Atherton Estate

The brief was unusual in its plainness. A family of five, returning to the Bay Area after seven years in London and Singapore, wanted formal entertaining spaces that didn't feel precious. Two of their children were teenagers. They wanted a house that could hold a black-tie fundraiser on Saturday and a Sunday morning of cereal in pajamas.

We preserved the original 1928 plaster details — picture rails, ceiling medallions, the cast-iron radiators in every room — and opened the kitchen to the garden with a steel-and-glass wall sourced from a small fabricator in Sonoma. Custom rift oak millwork runs through the public rooms, anchoring the fireplace, the dining built-ins, and a library wall that the eldest now claims as her own.

Materials throughout are quiet and considered. Calacatta Viola for the kitchen island and primary bath, reclaimed French oak for the floors, hand-troweled lime plaster on every wall. Lighting is largely vintage: Murano in the dining room, an English iron lantern in the entry, and a pair of 1960s Italian sconces flanking the primary bed.