What started as a closet clean-up finished as a whole home renovation. It was an exercise in reaching back to move forward–creating a home in sync with the dignified architecture of its past and the life of a family in the future.

A young couple purchased a classic San Francisco Victorian they knew would be their forever home. Half of the couple was an architect, so it was inevitable they would work at taking the house from its dated 1980’s interior to a timeless one. But they were not in a hurry.

At the outset, the only urgent need they planned to address was the the lack of storage in the primary bedroom that, like many homes of its era, offered only a small dark closet to house the working couple’s wardrobe. They embarked on the project of creating a new wardrobe area. The challenge was ensuring it worked in a modern manner – supremely functional – while speaking the language of the beautiful bones of the home.

They turned to Henrybuilt to help create the space. “Their work is elegant and understated,” says the client. “It’s intuitive to use and there’s an implicit guarantee that you know what you’re going to get in terms of quality and functionality.”


San Francisco, California
Architecture and Design by Jonna Alexander Green & Studio Rachel Jones
Builder: Vonnegut Thoreau Construction

"The wardrobes are a beautiful wall of wood with strong geometry created by the full length wood handles. When you open the doors there is function packed inside that contributes to the ease and joy of living in the home," says Architect Jonna Alexander Green.

As the project was underway, it became clear to the clients that limiting the exercise to the wardrobe was short-sighted. To get the best result for their current (and future) life, the house needed to be addressed holistically rather than as a series of piecemeal projects.

The house had been renovated twice since its birth in 1901. And it got stuck in the wrong decade. It needed the 1980s taken out and its original essence brought back, minus the Victorian gingerbread. This was achieved through respect for the architecture, impeccable integration of the functional areas of the home, and selections of materials and furnishing that tied it together.

The stairwell is the axis on which the entire interior space radiates.

The orginal architecture was brought out of hiding. Design elements, including the curvature that proliferates throughout the house were embraced.

The oval dining room that was in a sphere of its own, was opened to the kitchen.

Another challenge was weaving modern functionality into the old bones. They turned to Henrybuilt to create functional areas to support daily life and help knit the space together.

The kitchen was designed to melt into the architecture, but stand out in its performance, with its flexible organizational system concealed behind the quiet exterior.

Above: Integrated full length wood pulls shake hands with the surrounding historic architectural element

“We relied on Henrybuilt to thread the functional areas together in feel and form,” says Alexander Green.

From the baby room to the bathrooms, and the other spaces that work, it was about enhancing the way it feels to live the in the spaces that matter most and ensuring they were part of one ensemble.

“We wanted to create a feeling of warmth and calm, where everything has its place within the architecture.”