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Altered States
These three San Francisco dream homes all started as diamonds in the rough.
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by Vanessa Brunner
posted on September 20, 2007
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| The Groundbreakers |
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In May 2004, a small circle of friends,eager to break into San Francisco’s real-estate market, fell in love with a 3,000-square-foot, shingle-style duplex in the Mission. The unusual layout—two separate apartments situated under a spacious “penthouse” attic—provided just the right living situation for first-time home buyers Karany Nhim, Steve Ruddy and sisters Katherine and Jennifer Yeh.
Though they knew they were taking on a fixer-upper, the bulk of the work appeared, at first glance, to be run-of-the-mill: new windows here, replastered walls there, a modernized deck. However, no sooner did the partners begin the renovations than they encountered something of a dire situation. “We knew the house had termites, but the damage was four times the original estimate!” says Nhim, a designer at Levi’s. Major surgery on the foundation immediately ensued. A protective cement layer was added, and the damaged (read: nibbled) shingles on the lower half of the house were replaced.
“It was one of those projects that just started snowballing,” says Jennifer, an educator at the Bridge School in Hillsborough. “Our friends just stopped asking us to do things on weekends,” adds Katherine, a brand manager at Levi’s. “They knew we were busy.”
Three years and $150,000 later, the renovation is complete—save for a bit of backyard landscaping, which has not hindered the many outdoor gatherings on the redwood deck (it is, after all, equipped with a vintage bar). Although the original plan was to put the house back on the market, for now the group is baskingin their well-deserved DIY glory. “It's great knowing that we’ve worked hard on this house,” says Ruddy, an accountant at Resources Global in SF. “And now we can finally relax and enjoy it.”
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| photography by Stefanie Michejda |
| THE OBSERVATION DECK |
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Willem Racké is not unfamiliar with reconstructing a house. As a decorative painter based in SF, Racké has worked in many houses that have been stripped down to their skeletons. But in April 2003, when he decided to buy a 1960s modern duplex a block from Dolores Park, he stepped aside and let someone else grab the reins. “I’ve had experience as a general contractor, but for this house, I hired someone to helm the project because there was so much to do,” says Racké of the antiquated piping, battered wood floors and dearth of natural light.
Racké admits that the plans for his new home were partly inspired by the homes of past clients. “Because of what I do, I’m exposed to a lot of really good design,” he says. To create a clean canvas for his contemporary furniture, Racké chose smooth Tasmanian-oak flooring; to add textural interest, he refinished the walls with Venetian plaster. As the pièce de résistance, Racké installed floor-to-ceiling windows in every room except the kitchen and baths. “The original house was really closed up and didn’t take advantage of the view,” explains Racké, admiring the now- unobstructed panorama of the Castro, Twin Peaks and Buena Vista neighborhoods.
Since Racké’s line of work requires him to be something of a DIY guru, he has learned to anticipate the surprises that crop up during a renovation project. “People often buy a fixer-upper without realizing how much money or work is involved,” Racké says. “You can count on the fact that renovations will always cost much more than you originally thought, and take a lot more work than you had expected.”
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photography by Stefanie Michejda
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| A Separate peace |
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When Ruby Smith first heard about a single-family Edwardian home in SoMa on the market for less than $600,000, she was intrigued, even though Smith—at the time living in a Hayes Valley Victorian—wasn’t looking for a new house. After one visit, she fell in love with the two-bedroom home. “I just loved all of the original moldings and its warm lighting,” she says. “Even before the house was mine, I would come here and hang out for an hour. It just felt good.”
After Smith moved in, her first project was to landscape the backyard, which had the beginnings of a beautiful brick patio and only a dash of greenery. Smith extracted a giant agave plant with a chainsaw to make room for new rosebushes and added a Buddha fountain that she found in a now-shuttered Hayes Valley shop.
As an experienced real-estate agent herself—the eight-year veteran is now with Vanguard Properties—Smith knows well how the kitchen can make or break a deal, so in the event that she might someday sell the house, she embarked on a four-month process to renovate the cramped space. She replaced the original full-size appliances with a 24-inch Viking stove and a space-saving LG refrigerator/freezer combo. What’s now a beautiful cherrywood floor used to be an unsightly stretch of peeling linoleum.
“You think you’ll live in your house forever, but there’s always the chance that you’ll need to sell it,” says Smith. “When you’re renovating, it’s always wise to err on the side of classic rather than eccentric.” And since a renovator’s work is never done, Smith now craves a dining room with floor-to-ceiling windows that look out over her garden. “The house is such a little sanctuary,” Smith beams. “I look forward to coming home.”
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| photography by Stefanie Michejda |
| The Groundbreakers |
|
In May 2004, a small circle of friends,eager to break into San Francisco’s real-estate market, fell in love with a 3,000-square-foot, shingle-style duplex in the Mission. The unusual layout—two separate apartments situated under a spacious “penthouse” attic—provided just the right living situation for first-time home buyers Karany Nhim, Steve Ruddy and sisters Katherine and Jennifer Yeh.
Though they knew they were taking on a fixer-upper, the bulk of the work appeared, at first glance, to be run-of-the-mill: new windows here, replastered walls there, a modernized deck. However, no sooner did the partners begin the renovations than they encountered something of a dire situation. “We knew the house had termites, but the damage was four times the original estimate!” says Nhim, a designer at Levi’s. Major surgery on the foundation immediately ensued. A protective cement layer was added, and the damaged (read: nibbled) shingles on the lower half of the house were replaced.
“It was one of those projects that just started snowballing,” says Jennifer, an educator at the Bridge School in Hillsborough. “Our friends just stopped asking us to do things on weekends,” adds Katherine, a brand manager at Levi’s. “They knew we were busy.”
Three years and $150,000 later, the renovation is complete—save for a bit of backyard landscaping, which has not hindered the many outdoor gatherings on the redwood deck (it is, after all, equipped with a vintage bar). Although the original plan was to put the house back on the market, for now the group is baskingin their well-deserved DIY glory. “It's great knowing that we’ve worked hard on this house,” says Ruddy, an accountant at Resources Global in SF. “And now we can finally relax and enjoy it.”
|
| photography by Stefanie Michejda |
| THE OBSERVATION DECK |
|
Willem Racké is not unfamiliar with reconstructing a house. As a decorative painter based in SF, Racké has worked in many houses that have been stripped down to their skeletons. But in April 2003, when he decided to buy a 1960s modern duplex a block from Dolores Park, he stepped aside and let someone else grab the reins. “I’ve had experience as a general contractor, but for this house, I hired someone to helm the project because there was so much to do,” says Racké of the antiquated piping, battered wood floors and dearth of natural light.
Racké admits that the plans for his new home were partly inspired by the homes of past clients. “Because of what I do, I’m exposed to a lot of really good design,” he says. To create a clean canvas for his contemporary furniture, Racké chose smooth Tasmanian-oak flooring; to add textural interest, he refinished the walls with Venetian plaster. As the pièce de résistance, Racké installed floor-to-ceiling windows in every room except the kitchen and baths. “The original house was really closed up and didn’t take advantage of the view,” explains Racké, admiring the now- unobstructed panorama of the Castro, Twin Peaks and Buena Vista neighborhoods.
Since Racké’s line of work requires him to be something of a DIY guru, he has learned to anticipate the surprises that crop up during a renovation project. “People often buy a fixer-upper without realizing how much money or work is involved,” Racké says. “You can count on the fact that renovations will always cost much more than you originally thought, and take a lot more work than you had expected.”
|
|
|
photography by Stefanie Michejda
|
| A Separate peace |
|
When Ruby Smith first heard about a single-family Edwardian home in SoMa on the market for less than $600,000, she was intrigued, even though Smith—at the time living in a Hayes Valley Victorian—wasn’t looking for a new house. After one visit, she fell in love with the two-bedroom home. “I just loved all of the original moldings and its warm lighting,” she says. “Even before the house was mine, I would come here and hang out for an hour. It just felt good.”
After Smith moved in, her first project was to landscape the backyard, which had the beginnings of a beautiful brick patio and only a dash of greenery. Smith extracted a giant agave plant with a chainsaw to make room for new rosebushes and added a Buddha fountain that she found in a now-shuttered Hayes Valley shop.
As an experienced real-estate agent herself—the eight-year veteran is now with Vanguard Properties—Smith knows well how the kitchen can make or break a deal, so in the event that she might someday sell the house, she embarked on a four-month process to renovate the cramped space. She replaced the original full-size appliances with a 24-inch Viking stove and a space-saving LG refrigerator/freezer combo. What’s now a beautiful cherrywood floor used to be an unsightly stretch of peeling linoleum.
“You think you’ll live in your house forever, but there’s always the chance that you’ll need to sell it,” says Smith. “When you’re renovating, it’s always wise to err on the side of classic rather than eccentric.” And since a renovator’s work is never done, Smith now craves a dining room with floor-to-ceiling windows that look out over her garden. “The house is such a little sanctuary,” Smith beams. “I look forward to coming home.”
|
| photography by Stefanie Michejda |
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