A turn-of-the-century townhouse in San Francisco’s architecturally significant Pacific Heights receives an elegant overhaul by
When Studio Michael Hilal was approached to refresh what would soon become the client’s weekender home, ‘effortlessness’ was a recurring word in the brief. Nestled among a row of pastel-coloured Gothic and Queen Anne townhomes, Michael Hilal and his namesake studio looked to the quintessential terraces in London to refresh the circa-1900 home without losing any of its character. “Reworked London terraces naturally integrate the old and the new so well while retaining their charm,” Michael explains.
With this in mind, much of the ‘old’ remains untouched. While walls have been removed and rooms opened up, each door and moulding detail has been saved and positioned elsewhere in the home, cultivating a contemporary-classic townhouse that still feels distinctly San Francisco.
As a bay area resident, Michael Hilal says he primarily works on modern projects. “This heritage townhouse was a fun and different problem to solve,” he admits. The three-level, five-bedroom home is double the width of the typical San Francisco house, situated on a busy corner block of a sloping street. Although filled with ornate period detailing and original fixtures, the home was heavily compartmentalised into ‘zones’ before Michael’s intervention. As a result, the action now takes place in the open-plan kitchen, living and dining space, imbued with soft, dusty tones and vintage furniture.
This main living area hones a powdery colour palette, achieving a sense of freshness that Michael says is often lost in older homes of the era. Described by the designer as a “bold stroke,” the classic
Each space features a curation of vintage, mid-century and custom-designed pieces with locally-designed ceramics and accessories. This considered and layered approach is conveyed from the first room in the house – the grand entrance, featuring
The brief’s demand for ‘effortlessness’ has been met twofold in Michael Hilal’s Pacific Heights project. Michael has honoured the existing framework of the home through an elegant yet contemporary lens, where, as Michael puts it, “old and new now live harmoniously together.”
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