Clipper Street House

Located in San Francisco’s Noe Valley, this partial renovation and addition project is a modern take on traditional house forms found in the neighborhood. The architectural program for a young couple’s first home, called for a third story addition to house a new Primary Suite and Office. An additional program requirement was to simplify the front facade at the First and Second Floor, in order to maintain streetscape cohesion. Midway through the building permit review process, the program shifted as the couple welcomed a new baby into the mix. The revised program called for two additional bedrooms at the Third Floor, and an additional Kid’s Bathroom. Despite the additional program requirements, the Third Floor building envelope needed to remain the same in order to maintain the project’s Planning Department approval. This reduced the size of the Primary Suite, but important project elements such as a walk-in-closet, and in the Primary Bath, a double-sink and a separate shower and bathtub were maintained.

The central piece of the design is a stair that starts at the bottom level, and continues up to a roof deck accessible via a retractable roof skylight. The location of the stair from the first to second floor was part of the existing house. In the new design, the stair continues up an additional two flights up to the roof deck. Although the stair is centered in the middle of the house, the owners desired an open floor plan with minimal visual impact at the Second Floor main level. To help achieve this, the stair design incorporates an open tread design, and to meet guardrail code requirements, full floor to ceiling glass partitions.

Living in hilly San Francisco, views are an important element to capture in a project. While the roof deck captures 180 degree panoramic views, one of the owner’s favorite architectural elements of the house is the clerestory and corner window view from bed when waking up. It’s a private view of Twin Peaks and Sutro Tower that changes appearance every time the famous San Francisco fog rolls in. The owners are now a family of four, and thanks to the shift in program during permit review, the kids also have a spectacular third story bedroom view of their own.