified a glass and aluminum door. “Basically, the door has to handle ‘weather' from both sides,” he says. “It's a difficult waterproofing issue — you don't want water penetrating beyond your waterproofing and getting into the framework.”

Because of the shower's steam and its exterior opening, King had to create a pan that allowed the tile in the shower to be closely integrated with the door frame. “In this case, due to additional water and pressure issues from the steam shower and the exterior door, essentially the whole [shower] room became a custom shower pan,” King says. He also installed a Corian slab, set at a slight angle, on the shower's ceiling. “This keeps water from accumulating on shower tile grout joints and dripping on your head,” he says.

The homeowners worked with remodeler Jeff King to convert a salvaged disco ball into the dining room chandelier. King installed the ball fixture upside down, added a motor, and worked this into the existing plaster ceiling rosette.

Photo Credit: Treve Johnson Photography

Though King now frequently works on large jobs, he had been in business just five years when he started the Smith/Garrett residence, his first really large project at the time. He enjoyed working out the details: “From an execution standpoint, unusual projects are the most fun,” he says. “The problems present a lot of challenges that you can confront creatively, which pushes your abilities.”

Clients such as Smith and Garrett, who align themselves with architects from the beginning, King says, really appreciate the value of design, so these projects are inherently more upscale, not specifically in cost, he points out, but with sensitivity to finishes, the floor plan, and spatial interaction.

Smith appreciates that King returns to work on minor maintenance issues at no charge. The remodeler says it's the least he can do because the couple allows him to bring potential clients to see the house. “That has gotten us a lot of jobs,” King says. “Potential clients see the house and they love it. It's been profitable for us.”

Project Details

Project | Renovation of 1892 Victorian row house to provide a connection to the outdoors while melding modern amenities with historic details.
Cost | $525,000
Square footage before | 4,500
Square footage after | 4,750
Remodeler | Jeff King, Jeff King & Co., San Francisco

Photo Credit: Treve Johnson Photography

Sun Flowers

When homeowner Eric Smith lived in New York, he purchased four stained glass panels made by painter Lowell Nesbitt, who died in 1993. Smith and partner Mark Garrett wanted to incorporate the 8-foot-tall and 40-inch-wide panels into the renovation.

Remodeler Jeff King found three places for them in the house. One is used as a pocket door between the living and dining rooms; another is in a fixed window in the breakfast nook; two more are used as sliding screens in front of the French doors in the master bedroom.

King ordered the French doors sized to fit the glass panels and designed an assembly where the panels can slide behind a custom bookshelf when not in use as privacy screens. “We also developed a soffit above the shelf and window that holds a shade that rolls down over the window at night to block out light,” King says.

Smith also owned a piece of stained glass with a curved top, which he had salvaged from a synagogue. King inset this into a custom curved-top door for the powder room and wrapped the door with new molding made to match the home's existing Victorian molding. —N.P.