[One in a series of posts about private places in San Francisco that are important to our built environment. And when we say "Do Not Disturb," we mean it. No doorbell-ringing, please. -PF]
Hard to see and even harder to photograph, Richard Neutra's Kahn House at 66 Calhoun Terrace was designed and built 1939/40 for businessman Sidney Kahn. Private and severe from the street, the house opens up to spectacular views of the bay. Not much imagery available online, although the Robb Report did a piece on the house in 2003 (yes, those thumbnails get big when you click on them) showing renovations by Scott Bromley, an architect who was tremendously successful with Minimalism in 1980's and who seems to have done a respectful job. Kahn asked for the entertaining space to be on the top floor, served by a curving stair plus an elevator with shelving to transport both persons and drinks. Unlike Neutra's other houses in San Francisco, this one has the classic bands of window and stacked boxes and terraces that were his signature. The cliffside garage is next door and next to that, 42 Calhoun Terrace, the home of Diego Rivera and Frieda Kahlo for a few months in 1940. Union Street dead-ends here, and down though the remains of public steps that may have once gone to Sansome Street is a garden and view worth seeing. Plus parrots.
· City Lights [Robb Report]
Taking a little modernist tour? Have a look at our map: Curbed SF: Neutra in San Francisco.
View Curbed SF: Neutra in San Francisco in a larger map
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