Seeing the Bones Beneath the Glamour - Julia Morgan

Advice For Open House Attendees in this City of Elaborate Staging

Yesterday an artistic, architecturally fluent client/friend and I attended a Zephyr party at the Decorator Showcase, held this year in a Julia Morgan designed building at 3630 Jackson.

Julia was really quite something. Read about her here, and here, and here, and here.

In retrospect I really wish I had focused my phone camera less on beautiful flowers and eye popping design details, and more on the window arrangements and proportions of the rooms, which were consistently wonderful. Happily, there have been many camera's trained on these interiors, so you can see lots of photos here and here - keep an eye out for the windows.

Beautiful arrangements of windows in most rooms. Intimate spaces flowing into and contrasting with more grand, but still comfortable, spaces. Large bay window assemblages, bringing in more light from more directions and bringing the viewer out into the world.  Prospect and Refuge.

She really understood live-ability and light. My client and I discovered our mutual appreciation of "A Pattern Language" by Christopher Alexander, and agreed that beautiful livable spaces are possible to create at most price points, through intelligent use of patterns, such as "light on two sides".

We also agreed that spending 10 or 20 million dollars does not guarantee live-ability or comfort. Not all of the Showcase houses, or other very high end homes, are actually that pleasant to live in. You really have to look beneath the staging for proportions and light and flow, which as you can see by my personal photos is hard to do, especially if you are a visual person easily distracted by flowers or wallpaper or art. On the other hand, it can be hard for most people visualize living in empty homes, hence the popularity and effectiveness of staging. Here are a few photo's before the designers arrived.

Before

I was encouraged recently by my clients architect to"go through the whole place at least twice" and look more deeply at how the building is constructed, how the weight and spaces are distributed and how the building has been maintained. Don't just think about where you would put your TV.  Look at long term comfort issues like orientation of rooms, windows, flow, function, adaptability of space. Also how the building connects with the ground and community surrounding it.

These are the things that will support you in your life in the home, or not. Massive renovation is not for everyone, and even those who love it prefer to start with "good bones."

Flipping and Building Edges

OK finally the promised the more affordable version (if anywhere in San Francisco can be considered "affordable") of the pattern "building edges" and "light on 2 sides."  I'll keep looking for smaller, thriftier examples of this pattern to share, because it truly does not apply exclusively to expensive homes.

Common expressions of this pattern when buildings are smack up against each other are bay windows or center patio's.

World of Stock

Lately I've been struck by the skillful adjustment of building edges in remodels such as 162 Randall  (floor plans are on the "Description" page).  The views were already jaw dropping, but  the addition of skillfully located decks, windows and sliding glass doors throughout the home brought the views and light into almost every room and radically improved it's livability and beauty.

The gin probably helps that too.

Many of the remodels I see dismay me with their lack of respect for the beautiful old architectural detail. This one does fall in this category somewhat and is laid out better for entertaining than for family life, so I'm not 100% in favor, but it does speak to what wonderful improvements can be made by adjusting building edges.

I think the best remodels keep the historic detail and integrity where possible, while opening up dark and convoluted floor plans to allow for how we live today. Truly rehabilitating the building and it's systems where needed (foundation, electrical, plumbing, roof, heating systems) seems the more noble (albeit expensive and often invisible) path, vs. the quick flip that adds little value.

and that's your rainy Wednesday opinion. Cheers!

Foggy Foggy Foggy

SF Gate- Solar panels and fog

It's that time of year in San Francisco again, and even though I've lived in and out of the fog all my life, and blogged about it ad nauseum, it is still a shock and a clothing challenge every time I go from summer to winter, or winter to summer, in the same day.

SFGate

At a recent open house there was much discussion of where the fog line is. One man who'd lived on Schrader for years thought that was the line, others Masonic, and still others lobbied for Divisadero. As the marine layer expands and contracts the line moves, so it is hard to make accurate generalizations.

For you house hunters, here's one attempt at mapping the fog lines:

EnergySavvy

I'm also partial to this "super scientific" one from HeyNeighborhood:

Adrift, the magical fog video that went viral a few weeks ago is lovely if you haven't seen it.

Bernalwood Karl Eats Bernal

National Weather Service Confirms- We Live in Super Microclimate Land!

The Comet Program

Scientists confirm (here) we live in Micro-Climate Landia! "Even during quiescent periods of mild and dry weather, the complex topography of our forecast area results in some interesting small-scale variations in weather conditions."

But you knew that. I have discussed it ad nauseum, in this post and many others. As have many other people. It's part of the glory that is this place. Being in the bright sun adjacent to fog, hearing foghorns and gulls and smelling the ocean can be so magical. Here is yet another explanation of fog behavior.

SF MOMA

Just yesterday someone told me about an area of 6 houses in a mini banana belt near Twin Peaks. You'll be happy if you chat up the neighbors about the climate, before you make that competitive offer. Not that you don't want to live in the fog, but you'll want to know you'll be living in the fog. or not.

Far Out Flora

In other news, the plant genious's that are Far Out Flora are back, and here's a great shot one of them took on their way into town, on one of those incredibly beautiful days early this week.

How Low Can Inventory Go?

Scott Erwert

Record breaking low inventory here in lovely land. This is a nationwide trend, but more pronounced in California, and especially in San Francisco. If no new listings were to come on the market, the existing inventory would be gone in 40 days. All of this wonderful earth based location info is great, but if you can't get into escrow, it's pretty moot. Here's some helpful perspective for buyers in this market.

Still an excellent, if challenging, time to be a buyer, and a fabulous time to be a seller.

Why Winter is a Great Time To Be Looking at Property

Though it may not be a convenient time to buy a home, there are some really good reasons why winter is an excellent time to look at property.  This article lists several advantages from a real estate perspective. As your microclimate obsessed Realtor, I must point out that this close to Winter Solstice, the darkest time of the year here, the truth of how much light and warmth is available in a given location is easy to see.

All too many home owners have bought homes in late spring, when the home is bathed in light, only to discover that by September, the home is in the cold shadows by 2 in the afternoon. While you can make educated guesses, based on slope and aspect of a home site, at this time of year no guessing or visualizing is necessary, just cruise the neighborhoods you favor in the morning and evening and you'll see where the shadows are. 

Here we see holiday elves standing on the North facing South side of the street at around 2:00 in the afternoon. Dark and cool, even on a bright sunny day. I'm guessing the folks across the street have smaller heating bills. In a free standing single family home the same will hold true, south and west light will bath a home all day, unless it is blocked by a hill, or other buildings.

Then there is the moisture/flooding factor...  I've been hearing stories of several homes in escrow that leaked during the last big storm- it was a doozy and if leaks were ever going to happen they happened then. So much better to learn about potential flooding or water intrusion issues before you buy a home. Winter buyers are less likely to be surprised than summer buyers. Just sayin...

San Anselmo Fairfax Patch