Family Reunion

Jeanice Skvaril redesigned her childhood home to celebrate her family's past, present and future.

The living room remains the heart of the house. Jeanice says that sitting near the original hearth feels exactly as she remembers it, though the fireplace has been updated with custom walnut cabinets and a wall of stacked stone.

When Jeanice Skvaril was 10 years old, she and her family moved from their Greenbrae home to another nearby. But for more than 20 years she was constantly reminded of her attachment to her first home, a sunny ranch house tucked into the Marin hills with breathtaking views of Mount Tamalpais. “I would have dreams about moving back—I loved that house,” says Jeanice, who would often drive by and admire the home’s familiar facade while visiting friends in the old neighborhood. So when the house went up for sale in 2004, Jeanice jumped at the chance to get a peek inside. “We were so nervous to see it,” says Jeanice of her visit with her older sister, Julia, and their mother, Jeanne. “But we opened up the front door and saw the exact same entryway tile that was there 20 years ago.” Despite the dark and dated kitchen and cramped bedroom layout, Jeanice, who is both a furniture designer and graphic artist, saw the chance to create a stylish family home in a place that already held so many fond memories. Living in San Francisco at the time, Jeanice and her husband, Jason Fuchs—who also grew up nearby—decided to buy the house, which is only a short walk away from the elementary school they both attended. “Once we started thinking about having kids, moving closer to our families suddenly made sense,” says Jason. “Getting this house just sealed the deal.” There was just one big hurdle to get out of the way first. “We needed a proper master bedroom. It was a condition of the purchase for me,” says Jason. “The existing master bedroom shared a bathroom with the children’s room—I can’t imagine who came up with that idea.” The couple enlisted architect Anne Laird-Blanton to update the interiors and add a top-floor master suite, while still preserving the character of the original house.

The top-floor master suite features a picture window along the south wall. “The whole point is the view. I want to wake up to the view and go to sleep to the view,” says Jeanice, who complemented the shock of blue sky with slate gray paint on the walls.

The addition was designed to match the exterior profile of the house, and the couple contends the house looks virtually unchanged from the outside—except for the pop of an orange front door. A new steel-and-walnut staircase leads from the foyer up to the master suite, which takes full advantage of the view of Mount Tamalpais with a south-facing window. In the master bath, a window over the soaking tub also frames the mountain. Downstairs, the new light-drenched kitchen features a wall of windows that provides more unobstructed views of the mountain. “There used to be just one tiny window in the kitchen. There was a great view if you looked out of it, but they sure weren’t banking on the scenery,” says Jeanice, who extended her desire for vistas to encompass every room. A wall of accordion glass doors in the living room opens up completely to a 600-square-foot patio, where an outdoor dining table provides the perfect setting for big meals with family and friends. “I love to entertain,” says Jeanice. “I never wait for the holidays to get everyone together and have a big old family dinner.” In fact, the family grew as the house expanded. At the height of the renovation, Jeanice and Jason decided to take on another major project: Their son, Caden, was born in 2004 and their daughter, Sabine, followed in late 2006, shortly after the family moved into the completed house. Crediting her appreciation for good design to her parents, who favored Danish modern furniture, Jeanice decided to execute the interiors herself. Among the home’s stylish mix of new and midcentury furnishings are two Slice Chairs—curvy, orange-upholstered rockers of Jeanice’s design that debuted at the 2004 International Contemporary Furniture Fair.

LEFT: “Having Caden and Sabine made it really important for me to have my office in my home,” says Jeanice, who opted to downsize the house’s huge garage, making room for a garden-level studio. TOP RIGHT: Jeanice sets the mood for a family tree-trimming party with treasures from her past. Vintage snow-dusted houses sit atop a walnut credenza from Vioski in Los Angeles. BOTTOM RIGHT: The inspiration for Boodalee came when I was putting Caden down to sleep in his crib and started thinking about what his big-boy room was going to look like,” says Jeanice. Caden’s oak Malm bed from Ikea is made up with one of Boodalee’s new lines, Space.

“I had studied furniture design, but doing the interiors was a little scary at first,” says Jeanice. “How do I figure out the rules, like where the couch is supposed to go?” She discovered some solutions as she went along. For example, Jeanice knew she wanted to warm the metal of the floating staircase with a pale shimmer, but she was having trouble finding the exact shade she envisioned. She eventually had the railing coated with auto paint in a soft metallic bronze. Making her old home new again for the next generation inspired Jeanice in other areas of design as well. It was while putting Caden down in his crib that she was struck with the idea for Boodalee, her expanding line of modern children’s bedding. The colorful graphics of her collections have been a hit with style-savvy parents in search of contemporary twin bedding for their toddlers. The lower level of the home now contains a cozy family room and Jeanice’s studio, which is adorned with colorful fabric swatches and pictures of Boodalee’s primary model—a grinning Caden, now three years old. Sliding glass doors in the studio lead out to Jeanice’s rose garden, where she often unearths remnants of the yard’s past. “The other day, I found pieces of a rocking horse that used to hang from the tree out here. My sisters and I would swing on it all day,” says Jeanice. Thanks to the renovation, the house has been transformed from a museum of mementos to a contemporary—yet familiar—gathering place for an ever-expanding group of family and friends. “There’s nothing like a remodel to really make a house feel like it’s yours,” says Jason. “And now that we’ve finished it, it’s even more welcoming. The door is always open, whether it’s neighbors, family or friends.”

Photography by Michele Lee Wilson; styling by Laura Del Fava

Taken from the December 2007 issue of our sister publication, California Home + Design. For more than a decade, CH+D has informed, celebrated and inspired the nation's most influential home and design market. Subscribe now.
 

The living room remains the heart of the house. Jeanice says that sitting near the original hearth feels exactly as she remembers it, though the fireplace has been updated with custom walnut cabinets and a wall of stacked stone.

When Jeanice Skvaril was 10 years old, she and her family moved from their Greenbrae home to another nearby. But for more than 20 years she was constantly reminded of her attachment to her first home, a sunny ranch house tucked into the Marin hills with breathtaking views of Mount Tamalpais. “I would have dreams about moving back—I loved that house,” says Jeanice, who would often drive by and admire the home’s familiar facade while visiting friends in the old neighborhood. So when the house went up for sale in 2004, Jeanice jumped at the chance to get a peek inside. “We were so nervous to see it,” says Jeanice of her visit with her older sister, Julia, and their mother, Jeanne. “But we opened up the front door and saw the exact same entryway tile that was there 20 years ago.” Despite the dark and dated kitchen and cramped bedroom layout, Jeanice, who is both a furniture designer and graphic artist, saw the chance to create a stylish family home in a place that already held so many fond memories. Living in San Francisco at the time, Jeanice and her husband, Jason Fuchs—who also grew up nearby—decided to buy the house, which is only a short walk away from the elementary school they both attended. “Once we started thinking about having kids, moving closer to our families suddenly made sense,” says Jason. “Getting this house just sealed the deal.” There was just one big hurdle to get out of the way first. “We needed a proper master bedroom. It was a condition of the purchase for me,” says Jason. “The existing master bedroom shared a bathroom with the children’s room—I can’t imagine who came up with that idea.” The couple enlisted architect Anne Laird-Blanton to update the interiors and add a top-floor master suite, while still preserving the character of the original house.

The top-floor master suite features a picture window along the south wall. “The whole point is the view. I want to wake up to the view and go to sleep to the view,” says Jeanice, who complemented the shock of blue sky with slate gray paint on the walls.

The addition was designed to match the exterior profile of the house, and the couple contends the house looks virtually unchanged from the outside—except for the pop of an orange front door. A new steel-and-walnut staircase leads from the foyer up to the master suite, which takes full advantage of the view of Mount Tamalpais with a south-facing window. In the master bath, a window over the soaking tub also frames the mountain. Downstairs, the new light-drenched kitchen features a wall of windows that provides more unobstructed views of the mountain. “There used to be just one tiny window in the kitchen. There was a great view if you looked out of it, but they sure weren’t banking on the scenery,” says Jeanice, who extended her desire for vistas to encompass every room. A wall of accordion glass doors in the living room opens up completely to a 600-square-foot patio, where an outdoor dining table provides the perfect setting for big meals with family and friends. “I love to entertain,” says Jeanice. “I never wait for the holidays to get everyone together and have a big old family dinner.” In fact, the family grew as the house expanded. At the height of the renovation, Jeanice and Jason decided to take on another major project: Their son, Caden, was born in 2004 and their daughter, Sabine, followed in late 2006, shortly after the family moved into the completed house. Crediting her appreciation for good design to her parents, who favored Danish modern furniture, Jeanice decided to execute the interiors herself. Among the home’s stylish mix of new and midcentury furnishings are two Slice Chairs—curvy, orange-upholstered rockers of Jeanice’s design that debuted at the 2004 International Contemporary Furniture Fair.

LEFT: “Having Caden and Sabine made it really important for me to have my office in my home,” says Jeanice, who opted to downsize the house’s huge garage, making room for a garden-level studio. TOP RIGHT: Jeanice sets the mood for a family tree-trimming party with treasures from her past. Vintage snow-dusted houses sit atop a walnut credenza from Vioski in Los Angeles. BOTTOM RIGHT: The inspiration for Boodalee came when I was putting Caden down to sleep in his crib and started thinking about what his big-boy room was going to look like,” says Jeanice. Caden’s oak Malm bed from Ikea is made up with one of Boodalee’s new lines, Space.

“I had studied furniture design, but doing the interiors was a little scary at first,” says Jeanice. “How do I figure out the rules, like where the couch is supposed to go?” She discovered some solutions as she went along. For example, Jeanice knew she wanted to warm the metal of the floating staircase with a pale shimmer, but she was having trouble finding the exact shade she envisioned. She eventually had the railing coated with auto paint in a soft metallic bronze. Making her old home new again for the next generation inspired Jeanice in other areas of design as well. It was while putting Caden down in his crib that she was struck with the idea for Boodalee, her expanding line of modern children’s bedding. The colorful graphics of her collections have been a hit with style-savvy parents in search of contemporary twin bedding for their toddlers. The lower level of the home now contains a cozy family room and Jeanice’s studio, which is adorned with colorful fabric swatches and pictures of Boodalee’s primary model—a grinning Caden, now three years old. Sliding glass doors in the studio lead out to Jeanice’s rose garden, where she often unearths remnants of the yard’s past. “The other day, I found pieces of a rocking horse that used to hang from the tree out here. My sisters and I would swing on it all day,” says Jeanice. Thanks to the renovation, the house has been transformed from a museum of mementos to a contemporary—yet familiar—gathering place for an ever-expanding group of family and friends. “There’s nothing like a remodel to really make a house feel like it’s yours,” says Jason. “And now that we’ve finished it, it’s even more welcoming. The door is always open, whether it’s neighbors, family or friends.”

Photography by Michele Lee Wilson; styling by Laura Del Fava

Taken from the December 2007 issue of our sister publication, California Home + Design. For more than a decade, CH+D has informed, celebrated and inspired the nation's most influential home and design market. Subscribe now.
 

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