I have always been a fan of minimalism and clean modern design, so I clicked immediately with the owner who is from Denmark and appreciates the same aesthetic. Built in 1900, this hillside home was re-imagined and rebuilt in a Scandinavian-style with clean lines and designed to take advantage of the expansive city views.
Architects: Diego Pacheco Design Practice
Status: Built
We wanted to create a juxtaposition between the existing wedding-cake facade and a crisp, minimal sensibility on the interior. All the interior and exterior walls are painted the same soft white color, and the lighting and bath tiles throughout continue the white-on-white minimalist theme.
This house is not an original Victorian, as some people assume. The wedding cake facade is actually fake gingerbread ornamentation that was added during an earlier remodel in the ‘90s. The applied ornaments were not properly waterproofed, so it was causing mold inside the structure.
How-ever, even though it’s not original, we liked how ornate and whimsical it is, so we decided to keep it and repair it as a counterpoint to the star interiors.
Diego Pacheco
Diego Pacheco Design Practice is a San Francisco-based architectural design firm, specializing in high-end residential work. Diego was born in Colombia, and studied architecture in Berkeley, Barcelona and London before receiving his Masters of Architecture from the University of Pennsylvania. Over the course of his career, Diego has worked on architectural projects across the country, several of which have been featured in Elle Décor, California Home & Design, and Dwell Magazine. Diego began his career at Karl G. Smith Associates, followed by tenure at Gemmill Design, Aidlin Darling Design and MAK Studio, prior to starting his own firm in 2012. Diego’s design work is informed by a close collaboration with the client, and strives to achieve crisp simplicity and graceful elegance.