Name: Paul Ybarbo
Location: The Clay-Jones, Nob Hill
Size: 1250 sq. ft.
Years lived in: Bought in November, 2007
The first thing we noticed (besides everything...) when we walked into Paul Ybarbo's apartment was the amazing architectural details. His home has some of the most intricate and beautiful moulding we've seen in awhile. Match that with Paul's eclectic, tasteful and opulent furniture and art choices and you've got one of the most beautiful apartments in all of San Francisco. Oh, and did we mention he has a grand piano? In an apartment?! Love, we love...
The woman who had previously occupied Paul's space had not done any updating in 40 years, and Paul appreciated that. He's chosen to restore what can be restored and keep what can be kept. He also has a great eye for various types of art (paintings, masks, sculpture) that we'd normally be too shy to mix together. From the crucifix collection to the striped wall, this apartment has style (understatement).
AT Survey:
My style: International Eclectic
Inspiration: Europe and South/Latin Americas
Favorite Element: The original condition of the space waiting to be rejuvinated. It’s a very New York-style building, boutique, doorman, and the swanky LeClub downstairs…what’s not to like?
Biggest Challenge: How to deal with narrow hallways. My art hanger decided to hang art on one wall. The opposite walls were painted with glossy & matte “stripes” in the same color. It’s a fun element that catches the light in an interesting way.
What Friends Say: That I have too many chochkes.
Biggest Embarrassment: Seeing my birthday cake in a lump on the floor, with remnants oozing down the wall. Thanks for the surprise, Michele. Luckily it cleaned up nicely -- thumbs up to Benjamin-Moore paints.
Biggest Indulgence: My 1915 Mason & Hamlin grand piano. It provides a great escape from the wacky world of real estate, besides my mountain bike.
Best advice: Buy what you love and the best quality that you can afford (within reason). You may have it a long time. Go green and buy antiques!
Resources: The full gamut, from garage sales to thrift shops to antique stores to Gump’s.
Furniture: A mixture of antique (19th century wing chairs, Duncan Phyfe dining table/chairs), to modern Z Gallery sofa, Target desk, office chair from the street – you never know where you’ll find something! I still have a black “pleather” chair that I bought at IKEA right out of college – it will end up being my version of the chair that Frasier’s father had on the TV show.
Lighting: I changed all the lighting in the unit, trying to stay true to the era, circa 1929….school house lights for the kitchen, a more dramatic chandelier-style for the dining room, antique chandeliers for the entry & bedroom, a re-purposed beaded chandelier for the bathroom. There is no recessed lighting in the ceilings; I have a pair of living room lamps from Gump’s and the bedroom pair are from Plantation in Hayes Valley.
Rugs and Carpets: Antique zebra skin, cow hide, white tail deer hides, and sisal rugs.
Paint: All Benjamin-Moore, including my bathroom and kitchen floors, which appear to be the original linoleum. We used deck paint for a temporary fix which has evolved into longer term than anticipated. It has a certain patina that, I think, contrasts nicely with the formality of the space.
Artwork: Newest acquisitions are from my nieces and nephews (ages 3-6). I’ve been collecting for years, my first a Charles Arnoldi at age 22. My oddest piece is my fish tank from a gallery in Manhattan. Most of my art isn’t expensive, but brings a smile and memory thinking of the country where I was or the artist. I have a collection of masks and crucifixes from all over.
(Thanks, Paul!)
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Comments (33)
Wow. Love the living room chairs, and the mix of antiques and modern bits.
The crucifixes, however, are a bit creepy--I'd say one or two would do the job...
Are those original metal cabinets in the kitchen? Awesome. Wonder how they'd look with a Blue Star range and liebherr fridge?
beautiful! nice photos, sally :)
I also find the crucifxes creepy, and not too fond of the paintings....
However beautiful space, feel, really gorgeous furnishings. I like the stripe effect on the wall, and the multicultural masks in the kitchen, and the mixture of very different things from very different provenances...
A question for AT, I like the idea of hanging photographs in the bathroom, but isn't that risky? I mean with humidity and so on?
Quintessential San Francisco - I love this place. Paul has a fantastic eye and makes the eclectic work. Since he has a lot of folk art, the crucifixes work just fine and I marvelled at their arrangement. Not to everybody's taste, but so what.
Speaking of taste, the only item I have a problem with are the animal skins on the floor but they are consistent.
wow, stunning...thank you!
i love the mixture of styles and subtle warm colors in the living room. and of course i'm super jealous about the grand piano.
It's refreshingly masculine... love the white striped wall.
Love! What is the beautiful grey color by Benjamin Moore?
please please please tell me where you got the bench in front of your bed?!?!
Great apartment love the color and texture. Though it seems like a very traditional apartment of a well traveled person. But if thats international eclectic then I guess thats my style too.
I personally love the crucifixes - adds funk and texture, though I could see how it's not for everyone. The striped white is also really lovely and sophisticated.
Such a beautiful apartment. I particularly loved that you didn't feel the need to throw status appliances in the kitchen. The kitchen looks great with what's there! I also have to say that using one or two crucifixes would be missing the whole point. It's art. It's not supposed to be mild.
Paul's place seems entirely appropriate--brilliant to set off the pictures with the striped walls. I like his boldness.
Thanks for the tour. Can you tell us about the floor?
You have a great eye. I'm drooling over your kitchen and bathroom. Only negative (for me) is that the animal skins (particularly the zebra rug) squick me out.
The floor is lovely. The spaces are great -- high ceilings, moldings, etc. I also like that the kitchen is bright and simple -- no dark wood, stainless steel appliances, etc.
Paintings are probably not so much my taste, but I love the heavy wood furniture, and I completely agree with buying older furniture secondhand -- you get prices that can be comparable to Ikea, with great quality. The only downside is that you have to shop around, and be patient.
The matt and gloss stripes - stunning. Everything is in such quite good taste. Thanks for sharing.
The entire place is absolutely beautiful and I agree with the poster above who wrote that it's refreshingly masculine.
My special favorite pieces are:
-Bedside lamp
-Bench at foot of bed
-Orange studded ottoman
Any info about those pieces would be much appreciated! Thanks for sharing your beautiful place.
I agree with the positive comments above, and would like to add that I love the hand-drawn artwork by Paul's nieces and nephews in the kitchen. I think they're the pieces that won me over the the whole place. Nice touch!
I especially love the bathroom. I'm running to the store today for black paint.
It's so nice to see such a sophisticated, well-thought-out design that still includes modern pieces. And no Barcelona chairs!
Re: animal skins- I'll bet they are faux.
This really isn't my taste; maybe it's all that masculinity. :) But I can see that it's really well done for what it set out to achieve.
I've never heard of a professional art hanger. Don't quite get what that's all about.
i'm pretty sure that the bench at the foot of the bed is the same material as my dining table.
will paul reveal his material source?
Thanks for the honest feedback on my place! I have some answers to queries:
1. The kitchen cabinets are, indeed, steel. Many of the interior doors still have the warranty sticker from Geneva Modern Kitchens in Illinois!
2. The bedroom color is Benjamin Moore's "Intellectual Grey."
3. The bench at the foot of the bed is from an art gallery in Santa Rosa. It's a composite made from wood chips and glue. It is commonly used as support beams in construction.
4. Floors are all refinished hardwood and kitchen/bath are painted linoleum.
5. BR lamps are from Plantation in Hayes Valley.
6. Orange ottoman from Gump's.
7. All animal skins are REAL.
Happy hunting! P
Paul, your home is beautiful. Would you please tell us who created your Last Supper?
The Last Supper is a piece comprised of three metals mounted on wood from an extremely remote gallery/small factory outside of Cuernavaca, Mexico. I barely found it at that time after a 1 hour cab ride into a very desolate locale...
Interesting...I posted last night asking Paul who the artist is responsible for his Last Supper piece. My post has been deleted. What's up? Maybe the way I phrased it, 'Paul, can you tell us who created your Last Supper?' confused someone (a lot). It's image #19, just to be absolutely clear. I'd love to know the artist's name.
Sorry about the comment glitch. Nothing got deleted, there were just some bad links to this post that would fail to generate comments correctly, which has been fixed. Thanks for reporting the bug, pvett.
Thank you, Paul, for the answer to my question, and thanks, Scott T. for assuaging my comment paranoia!
ah, so we are using the same material. love it as a table.
Love that you painted the floors.Looks fab! What kind of paint did you use? They look great and would love to do that to my kitchen floor.
Why do I see so many zebra skin rugs in homes these days? I can only hope that they are OLD skins, and none of these beautiful animals are being poached for the sake of decor trends. I do love the look of them, but wish that they were 'faux' skins.
Paul,
Fantastic...Love your place!
Can you give me details about the mirrors on the doors? Did you have the mirrors installed? If so, are they glued and then just framed in? I like how they give more depth to a hallway filled with doors...I have a similar hall.
Cheers!
Hello: Yes, the original bathroom and kitchen linoleum floors have been painted. My painters used deck paint with a primer....if you are interested, let me know and I will find out more details for you.
The skins are from a recent Sarah Palin outing. JUST KIDDING. The only skin of historical note is the zebra, a vintage find from an antique store. The white tail deer are from a furrier in Manhattan from about 20 years ago.
Lastly, the mirrored doors. I invited my known glass supplier to come in and install mirrors in the panels of all the doors in my place. It adds huge dimension and light to the place. P