Bay Wash
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If there were a theme song for architect Christi Azevedo’s rehabilitation of the crumbling 1885 abode she purchased in San Francisco’s Mission District, it would have to be “Love the One You’re With.” Instead of an extreme makeover, the self-described modernist undertook a thoughtful refurbishment—–preserving trim, retaining the layout, making furniture from framing lumber excavated from the site, and fabricating new elements as needed. Musing on the Victorian hybrid that she shares with her partner, Katherine Catlos, Azevedo notes, “I think the world will look more and more like Blade Runner, where you have an old Chevy Nova as well as some crazy thing flying through the air. There’s room for both.”Photo by: Dave Lauridsen -
Azevedo installed her home’s new kitchen where the laundry porch used to be, but retained a sense of the former openness with a wall of south-facing windows. “Anywhere else this might have been crazy,” she says, basking in the culinary warmth, “but in San Francisco, it’s really quite nice—–even in summer!”Photo by: Dave Lauridsen -
Sparky the wirehaired fox terrier takes a load off in front of one of the cherry-ply cabinets with sanded acrylic doors that Azevedo built for the kitchen.Photo by: Dave Lauridsen -
She removed the original light-blocking redwood stairway from the center of the house and replaced it with channel and bar grate treads.Photo by: Dave Lauridsen -
The media room, which formerly housed domestic help, is illuminated by a George Nelson Saucer lamp. Azevedo designed and built the cabinetry and the daybed and couch.Photo by: Dave Lauridsen -
Now rented out as an office/retail space, the downstairs contains a kitchen, which is fitted with Ikea lamps and steel shelving by Azevedo. For the flooring she glued down fiber-cement HardiePanel siding more commonly used for building walls, both because of its resemblance to concrete and its price of one dollar per square foot.Photo by: Dave Lauridsen -
Azevedo made the platform bed and side table in her master bedroom, and bartered furniture for the mural by artist friend Mike Stern.Photo by: Dave Lauridsen -
Her office is filled with refurbished finds and originals—–like her updated take on a ’60s-style desk and “slouch” chairs, from which she chats with her partner, Katherine Catlos.Photo by: Dave Lauridsen -
Photo by: Dave Lauridsen
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