My Houzz: Modern Loft in a Converted 1920s Movie Theater
A San Francisco couple creates an oasis in a converted movie palace in the Lower Haight
“We love the location, because it’s in the middle of everything,” Brian Lowery says of the San Francisco loft he shares with wife Cynthia Burks. “Although it doesn’t feel like it, when you’re inside it’s calm and quiet, like an oasis.” Lowery, a professor at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, and Burks bought this renovated loft in the middle of the Lower Haight neighborhood, near the birthplace of the hippie movement in the 1960s. Today, this part of Haight Street is home to a variety of ethnic restaurants, dance-music record shops and alternative nightlife venues.
Tall ceilings are warmed up by a spectacular light fixture designed by Magnus Schevene and Hannah Collins from Loczidesign. The design echoes an existing pulley system that was left on the wall and was used in the 1920s to operate the stage curtains.
“In order to unify the loft, we painted a mural that extends along the entire back wall and towards the center of the room,” designer Paige Loczi says. The mural and lights draw the eye from opposite-facing walls, meeting in the center of the home. The birdcage in the lofted master bedroom has the best view in the house. The galley kitchen is the only part of the house that was not redesigned.
Coffee table: Noguchi, Design Within Reach
Coffee table: Noguchi, Design Within Reach
Black handmade ceramic tiles that were locally made surround the fireplace and complement the homeowners’ collection of midcentury furniture.
Fireplace tile: Heath Ceramics
Fireplace tile: Heath Ceramics
The dining room, tucked under the bedroom loft, is warmed up by brown and yellow Eames dining chairs and a Gala chandelier.
Chandelier: Rich Brilliant Willing; Eames side chairs: Design Within Reach
Chandelier: Rich Brilliant Willing; Eames side chairs: Design Within Reach
Eames side chairs: Design Within Reach
The homeowners wanted a way to showcase their ever-expanding library and created this corner nook. “We needed enough space for our books and room to grow,” Lowery says. The design team created an interlocking walnut shelving system with a 15-foot steel ladder.
Carpenter: Tom Clossy; blacksmith: Magnus Schevene
Carpenter: Tom Clossy; blacksmith: Magnus Schevene
The lofted master bedroom is sparingly furnished. The gray and green painted mural from the kitchen continues along the wall behind the bed.
Floor lamp: Noguchi Akari
Floor lamp: Noguchi Akari
The master bathroom shower is tiled with vertically laid blue handmade ceramic tiles from Heath Ceramics in Sausalito, California.
The loft also features a lower level with its own lounge. The original stairs connecting the two living spaces were open-rung and impractical. Debris and noise flooded the downstairs. These walnut stairs were built in their place.
Carpenter: Tom Clossy; blacksmith: Magnus Schevene
Carpenter: Tom Clossy; blacksmith: Magnus Schevene
“It was great to have the downstairs separate from the main room, especially with two people living in such an open space,” Lowery says.
Fireplace tile: Heath Ceramics, Eames lounge chair and ottoman: Design Within Reach
Fireplace tile: Heath Ceramics, Eames lounge chair and ottoman: Design Within Reach
The downstairs lounge is a perfect space to unwind, a spot where the couple can enjoy some quiet or privacy to pursue personal hobbies. While Lowery works full time as a professor, he enjoys making custom leather goods — leather shoes, belts, wallets and bags — as a hobby. “I took some month-long classes in Europe to learn how to make shoes,” he says. Lowery uses the back of the room for his tools and workshop.
There was room downstairs for a full bathroom, complete with a shower and an old claw-foot tub.
The otherwise gray bathroom has a white powder-coated claw-foot tub. The yellow foot was added because “Cynthia wanted a pop of color,” Lowery says.
The wall downstairs was repositioned to run the length of the room instead of cutting through the middle. One-third of the space is used for a built-in closet and the downstairs bathroom.
To house the couple’s shoe collection, the designers dug out a space under the stairs and installed custom shelving.
My Houzz is a series in which we visit and photograph creative, personality-filled homes and the people who inhabit them. Share your home with us and see more projects.
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My Houzz is a series in which we visit and photograph creative, personality-filled homes and the people who inhabit them. Share your home with us and see more projects.
Browse more homes by style:
Apartments | Barn Homes |Colorful Homes | Contemporary Homes | Eclectic Homes |Farmhouses | Floating Homes |Guesthouses | Homes Around the World | Lofts | Midcentury Homes | Modern Homes | Ranch Homes | Small Homes |Townhouses | Traditional Homes |Transitional Homes | Vacation Homes
Who lives here: Brian Lowery, Cynthia Burks and their two pet birds, a green-cheeked conure and a cockatiel
Location: Lower Haight neighborhood of San Francisco
Size: 1,990 square feet (184.8 square meters); one bedroom, two bathrooms
Year renovated: 2001
The loft is one of 18 units installed in the shell of the Riviera Theatre, built in the 1920s. Redesigned by architect George Hauser in 2001, their loft is made up of three floors with a mix of materials including glass, wood, tile and concrete.
“The loft looks much better now than when we purchased it,” Lowery says. With the help of Loczidesign, the homeowners transformed the space from a cluttered apartment into an artistic and dynamic space that illuminates their midcentury furniture collection.