This San Francisco Craftsman Makeover Is All About Historic Preservation

This 1912 San Francisco home had a lot of history—its neighborhood was originally the site of a racetrack in the late 1800s, and after the 1906 earthquake it served as a refugee camp for displaced residents. It is one of the original Craftsman cottages in the neighborhood.

Kathryn MacDonald

“Their main goal was to keep the Craftsman aesthetic and not take away too much of the original style, while updating it to function better for a modern family,” says Patty Hampton, Head of Design at Refresh Your Space.

Kathryn MacDonald

The ground floor layout featured a lot of of walled-off small spaces, so it lacked a smooth flow and did not get enough natural light. And while the previous owners had done some updates over time, these improvements were layered on and not done very well—like the flooring had several layers.

Kathryn MacDonald

“Our starting point was getting back to the original state as best we could in order to make improvements, basically a real restoration,” Patty explains. “Some other issues included limited storage, weird angles, a blind corner pantry, random vents (like one for the old refrigeration) that weren’t necessary anymore, patching random holes from things like removing old radiators, etc. We also wanted to retain the old Douglas Fir woodwork that was in poor shape in some spots, so we worked hard to fix it.”

The clients’ goals were to open up the kitchen and adding an island so it would be easier to entertain; salvage as many original materials as possible; introduce more natural light, add more storage; and keeping the original pocket doors to the living room.

Kathryn MacDonald

“Much of the work involved a hyper-focus on restoring original details, and in some cases, recreating them,” says Flynne Nathanson, Head of Marketing and Operations at Refresh Your Space. 

As you enter the home, you’ll see that the entryway was brightened up and the flooring was sanded, bleached, and re-stained to give it a more blonde color.

Kathryn MacDonald

“In the living room where the existing connecting built-ins, wainscoting, and flooring were built like interlocking puzzle pieces,” Patty says. “We removed the initial built-in bench in their living room, so we could add built-in shelving and a new window seat. In order to have it look original, we had to integrate the whole design with the existing wainscoting millwork, which also needed to be restored.”

Kathryn MacDonald

The kitchen was remodeled for entertaining—it’s now a chef’s kitchen with all the bells and whistles, plus even more functional details. “We had to fix the walls because there was no wall behind the wainscoting (paneling with a lovely grid pattern),” says Patty of the dining room. “To bring it up to code we installed drywall and matched it to the original wall design, including removing and re-installing the original crown molding. We extended two beams to match the original ones into the opened up ceiling space after removing the wall, and wound up with a big pile of salvage that we could reuse. We patched the basketweave parquet flooring (Brazilian cherry) to match including the border inlay, and added the butler’s pantry in place of the old tiny built-in breakfast nook. We sourced all the furniture, and added a new chandelier.”

Kathryn MacDonald

The design team also updated the upstairs, swapping in new lighting, custom window treatments, rugs, and paint. They also restored the marble countertop in the bathrooms.

Kathryn MacDonald

Patty and Flynne’s clients are really pleased with the final result and have also tapped them to help design another space—their detached garage.

Kathryn MacDonald

“Now, when working from home the homeowners love working downstairs (even though they have an upstairs office), because it’s so much more pleasant and open now,” says Flynne. “One of the homeowner’s parents came to visit when the job was almost finished, and they were blown away with the transformation of the home.”