In San Francisco, a Modern Gem With Colorful Surprises

The jones | haydu designed Dolores Heights Residence has been picked up by the New York Times. 

The owners of a Dolores Heights residence wished to remodel and expand their existing earthquake cottage that had been added onto in a piecemeal manner over the years. Wanting to transform this series of awkwardly connected rooms into an open, harmonious space, the interior designer owner wanted an architect who could work with his vision for the interior, expanding to a bigger holistic vision for the exterior and its site. 

Given the existing footprint covered much of the lot, the goal became a re-invisioning of how the house interacted with the site, making the most —not just of the views— but the exterior spaces and their uniqueness.

The circulation for the site and house is a straight axis, interacting with the building’s forms as they ascend to the main entrance. Continuing at the interior, one’s experience along this axis is always anchored on the downhill end by Sutro Tower, and the uphill end by a magnificent Monterey cypress tree.

The forms of the house nest with each other, highlighted by their material palette of cedar, standing seam metal, and cementitious panels. These forms, along with the interior palette, create rooms within a wide-open plan. The crescendo of forms occurs at the front, nodding to quintessential San Francisco vernacular. An inverted Bay window box cantilevers eight feet from the facade highlighting three experiences of the “urban forest”. Below is an exterior fire pit for the forest floor. Inside, the box frames a view of the “trunk” level. Above, a roof deck extends the living room, allowing an experience of the “canopy” level with the backdrop of that almost child-like expression of home, a gable.

Follow the link above for photos and more.