Name: Vicki, Richard and Dino (Portuguese water dog)
Profession: Owners of Museum of Robots, a modern housewares company and KÜNGDESIGN, a creative studio specializing in design for Web and Second Life.
Location: San Rafael, CA
Size: 1600 sq. ft.
Years lived in: 14, owned
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What would Joseph Eichler do? That's the question Vicki and Richard Küng continued to ask themselves when remodeling their Eichler home. As a result, most of the original features remain the same and the home continues to carry the retro-modern characteristics that inspire and inform the couple's life and work...
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As the owners and designers behind Museum of Robots, the couple creates products inspired by their mutual love of robots (Richard has been collecting them for 25 years and Vicki got her first one at age six) and the Mid-Century Modern aesthetic. The smooth continuation of these interests from work to home is apparent in every aspect of the space, from the odd robot placed here and there to the obvious respect given to Eichler's original design of the home.
The house had been a rental for some time before the Küngs bought it, so few if any renovations had been made. They saved most of the original mahogany paneling, sanding and refinishing every inch to its original luster. Major changes to the galley kitchen might have disturbed the home's still-functional radiant heat system, so in order to brighten the room the central wall was simply lowered to create a bar/counter area. It still keeps with the Eichler aesthetic but opens up the space to the surrounding living area.
When looking through the Küng's home, one can immediately tell what interests and inspires them; it's a completely honest look at their style, which we love. As Vicki puts it,
"In our products we are inspired by robots which are modern and nostalgic, at once futuristic and retro, technical and playful, functional and entertaining: our Eichler home has the same qualities so it's the perfect environment for us to live and work in."
AT Survey:
Our Style: Our taste spans a range of design and architectural genres, but we live with modernist furniture in a Mid-Century Modern house. The toy robot collection surrounds us, and we fill in with urban vinyl and other toys we like. We also collect post-war chairs ranging from an Evans-made Eames LCW chair to a prop chair from the recent TV show 'Battlestar Galactica'.
Inspiration: The most important thing is that the house is easy to live in - it could easily become a museum of toys and chairs but we mix the collectible pieces with furniture that we can actually use, and that's dog-friendly. Any updating or remodeling is done with a touchstone back to the original vision of the builder so we always ask: "what would Joseph Eichler do?" We use contemporary materials, but try to translate their use to fit with the Eichler aesthetic of open, indoor-meets-outdoor living spaces.
Favorite Element: Lowering the original 7' tall wall that separated kitchen from living room and making it into a counter and bar transformed the public area of the house by opening it up and making the kitchen a real 'command central'. The galley kitchen was no longer a tunnel but an open workspace and the living room became much more usable. The garden off the living room is also now visually much more part of the interior environment.
Biggest Challenge: We did the remodel work ourselves, so the challenges involved everything from getting design drawings and permits completed, to picking materials, to actually doing the work. We didn’t move out, but moved our stuff from room to room as the floor was installed and rooms completed - we were packing and moving things constantly for 7 months.Now a challenge is keeping things open and uncluttered while finding homes for the robots and chairs. The other challenge is to stop collecting things.
What Friends Say: Our friends say we bought a house to match our furniture, and it's true.
Biggest Embarrassment: There are a few things from the remodel that are still not quite done, and it’s been three years. There are little bits of trim that still need fixing and the painting around the exterior windows still needs to be done. Someday.
Proudest DIY: Reusing materials from neighborhood Eichlers in our remodel. We wanted to preserve as much of the original mahogany paneling as possible but a few walls couldn’t be saved. Neighbors who were remodeling at the same time recycled their old mahogany panels and some door hardware our way so we were able to keep a large part of the interior original.
Biggest Indulgence: The cooktop and oven were the biggest splurge. The kitchen is electric and since the floor is concrete slab - and our original radiant heating system still works - we couldn't bring gas in through the floor, and over the roof was tricky. Keeping the kitchen electric meant we could justify good appliances so got a Dacor Millenia Touch cooktop and 36" wide Dacor Epicure oven.
Best Advice: That we got for the remodel: be prepared to go 5 months with no kitchen. We planned for that and did just fine with a microwave, electric kettle and lots of salads.
That we'd give for a remodel: Measure twice, cut once.
Dream Source: We spent most of our dream time in Italian magazines like Abitare and Domus. Then we'd go shopping at IKEA. It was all about balance - and budget.
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Resources:
Floor: 12"x24" charcoal slate tiles. We split a container of slate tiles with a friend who imported it from China.
Kitchen:
Countertop: Mélange Porcelain floor tile in Praline. We also used this on the bar top opposite the kitchen. To avoid cutting the 60 cm x 60 cm tiles we used aluminum trim and edge components from Schlüter Systems.
Bar Counter-Backsplash: Bisazza Logos glass slab tiles in white.
Cabinets: IKEA, Akurum system
Faucet: Hansgrohe Solaris HighArc 2
Barstools: Onda barstools in white/orange
Dining chairs: Bellini Chairs
Guest Bath:
Bisazza Glass Mosaic tiles in Blue, Porcher Sapho Pedestal Lavatory, Hansgrohe Axor Starck faucet.
Halls: we removed the rigid sliding closet doors and hung silk dupioni curtains on hospital curtain tracks. It adds a soft element that complements the slate floor and gives us easy access to closet space.
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(Thanks, Vicki!)
Dig it 100%! Anyone out there have any info. on the tile?
view jef613's profile
hey i have the duvet cover !!!!!!its from target right ??and guess what i have accessorized it with red pillows !!!!!! lemme get a red rug like urs :)
view hima_vasu's profile
Really wonderful. I love what looks to be desk organizers used in the kitchen and bedroom (photos 8 and 14) ... anyone know who makes them?
view vvn's profile
love the house, the furniture (esp the chair you scored from BSG), but why the throw over the mirror?
view TAmom's profile
Very whimsical! I love the blue tiled bathroom and the pup.
Emily
view Emily Sneds's profile
I love the little unexpected touches of whimsy throughout the house and garden. And of course the doggy with the "Whatchu talkin' 'bout Willis?!" expression at the end.
view Annegret's profile
The Star Trek/faux steel door chalkboard is the best House Tour vignette to date.
Does the bedroom seem completely random/dorm room/inherited mismash of furnishings to anyone else? Loved all the other rooms though, don't get me wrong!
view Stephanie K's profile
Very nice.
The bathroom would be disorienting to me. It reminds me of the scene in Royal Wedding where Fred Astaire danced up a wall, across a ceiling, down a wall, and back on the floor. It would be too much of a surreal effect for me on a daily basis, particularly when I slug in in the morning.
I seriously covet and envy the high-end amorphic shapes lighting fixture.
I was expecting MORE robots. Please share: do you guys at least have a Roomba? And do you like it?
view AustinSarah's profile
so... are there any other robots in the House of Robots, or just the one?
view aregularmess's profile
yes ditto stephanie k's comment - coming from a sci fi nerd, I really love the star trek hanging and the door!
view lovelyrita's profile
I was expecting more robots too. I love the whimsical touches. It has a nice flow as well. Nice tour!
view alisonK's profile
The Star Trek print is awesome...but I only saw one robot...are the rest hiding in the closets? Not sure why this is called the house of robots since only one is visible in the photos.
view suzy8track's profile
*must know*... name/source of walnut-shell swivel chair in photo #3... please!
view redneckmodern's profile
And where did you get the dog bowl? Love it.
view jen_g's profile
Thanks everyone for all your kind comments on the house!
I'll try to answer your questions:
The tile was a custom order from China so not available off-the-shelf here, but the specs were 12" x24" gauged charcoal slate.
The duvet cover was from Overstock.com, and the red dot rugs from Ikea.
The desk organizers in photos 8 and 14 are made by Museum of Robots.
The dog dish (a gift to Dino for hanging in there with us through the remodel) is from http://www.holdendesigns.com/
The walnut swivel chair in photo 3 was from a family member who got it in the 1970's when purchasing a furnished house - let me know if you want me to check underneath for a manufacturer's name ;-)
The shawl over the mirror keeps the street lamp light out of our eyes and we like the look of it so just leave it there.
Robots - there are some in the ochre cabinet in the main family room view (#6). Because of their age we try to rotate their time in the open, otherwise the plastic cracks and gets discolored and the tin litho fades. We try to get them out of their boxes and play with them regularly and let them hang out together so they don't get lonely. Plenty of robots at the office too.
Roomba - we don't actually have a Rooma...this is a definite oversight!
view robothouse's profile
Thanks so much for taking the time to answer questions! Dino is adorable.
view vvn's profile
robothouse: yes (on checking for more about the swivel chair). please email me at red (at) redneckmodern.com ... thanks!
view redneckmodern's profile
Thanks for the responses to the queries. You're place is great!
view jef613's profile
Super awesome! I agree with the comment about the bathroom - it makes me a bit motion sick looking at it, but the rest is fantastic!
view mskarilynn's profile
OMG, love love!!!! Thanks for sharing, my favorite AT Tour so far!
view MomlovesMod's profile
love the house, the star trek print, & your cute doggie!
view timmy jr.'s profile
Great place, adore your dog.
view hrhprincessfiona's profile
LOVE! Made my heart pitter-patter.
The dog is HILARIOUS. I bet he gets away with murder.
view Thrasymachus's profile
I checked the bottom of the walnut chair and it's labeled:
"Mr. Chair, Manufactured by Plycraft, Inc."
The blue-tiled guest bath is tiny - only 5' x 7' - so the camera tended to distort the room - it was really hard to shoot. When you're standing in it it's more like being in a little jewel box, but I understand the 'makes me feel woozy' feeling based on the photo ;-)
Thanks for the comments on Dino - he is the happiest creature we've ever met (and yes - too cute for his own good!)
view robothouse's profile
First, I can't get enough of Eichler homes and you have a done an amazing job of respecting the home's original design and adding your own spin. Second, where did you get that Mr. Spock/ Captain Kirk image?!
Great home!
view The Other Tiffany's profile
Fantastic job! Exciting, stylish, and fun. Looks like a lovely space to live in too.
view EAM's profile
The Spock/Kirk image is from a lenticular printing sample from the '60's when an uncle was experimenting with the process. We have a stack of samples ranging from advertising to landscapes and are trying to figure out the best way to display them - the Star Trek image was a natural starting point!
view robothouse's profile
Love the restored mahogany walls. We've got a mid-century modern house too and are having a hard time restoring our mahogany walls. Any guidance for how you treated yours?
view danakay's profile
The bathroom is pixelated.
I also love the Star Trek print.
view tarsengreen's profile
Had to chime in and say that I am swooning over the bathroom. I think it's bracing and refreshing.
view dianalily's profile
Restoring the mahogany walls - I could write a book! We got opinions from a range of people, from long-time Eichler owners to hardware stores in Eichler neighborhoods.
We tried a lot of things, and here's what we learned to avoid: beeswax (turns your wood paneling into what one Eichler owner described as a roman candle - wax soaked wood); spray on wood polish: too rich - the wood is generally so thirsty after years of sun and neglect that you could rub in a can per panel (see roman candle comment above).
We researched and experimented over several years to come up with the secret sauce that worked for us (based on advice we found on the Eichler Network):
1/ light sanding with a very fine sandpaper and be careful to go with the grain (go-with-grain applies to all steps)
2/ wipe down the wall to remove dust (we used old t-shirts for all steps in the wood restoration and they worked great - no lint, nice and soft).
3/ wipe on wood cleaner. To clean we used a pre-stain wood conditioner. Apply then wipe off after a few minutes and let dry.
4/ We did not use stain directly on the wood we restored - the color was good and we just needed to repair and preserve. There were a few panels of recycled mahogany paneling that we had to stain and on that we used oil-based stain and followed the package instructions.
5/ Seal - we used oil-based polyurethane and added a few eyedroppers of stain to this - it refreshed the color and helped even out areas that had faded in the sun. We generally only had to do one coat.
The original baseboards were a lost cause so we replaced them throughout the house and painted them flat charcoal to match the floor.
Here is a link to a good article about restoring paneling: http://www.eichlernetwork.com/spot_paneling.html
...and the forum is useful too.
view robothouse's profile
Great! Thank you SO much for the helpful advice, robothouse. Your place looks wonderful and I can only hope our walls will look as great :) Thanks again!
view danakay's profile
I would love some more info on the storage in photos 2 and 14. Thanks!!
view thecynthesizer's profile
The storage in #2 is from Ikea - it's a Bonde sideboard in medium brown. We swapped out the glass doors with solid doors and drawer inserts. I think the door-drawer options may be slightly different now.
The unit in #4 is an Eames Storage Unit (reproduction). We got this about 12 years ago from Modernica in L.A, and ordered the dimple wood option.
view robothouse's profile
Love it!!
1. How do you clean the slate floors? They are so shiny!
2. Where is your dining room table from? I am looking for one that size/shape.
Thanks!
view Deidre88's profile
The slate floors were finished with a matte sealer, so all we do is sweep and mop with water. Stone floors turned out to be the perfect dog-friendly surface ;-)
The dining table is a 'brand X' conference table from the 1960's, in the style of the Florence Knoll Oval Conference Table. It has a lot of character, ink stains, scratches and all.
view robothouse's profile