Tour a Dream San Francisco Home That’s All About Great Marble
When a young San Francisco couple—a venture capitalist wife and tech executive husband, who met at a startup more than a decade ago—purchased their first home together in 2015, the small Laurel Heights condo was perfect for just the two of them. Looking to create a special first place together, the couple hired interior designer Lauren Nelson of Lauren Nelson Design to help them remodel the space with contemporary interiors anchored by a palette of blue, gray, and white. In the years following the renovation came an engagement, a marriage, and the couple’s first child—a baby girl.
“Fast-forward to 2020,” the wife says, “[and we are] now married, trapped indoors with a one-year-old in said condo during COVID. We longed for more space and a backyard and began the search during lockdown.”
The couple had always dreamed of owning a home in Presidio Heights—a family-friendly neighborhood that borders the Presidio: a 1,500-acre national park at the base of the Golden Gate Bridge. So, when a property with a classic 1930s Colonial Revival–style house became available just two blocks from the park, they jumped on the chance to view it. “When we saw this house come on the market, on the same block our family friends live on, and a few short blocks from my sister and her family, we just had a feeling this was our house,” the wife recalls.
The home’s stately exterior would remain, but the interiors needed a reconfiguration. “It hadn’t been touched in decades,” the client says, “and needed quite a bit of work not only due to general upkeep but also some bizarre design choices—like a tiny primary bathroom with one sink and then a random ‘bonus’ sink in the primary closet.”
“The language of the house was good, but the scale of the rooms wasn’t great,” explains architect Stephen Sutro, who, with Melissa Kim of Sutro Architects, helped Nelson and the clients rethink the layout. “Our goal was to design a home that would serve the functional interests of a growing family—when the children are little, you need more visual control of them, but as they grow up, they can have a separate space in the house to retreat to with their friends,” Sutro explains.
Nelson tapped into the client’s love of French design to create a sophisticated but non-fussy aesthetic. “We appreciated the home’s classic architecture,” Nelson says, “and we didn’t want every room to feel like a white box—we wanted something a bit more traditional balanced by modern details. Each room has its own identity.”
What started as a nip here and a tuck there turned into a full-gut remodel, with the design team opening up the back of the house and adding glass-and-steel bifold doors in the kitchen to establish a connection with the backyard and allowing in more natural light. Plaster, marble (nine different varieties), and patterned wallpaper bring color and texture to every room, creating a rich background for a mix of custom, vintage, and ready-made furniture.
“The search for stone was our biggest challenge,” Nelson says, noting that she and the client shopped locally for material and also flew to New York, which is where they ultimately found the Calacatta Turquoise marble used for the custom bi-level, cantilever island, backsplash, and counters in the kitchen. “We said, Let’s not rush, we’re not going to buy anything unless we’re in love with it. The client’s sister found this stone, and it ended up being a diamond in the rough.”
The ground-floor public zones—living room, dining room, and kitchen—are anchored in detail, such as decorative moldings, parquet oak flooring, and a selection of Benjamin Moore paint that brings in the client’s love of color. A family room connected to the kitchen has built-in seating backed with mountain-themed Zoffany wallpaper. The dining room—one of the client’s favorite spaces in the home—was previously located at the back of the house, but Sutro moved it toward the interior, as “this tends to be where people spend the least amount of time,” she says. Rounding out the space are custom, hand-painted de Gournay wallpaper, a Lindsey Adelman chandelier, and a custom stone table. The original fireplace remains in the formal living room, but Nelson paired it with a modern marble mantle and vintage wrought-iron stools.
“Lauren said that the key was layering different periods and styles so nothing felt too ‘one-note,’” says the client, “and you wouldn’t instantly associate the home with a particular decade. This is how we’ll be able to stay in the house for 5, 10, or 20 years without it feeling dated.”
Upstairs, the primary suite is a study in softness—the plaster walls and soft gray and lavender tones inspire relaxation, while a custom mohair-upholstered bed frame adds whimsy. The client’s preschool-aged daughter helped choose the color scheme for her and her little brother’s rooms—purple and blue, respectively. The formerly unfinished basement is now a dramatic lounge, painted in a deep, jewel-toned green, with a custom, curving mohair-upholstered sofa. It’s a slight nod to the couple’s previous apartment, which had a more overtly glamorous look.
“It was fun to see this house evolve in style compared to their last one,” Nelson says. “It’s a more grown-up version of the condo, but it still captures their well-traveled, sophisticated personalities.”
1/16Aside from a fresh coat of Benjamin Moore paint (Shoreline for the walls and Boothbay Gray for the trim and shutters), the exterior of this 1930s home in San Francisco’s Presidio Heights neighborhood remains mostly untouched. Inspired by the wavy iron balusters seen throughout the French countryside, the homeowners opted for a similar detail on either side of their entryway stairs.
2/16The reconfigured central staircase creates a strikingly dramatic curve in the entryway. A Rachel Doneth Wave chair is a nod to the balusters leading up to the front door. Ochre Eucalyptus wall lights give the space an organic touch.
3/16The homeowners, a married couple with two small children, wanted a formal living room in addition to the more relaxed sitting area near the kitchen. Located at the front of the home, it takes inspiration from classic Parisian design with a mix of vintage and custom pieces. Travertine coffee tables from Form Los Angeles balance wool sheer window treatments and velvet upholstery. The original fireplace has a modern Arabescato Apuano mantle.
4/16An alcove in the living room serves as a nook where the homeowner sorts mail and writes thank-you notes. An Arcade chair by Design Frères is upholstered in a mohair fabric by Opuzen.
5/16Done up in custom de Gournay wallpaper, the dining room is anchored by a custom stone table, around which sits a set of vintage Giuseppe Scapinelli dining chairs. “I’ve long dreamed of a dining room with hand-painted de Gournay chinoiserie wallpaper,” the homeowner says, “and I just love the combination of old and new with the vintage dining chairs, modern light fixture, vintage-inspired cabinet and wallpaper, and showstopping custom marble table—which required seven [people] to carry inside!”
6/16In the ground floor powder room, more custom wallpaper—this one by Anna Glover—makes its mark, bejeweled with a set of vintage Murano sconces. Waterworks burnished brass fixtures and a vintage Italian brass wall mirror round out the room.
7/16“The client wanted a cantilevered all-stone island,” says interior designer Lauren Nelson of the Calacatta Turquoise structure. “She wanted to make it a statement piece. In the beginning, it seemed like a simple task, but it was a matter of fine-tuning the thickness and the depth to make sure everything fit proportionally.” Plaster walls in a dove-gray hue soften the space, and a John Pomp Calla Mobile chandelier in satin brass adds elegance.
8/16“I love the kitchen/family room,” the homeowner says of the dual-purpose space. “We cook breakfast and make coffee in the mornings while our kids jump on the built-in couch and get their toys in and out of the built-in drawers.” In this cozy nook Nelson painted the ceilings with Simply White and the cabinets with Nimbus (both Benjamin Moore colors). The artful Sansui wallpaper by Zoffany adds depth, while the David Weeks Treble sconce is a modern detail.
9/16A calming retreat for the parents of two young children, the primary bedroom features plaster walls and a custom-designed bedframe upholstered in Opuzen mohair. “The happiest surprise of the demo stage was discovering that the ceilings in the primary bedroom had originally been much higher,” the homeowner says, “and being able to capture some of that additional space, giving us the ceiling height we needed for a gorgeous vintage Murano chandelier.”
10/16To lean into the client’s French inspiration, Nelson convinced her to stray from her beloved honey-stained oak flooring (seen throughout the home) in favor of a darker finish. To balance the look, the shower is Calacatta Monet marble from Pietra Fina.
11/16The double vanity in the primary bathroom allows the couple to get ready together. Nelson suggested a piece without rows of drawers for a lighter look, but the clients worried about sacrificing storage space. The designer’s solution was a trio of custom mirrors that hide tall medicine cabinets. The hardware and plumbing fixtures are brass.
12/16The preschool-aged daughter had a lot of input about her room. “She was such a joy to be around, and she has so much personality!” says Nelson. “She had a lot of opinions when it came to her room. Purple and butterflies were the theme.” Benjamin Moore’s Affinity and a Stark Harlow Rug bring in the girl’s beloved color.
13/16The purple theme continues in the daughter’s bathroom, with Ann Sacks Provençal Field tile in the shower. Glass cabinet knobs from Rejuvenation add a touch of glam.
14/16In the son’s room, whimsical aviation-themed wallpaper by Lee Joffa pairs with Allied Maker lighting for a youthful look that’s not too precious.
15/16The basement is now a lounge, done up in jewel tones. The custom sofa is a piece for which the couple both had strong opinions: She wanted style, he wanted comfort. Upholstered in deep-green mohair and with plenty of room to spread out, the finished piece checks all the boxes. More Calacatta Monet marble makes an appearance, and doors are bordered with hand-painted Porter Teleo Matrice wallpaper.
16/16In the downstairs powder room, dark blue plaster walls are a backdrop for the playful Shape Up pendant from Ladies & Gentleman Studio and a vintage Reverse Teardrop Italian mirror.
