Name: Tracey and Jason
Location: San Francisco
Size: 1,700 square feet total (1,200 SF main floor, 500 SF bottom floor)
Years lived in: It's complicated (see below).
Tracey, a graphic designer, and Jason, a software engineer, bought their 100+ year old home about 5 years ago with plans to renovate it on their own. After some demolition with the help of friends, they realized the job was bigger than anticipated so they enlisted the help of professionals. For the first 2 years, they lived in a tent inside the house (since it had no walls, heat, or electrical outlets) while they planned the renovation and got permits. Then, they moved into a 400 square foot studio during the 2 years of construction. After a long process, Tracey and Jason finally moved into their finished house in December 2008.
When Tracey and Jason purchased their home, it had already lost all of its Victorian charm due to a lackluster remodel so there were no period details worth salvaging. During the demolition, they not only discovered remnants from the previous owners' pasts (the house had been owned by three generations of one family), but also a fireplace hidden in a wall and 12 foot ceilings covered by 9 foot drop ceilings. Tracey documented the trials of the long and arduous renovation in a book, although they could surely write another with the lessons learned. Even though they had to fit their new home into the existing footprint of the old, Tracey and Jason managed to create a beautiful, bright space they happily call their own.
AT Survey:
My/Our style: Eclectic comfortable. We lean toward antiques and industrial objects but have a healthy respect for modern style.
Inspiration: Nature, nostalgia and the passage of time.
Favorite Element: The natural light we get from all of our skylights and windows.
Biggest Challenge: Our living room and office/gym have been very difficult for me. Finding furniture just the right size and style has been a challenge. Also, how to use the space just hasn’t gelled yet.
What Friends Say: Our friends and neighbors can’t believe that it is the same house from before the renovation. People are drawn to our color choices for the kitchen and our bedroom.
Biggest Embarrassment: I still have not straightened the face plates on the light switches and plugs.
Proudest DIY: Transforming our bedroom dresser. It was trashed when I got it but I liked the size and the price (free). To my surprise after I scraped all of the bubbling laminated wood off the front of the drawers and painted the rest, I was left with a piece I really love.
Biggest Indulgence: Our Viking stove and refrigerator.
Best advice: Be patient and true to yourself and your space. You will save a lot of money and frustration if you just step back and spend some time in the space before going out and buying stuff to fill it up.
Dream source: The sets of old black and white movies, Paris.
Resources:
Bedroom: Dresser - yard sale left over; bed, nightstands and lamps - Ikea; hope chest - my father made it when he was a teenager; art work - Nicole Etienne.
Guest Bedroom: Desk - yard sale; daybed - CB2; mirror - Goodwill find; painting - by my great great grandfather.
Living Room: Large couch and table - Atmosphere; small couch - bought from a friend; chair - Ikea; sideboard - yard sale find; art work by Anna Kuperberg and Nicole Etienne.
Kitchen: Table - antique store in Healdsburg; pie saver - Goodwill; chairs - Ikea, shelves - Elfa.
Bathroom: - Hanging candelabra - yard sale find.
Other artwork: Tracey Hufteling, Joshus Carey, J. Health, Marcia McDade and unknown SF street artist from the 60's.
(Thanks, Tracey and Jason!)
Images: Jessica Watson
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Comments (49)
That was inspirational! Love the hanging candelabra! Can you tell me where the spider sculpture is from?
I cannot believe they lived in a tent for 2 years.. but from what I see it is well worth it. Great renovation...
Not sure about anyone else, but I am having a tough time putting this place together. Difficult to understand how one room flows into another. Waaay too many vignette-y pictures. Overall, the place looks very nice and built w/ quality...but for me something is lacking.
Oh, and I love the light, yellowish green in the kitchen and the blue in the bathroom in photo 30.
wow, how cool to find a fireplace hidden in the wall.
that kitchen is gorgeous, and i love the bathrooms too! you guys did a beautiful job!
like the house style and furnishings a lot......but too many pictures of little personal things. A little bit is nice to get the personality of the home owners but this was way too much.
Lovely light and colors. Nicely done! Your fireplace and kitchen are wonderful.
I love the wall of drawings (?) in traceyjason23.jpg. They look like SF vignettes, maybe? Can you tell us anything about them?
I too am curious about the spider sculpture.
Overall, the space is really beautiful. I love that green color in the kitchen.
I really wish that paint brands and colors were provided in this post and all house tour posts.
The house looks lovely, but I want to see more shots of the rooms rather than close-up vignettes! It's hard to get a sense of the interior.
it looks like they did an amazing job though. doing something like that is my dream....but wow, a tent outside for 2 years...no way i could get my fiance to go for that...
Two years in a tent - my God. I could see how it might come to that - because it wouldn't be easy to afford a mortgage, a remodel, AND rent - but still. Wow.
I'm really digging that pale blue in the bathroom - and I'm not usually a "blue person". But here it looks so fresh and clean - love it!
And thank you, thank you, thank you, AT - you included a floorplan and it's so helpful!
Ditto: thank you SO MUCH for starting with a floor plan! It makes it so much easier to orient the photos and get a sense of scale.
Wow, this place is beautiful. Simple and polished, refined.
(And another thanks for the floorplan! It's so much easier to make sense of the photos.)
The kitchen is absolutely GORGEOUS! Great job on your lovely home.
What a wonderful house tour!
I love the before and after photos, the shots of the photo book with the house torn apart. And....I love the vignettes!(not sure what others are talking about)
The eye for detail in this house is amazing, from paint to personal collections.
Well done! Both the house and the story the photos tell!
I don't know if it's Jessica's wonderful photography or the owners' paint choices, but I like the transluscent quality to the wall colour in the kitchen and bathroom. Against the crisp white trim it looks so fresh it's almost edible.
So hold your head high, Jess. Then hang it in shame for your cynical pandering to certain elements of the AT commentariat in Picture 5.
Wow! Tracey and Jason demonstrate how very little imagination is required to make a beautiful space look decorated!
Great renovation, great lay-out, great house. Little imagination?
Love the home.
I also have to add that the photography is outstanding, it made it a pleasure to take this tour.
well done.
I get a bloody BB pop up in the middle of the photos in the presentation that I can not shut. Can't watch it.... how annoying
Thanks for the tour! Also for the floorplan, and for your meticulous documentation. Nice to see how much you respect your home and its history. Finding that fireplace must have been a magical moment! And I love the image of the flatscreen computer atop the wabi-sabi bureau.
I'm also a fan of starting with a floor plan. It really should be a requirement. The color/light combination in both the kitchen and bathroom were really lovely.
The flow makes sense to me. The result is amazing----colors are fresh, vignettes are exciting, there's nothing I'd change.
So, Tracey and Jason - will you share your paint colors with us? Pretty please?
Please, please, please share the paint colors. Great choices!
The kitchen wall color looks similar to the one in our kitchen, "Grass Cloth" by Behr. Perhaps slightly lighter.
Tracey & Jason - I love you guys! Anyone that is hardcore enough to live like that for 2 YEARS is awesome. Wow.
Love the blue in the bathroom. Inquiring minds want to know the paint color!
AT - thumbs up on the floorplan!
Hello everyone,
The spider sculpture is a handmade glass piece from Russia.
As for the little sketches downstairs they are from an unknown San Francisco street artist from the 60's. I wish that the artist would have signed them.
I dug out the paint colors chips last night from my filing cabinet for all you inquiring minds.
All of it is from Benjamin Moore
Moroccan red 1309 (piano room)
Wales green 2028-50 (kitchen)
Pear Green 2028-40 (accent wall in kitchen)
Celestia blue 1429 (bedroom)
Feather soft 1431 (bathroom)
Bird's egg 2051-60 (second bathroom)
China white (living room and downstairs)
Absolute white (trim and ceiling)
Thanks for all the kinds words and good luck on all your decorating,nesting projects.
T
A million thanks Tracey!!!
Love the bathroom colors, kitchen, and cluster of mirrors near the entryway. Would you mind telling us where you got the black, glass-front cabinet in downstairs office? Thanks!
Gorgeous and homey, so flooded with light [sigh]. Love the wooden clover tray you keep jewelry in. Want! Also, the little horse is adorable.
Well done, what a gorgeous remodel.
well this house tour really touched my heart. I cant explain why, but one things certain, you must have a rock solid relationship after this experience. And its absolutely incredible how such a stunning house was made out of what was left after the demolition.
Its unpretentious (unlike a lot of houses on here) and i think thats what i like most about it
Hello Kris0218,
The glass front cabinet downstairs is from Ikea. Their Linnarp collection.
T
Hey San Francisco Apartment Therapy readers. I work for a new urban lifestyle magazine here in the city and we are looking for a cool pad to feature in our new publication. Do you think your home is a work of art that the rest of us would appreciate a look at? Then email me and let me know a little about where in the city are you and some of the things you love about your home some photos of course.
Hope to hear from you and see some cool houses!!
-Chase
www.asterisksanfrancisco.com
This is a beautiful home! This is "the one!" This is what I want eventually. Thanks for the inspiration!
Cassie
What al;ot of wonderful removations you have done. I love this place and admire your integrity to stick to living in a tent to have such a marvellous house. Job well done. Congratulations
LOVE LOVE LOVE the kitchen. Great paint color for the dining room/kitchen..my kitchen is the same color!
Good taste!
This home is beyond beautiful. I'm enjoying the perfect hardwood floors and the serene colors throughout most of the rooms.
Love those chairs at the kitchen table, and was totally shocked to see they were from Ikea! Hmm...ideas are brewing.
Great job and vision!
so full of light and life! i loved it, and kathyp17, i had exactly the same reaction. this home has so much heart, and really resonated on an amazing level.
(i have really terrible arachnophobia and got super scared when i got to the spider sculpture, but apart from that everything was incredible!)
Love the kitchen. Planning on building and allowing room for my baby grand. Like the area you have for yours. Spider sculpture creeps me out - but as a conversation piece - I would buy it.
I love love your new house, and I actually like the close up vignettes. It reveals your love of antiques and unique findings. The mix of old and new furniture along with all of your collections really keeps it humble and cozy. Great job!
Congratulations on your 2 year remodel! I don't know if I could have done that, but it was well worth it. Best of luck in your new home.
such an inspiring home! i love, love, love the paint colour in the kitchen!
I love this space. The high ceilings are amazing. I live in SF, why don't I have friends with places like this? Such an inpirational story of dedication, and makes you appreciate what you've accomplished. Bravo!
Nice place and style.
Your home is so well done! It has great light, it is clean, uncluttered, and minimal with pops of interesting pieces and art. Your floors are beautiful (what wood and stain did you use) and I love that you kept the wood into the bathrooms. It has inspired me to do the same! Thank you for sharing!
Hello shannont,
I apologize for my late response. It was a hard decision on whether we were going to run the wood floors into the bathrooms or not. I'm very pleased with how it turned out and thankful we made that choice. The main reason we did it was to make the house look bigger. The wood is oak and the stain is rosewood.