San Francisco, California, USA

Created by Aidlin Darling Design Art House was conceived of as a modern interpretation of the traditional San Franciscan townhouse. This home is a unique, modern response to the neighborhood that honors the legacy of stellar craftsmanship within the Bay Area. 

It fits seamlessly and quietly into the context of the community while creating a highly progressive environment for contemporary living.

The project was awarded an American Award for Architecture 2021 as well a 2021 International Architecture Award from The Chicago Athenaeum and The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies.

Situated on the south sloping hillside of Cow Hollow in San Francisco, the exterior of the home has two distinct personalities. 

The front facade is modest in scale, taking proportional ques from the neighboring homes. 

The proportioning lines were abstracted and subtly sculpted as if a bas-relief. 

The materials were specifically chosen to age gracefully and embody permanence. 

Poured-in-place concrete masses are complemented by a delicate brise-soleil. 

This wooden solar shade performs multiple functions: it first acts as a privacy screen for the home’s occupants from the passersby on the sidewalk; secondly, this slatted shade allows views out to the street trees while mitigating heat and solar glare. 

Beautiful indirect light is refracted into the home, providing passive light all day long and eliminating the need for artificial lights. 

The brise-soleil is further defined through a manipulation of the depth of its lattice elements. 

This final layer of delineation is inspired by the articulate nature of the surrounding Victorian homes. 

In contrast to the exterior, the rear facade is four stories of glass, providing a dramatic, panoramic view of the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz Island, and the Palace of Fine Arts. 

The lowest floor opens up to a stunning garden that breaks up into three smaller gardens as the terrain follows the hillside, creating three unique opportunities within the city for solitude, connection, and relaxation. 

The sequence into the home creates an intentional contrast in scale and texture. 

Two concrete walls form an intimate pathway toward the heroic wooden front door. 

As guests enter into the home, they encounter a dramatic, two-story high dining and living room that frames views of the iconic San Francisco Bay. 

Inside, the warmth of the hand-scraped oak floors complements the permanence of the smooth-formed concrete walls. 

A walnut and stainless-steel kitchen fits seamlessly next to the dining room. 

Hidden in one of the walls of cabinetry are a series of five translucent glass doors that can slide out and create a privacy screen between the kitchen and dining room. 

Suspended above the dining table is a remarkable thirteen-foot-tall sculpture that doubles as a dining pendant. 

This custom art installation, hand-crafted by STUDIO DRIFT, is a series of floating glass tubes inspired by a flock of birds in flight that responds by lighting up as people pass by it. 

Behind this dramatic dining experience is a two-story tall translucent glass wall that provides diffused western sunlight into the dining room. 

The organic motion of the swaying of bamboo in the light court adds a subtle biophilic layering to the space. 

The punctured ceiling plain allows a large, walkable skylight to filter ample sunlight into the home’s core. 

Floating next to the bookcase and above one is the master study that hovers above the living room, connected by a stainless steel and wooden bridge. 

The open office, with its inherently raised prospect, is afforded a commanding view out to the Golden Gate Bridge and the Marin Headlands beyond. 

A partial glass floor adds to the vertical drama of this home office. 

Two twelve-foot-tall mahogany and glass pivot doors define the northern face of the living room. When opened, the living room and its adjoining cantilevered deck become one with the all-encompassing Bay. 

Looking back and above the kitchen is the walnut-clad volume that defines the master suite. Indirect cove lighting washes stone surfaces, translucent glass, and a clean crisp white palette with a subtle glow. 

There was an emphatic focus during the design process to create not the 25-year home but the 200-year home — one that is impeccably crafted out of materials that will age gracefully. 

The home was embraced as an unparalleled opportunity to design to all the human senses: not just the visual, but also the tactile, olfactory, and auditory. With this in mind, each space was carefully sculpted in scale, material, and light.

Project: Art House
Architects: Aidlin Darling Design 
Client: Private
Contractor: Cello & Maudru Construction
Photographers: Matthew Millman Photography