Houzz TV: A Famed ‘Painted Lady’ Gets a Gorgeous Update
Join us as we walk with the homeowners through one of San Francisco's landmark Victorians, lovingly restored
Janet Paik
December 1, 2015
Houzz Associate Editor. Passionate about creative homes and the people behind them. Loves thoughtful design, improving her family's 1950s fixer-upper and VW buses. Former designer at the San Jose Mercury News.
Houzz Associate Editor. Passionate about creative homes and the people behind them.... More
Côme Laguë and Charlene Li faced the familiar design challenge of wanting to modernize an old house. The difference was that their home, an 1892 Victorian, was one of San Francisco’s iconic Painted Ladies — a block of colorful historic houses photographed by tourists from all over the world. Postcard Row, as the street is known, also has come to represent San Francisco in countless commercials, movies and television shows.
The family, who purchased the house in 2014, gave the interiors a modern overhaul while respecting its history and restoring original design details. Laguë says, “We feel like we are custodians of history, and we wanted to preserve something that is loved by so many people.”
The family, who purchased the house in 2014, gave the interiors a modern overhaul while respecting its history and restoring original design details. Laguë says, “We feel like we are custodians of history, and we wanted to preserve something that is loved by so many people.”
Houzz at a Glance
Who lives here: Côme Laguë and Charlene Li, with son Ben, 17, and daughter Katie, 15
Size: 4,773 square feet (443 square meters); five bedrooms, four and a half bathrooms; plus a rental apartment with one bedroom and one bath
Location: Alamo Square, San Francisco
Year built: 1892, by developer Matthew Kavanaugh; remodeled in 2015
Developer and Irish immigrant Matthew Kavanaugh built the house to live in with his family. The home is the largest, and the anchor house, of the Painted Ladies. After building this house, pictured above on the far left, Kavanaugh continued to build up the street, selling each of the six other homes in the group and completing the row of houses in 1896.
Some of the distinguishing architectural details of the Queen Anne-style Victorian home include a turret, fish-scale shingles, elaborate decorative trim and an enclosed porch.
Laguë and Li, the 15th owners of the house, purchased it in July 2014 and completed renovations in May 2015. “The house was in pretty poor shape when we bought it, and we knew it would be a significant project, but we enjoyed the magnitude of the challenge and the opportunity to make our mark on a home known worldwide,” Laguë says.
Watch now: See how the homeowners restored the interior of this San Francisco landmark home
Who lives here: Côme Laguë and Charlene Li, with son Ben, 17, and daughter Katie, 15
Size: 4,773 square feet (443 square meters); five bedrooms, four and a half bathrooms; plus a rental apartment with one bedroom and one bath
Location: Alamo Square, San Francisco
Year built: 1892, by developer Matthew Kavanaugh; remodeled in 2015
Developer and Irish immigrant Matthew Kavanaugh built the house to live in with his family. The home is the largest, and the anchor house, of the Painted Ladies. After building this house, pictured above on the far left, Kavanaugh continued to build up the street, selling each of the six other homes in the group and completing the row of houses in 1896.
Some of the distinguishing architectural details of the Queen Anne-style Victorian home include a turret, fish-scale shingles, elaborate decorative trim and an enclosed porch.
Laguë and Li, the 15th owners of the house, purchased it in July 2014 and completed renovations in May 2015. “The house was in pretty poor shape when we bought it, and we knew it would be a significant project, but we enjoyed the magnitude of the challenge and the opportunity to make our mark on a home known worldwide,” Laguë says.
Watch now: See how the homeowners restored the interior of this San Francisco landmark home
The couple worked with architect Lewis Butler, who specializes in restoring Victorians, including several homes in the two blocks surrounding Alamo Square, where the home is located.
Original mahogany wood doors with beveled glass panes and original hardware open into the foyer. Before the renovations, “when you walked into the house, it was really dark, and it was a typical Victorian setup, where the layout was very compartmentalized,” Laguë says. They made it a priority to bring in more light and improve flow. “One of the biggest challenges was to connect the main floor in a way that made sense and create a circular flow,” Butler says. “Original Victorians go front to back in a straight line, then you have to retrace your steps.” Now when you come into the house, the parlor reflects how lifestyles were back then, but then you can transition through the pocket doors and access the kitchen.
This original gas lamp chandelier seen in the photo above is one of three in the home. “When you turn the chandeliers on, you have this flickering yellow light that creates beautiful shadows through the crystal balls that make it warm and inviting,” Laguë says. “It’s like having a set of candles but with 10 times the glow.” Historical lighting specialist Paul Ivazes of Quality Lighting helped restore the valves and parts and provide guidance to contractors when reinstalling them.
The couple hired specialized carpenters and painters to get the details just right. One of the finial caps at the bottom of the stairs was missing, for example, so the homeowners found an artist woodworker, Mukesh Prasad of American Woodturning, to replicate the exact design out of mahogany to match the other two. After removing the existing carpet covering the stairs, they refinished the original Douglas fir planks, repainted the mahogany handrail and repainted damaged wainscoting.
On Houzz TV now: Walk through this historic home on San Francisco’s Postcard Row
Original mahogany wood doors with beveled glass panes and original hardware open into the foyer. Before the renovations, “when you walked into the house, it was really dark, and it was a typical Victorian setup, where the layout was very compartmentalized,” Laguë says. They made it a priority to bring in more light and improve flow. “One of the biggest challenges was to connect the main floor in a way that made sense and create a circular flow,” Butler says. “Original Victorians go front to back in a straight line, then you have to retrace your steps.” Now when you come into the house, the parlor reflects how lifestyles were back then, but then you can transition through the pocket doors and access the kitchen.
This original gas lamp chandelier seen in the photo above is one of three in the home. “When you turn the chandeliers on, you have this flickering yellow light that creates beautiful shadows through the crystal balls that make it warm and inviting,” Laguë says. “It’s like having a set of candles but with 10 times the glow.” Historical lighting specialist Paul Ivazes of Quality Lighting helped restore the valves and parts and provide guidance to contractors when reinstalling them.
The couple hired specialized carpenters and painters to get the details just right. One of the finial caps at the bottom of the stairs was missing, for example, so the homeowners found an artist woodworker, Mukesh Prasad of American Woodturning, to replicate the exact design out of mahogany to match the other two. After removing the existing carpet covering the stairs, they refinished the original Douglas fir planks, repainted the mahogany handrail and repainted damaged wainscoting.
On Houzz TV now: Walk through this historic home on San Francisco’s Postcard Row
“We didn’t want to gut and tear everything out of the house, but on the other hand we did want to bring it up to date,” Laguë says. “We wanted to meld those two goals of modernizing and preserving.” Salvaging the existing hand-carved redwood doors and installing custom milled baseboards throughout to tie the spaces together were two ways they bridged old and new.
“We decided to keep and restore the doors, and stripped the paint off by heat-dipping them. They had to be extensively repaired [and] resanded, and we added period-appropriate hardware,” Laguë says. Each door features decorative curves and lines in an Eastlake pattern with custom door jambs. About six interior doors needed replacing, and the couple shopped around on Craigslist and in salvage shops to find period-appropriate ones. Some came from other Victorians across the city.
Paint by Benjamin Moore: Hidden Cove (walls), Swiss Coffee in pearl finish (crown molding) and Swiss Coffee in flat finish (ceiling); artwork over fireplace: Keith Bough
“We decided to keep and restore the doors, and stripped the paint off by heat-dipping them. They had to be extensively repaired [and] resanded, and we added period-appropriate hardware,” Laguë says. Each door features decorative curves and lines in an Eastlake pattern with custom door jambs. About six interior doors needed replacing, and the couple shopped around on Craigslist and in salvage shops to find period-appropriate ones. Some came from other Victorians across the city.
Paint by Benjamin Moore: Hidden Cove (walls), Swiss Coffee in pearl finish (crown molding) and Swiss Coffee in flat finish (ceiling); artwork over fireplace: Keith Bough
They removed a wall to open up the kitchen to the family room so the family could all be together. And they brought in more natural light by installing a 10-by-10-foot folding NanaWall and now enjoy a fantastic view of City Hall and the San Francisco skyline.
The couple took advantage of the 12-foot-high ceilings by building floor-to-ceiling cabinets to maximize storage space. The upper cabinets store seasonal items and are accessed by a sliding library ladder (an idea they discovered in a photo on Houzz). The ladder is stored in a nearby closet when not in use. Other smart storage solutions include toe-kick slide-out drawers and custom 6-inch-deep pantry cabinets on the underside of the kitchen island.
Flooring: Nantucket maple in Cisco Beach, Shaw Floors; appliances: Dacor; cabinets: Daladier by Decorá in Chantille; backsplash tile: Mixed Up in Brushed Suede, Shaw Floors; sink and faucet by DXV American Standard: Hillside Collection (sink), Fresno Culinary (faucet)
Watch now: See how the homeowners restored the interior of this San Francisco landmark home
The couple took advantage of the 12-foot-high ceilings by building floor-to-ceiling cabinets to maximize storage space. The upper cabinets store seasonal items and are accessed by a sliding library ladder (an idea they discovered in a photo on Houzz). The ladder is stored in a nearby closet when not in use. Other smart storage solutions include toe-kick slide-out drawers and custom 6-inch-deep pantry cabinets on the underside of the kitchen island.
Flooring: Nantucket maple in Cisco Beach, Shaw Floors; appliances: Dacor; cabinets: Daladier by Decorá in Chantille; backsplash tile: Mixed Up in Brushed Suede, Shaw Floors; sink and faucet by DXV American Standard: Hillside Collection (sink), Fresno Culinary (faucet)
Watch now: See how the homeowners restored the interior of this San Francisco landmark home
The family is grateful to be able to enjoy their updated space, especially after living through the construction for several months. “Renovations are never easy, and we made the decision to live in the house during it,” says Li, pictured at center, with Laguë and the couple’s two teenagers.
Seen here are two original hybrid gas and electric chandeliers that they restored. “We feel we have a bit of history that we’ve preserved in the house that way,” Laguë says. The couple tried to restore and salvage as many of the original features as possible. They sent things they couldn’t use to salvage yards so they could be reused in other environments. They worked with interior designer Nancy Linebarier of Habitat Enhancements to choose their interior paint colors and many of their furnishings. The original plaster crown molding and wainscoting were repaired and gun-sprayed with paint.
Watch now: See the renovated interior of this iconic San Francisco Painted Lady home
Watch now: See the renovated interior of this iconic San Francisco Painted Lady home
“What I love most is that the home has a lot of special spaces,” Li says. Seen here is a view from the main floor up to the bedroom level and one of six original nature-themed stained glass windows. The home has four stories: The first floor is a renovated rental apartment with its own entrance, the second floor is the main living space, the third includes the family’s bedrooms, and the fourth has a home office and guest room.
As for handling the house’s fame, Laguë says: “You know as soon as you step outside, there will be a lot of people taking your picture, but in a way you kind of get used to it.” One fun way the family engage with visiting tourists is through social media profiles and a website they created for the house. “From a spirit point of view, you want to thank them for coming here and share this wonderful city with them,” Li says.
The couple feels it’s pretty special to have people from around the world visiting and complimenting their home. Laguë says, “Having a celebrity home and having it restored, and paying homage to the historical significance of the home, has been really rewarding.”
Architect: Lewis Butler of Butler Armsden Architects
Builder: Brendan O’Reilly, general contractor with O R B Construction
Interior designer: Nancy Linebarier of Habitat Enhancements
See more photos of this home
Watch now: Peek inside this famous Victorian to see the details and updates
The couple feels it’s pretty special to have people from around the world visiting and complimenting their home. Laguë says, “Having a celebrity home and having it restored, and paying homage to the historical significance of the home, has been really rewarding.”
Architect: Lewis Butler of Butler Armsden Architects
Builder: Brendan O’Reilly, general contractor with O R B Construction
Interior designer: Nancy Linebarier of Habitat Enhancements
See more photos of this home
Watch now: Peek inside this famous Victorian to see the details and updates
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To update the story...the exterior painting was refreshed recently with an 8 color paint scheme with thanks to Benjamin Moore for their design assistance. At the same time, many exterior repairs were completed to ensure this house lives on.
spectacular!!!!