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Bernal Heights Victorian receives ‘Scandinavian-style’ makeover, asks $3.2 million

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From majestic to minimalist, a grand “wedding cake” home takes a turn toward the sleek

Bought in 2011 for $1.29 million, the current owner of 106 Coleridge in Bernal Heights reportedly spent upward of $1 million to create a “Scandinavian-style concept” inside this stately home.

Cue the pitchforks? Perish the thought.

While this standout home might rattle the stubborn aesthetics of many purists—we cooed over it in 2012, before it was stripped of its wood moldings and wainscoting—architect Diego Pacheco’s attention to detail with the renovation helps it go above and beyond most minimalist makeovers.

“I have always been a huge fan of minimalism and clean modern design, so I clicked immediately with the owner who is from Denmark and appreciates the same aesthetic,” Pacheco tells Curbed SF. “We wanted to create a juxtaposition between the existing wedding-cake facade and a crisp, minimal sensibility on the interior.”

The project began out as an open-plan kitchen remodel, but evolved to include the entire house when the two opened up the walls to discover faulty construction—e.g., leaks, rot, and other structurally-unsafe framing conditions.

While undertaking a complete structural overhaul, Pacheco chose to expose some of the new steel and wood structural beams as design elements, giving more texture to the minimal theme.

“All the interior and exterior walls are painted the same soft white color, and the lighting and bath tiles throughout continue the white-on-white minimalist theme,” he adds.

Coming at five beds, four baths, and approximately 3,015 square feet, this decidedly new contemporary look features an open-floor plan (of course), wide plank Douglas Fir flooring with soap finish (common in Denmark, we’re told), additional new windows, and a stark new staircase.

As far as the facade goes, it’s not part of the original home. Pacheco says, “This house is not an original Victorian, as some people assume. The wedding cake facade is actually fake gingerbread ornamentation that was added during an earlier remodel in the ‘90s. The applied ornaments were not properly waterproofed, so it was causing mold inside the structure. However, even though it's not original and somewhat over-the-top, we liked how ornate and whimsical it is, so we decided to keep it and repair it.”

Here’s the new look. And following that, check out what it used to look like prior to dramatic renovation.

Asking is $3,195,000.

Now:

Before: