The Corner Store

Set along a street that traces the path of a former rail line, this 1924 building once served as San Anselmo’s primary neighborhood market. Later occupied by the company behind the first fiber-optic cables laid beneath the Golden Gate Bridge, the building has since been reimagined as a residence by trained architect and product specialist Will Meeker and his wife, Megan, in close collaboration with architect Michael Perkins. Meeker—whose residential history includes several unconventional living environments, among them a refrigerated 1906 warehouse in New York City—approached the project with a practiced ease. Rather than resist the building’s commercial past, the couple refined it: frosted glazing, upgraded insulation, and a considered interior renovation transformed the former corner store into a private home with an inventive spirit.

After considering a top European system brand for the kitchen, the couple decided on Space Theory for its ability to achieve a distinctive result within tight budget restraints. As a streamlined line from Henrybuilt, Space Theory offers a simplified palette of products and materials, while still allowing a wide range of outcomes.

“Space Theory felt the most like a product. Compared to custom cabinetry and other systems, every part of the kitchen was especially considered and intentional,” Meeker says.

Meeker selected materials thoughtfully, matching the oak floors to the kitchen and sourcing the tile for the kitchen and coffee bar from a close family friend, Ann Sacks of the eponymous tile brand now owned by Kohler, who offered them reclaimed vintage Moroccan terracotta tile from her Portland boneyard that the couple salvaged and hand-cleaned. They also used a single 11-foot slab of Carrara marble for the entire kitchen with no waste; the island was defined by what remained.

Throughout the remodeling process, the kitchen functioned as a literal workshop, inside of which Meeker stored his tools.

A sunken conversation pit from the original structure became the natural site for the kitchen. Because it sits at the center of the main living space—doubling as a work-from-home environment—the aim was for it to recede visually while still performing at a professional level for cooking and hosting.

In the bathroom, a Puddle Jumper vanity from Henrybuilt’s Primary Objects line brings the same unobtrusive yet purposeful design found in the kitchen.