When the house at 1138 Rhode Island Street sold in 2014, it was a pretty unremarkable and slightly shabby two-bedroom, one-bath home. Today, when it officially launches on the market this afternoon, none of those adjectives will apply.
The current owners hired McMahon Architecture & Studio to reimagine the home on Potrero Hill's northwest slope as a 2,849-square-foot modernist dwelling with five bedrooms and four-and-a-half bathrooms (three of the bedrooms have en suite baths).
The new nature of the property is evident from the exterior, which is gridded in what appears to be integral-colored stucco. A modernist bay window is clad in wood. More pattern play is in the interior.
Inside, the main floor is an open plan, with a two-sided fireplace dividing the living room and the dining room. The fireplace is wrapped in a 3D tile crafted from Supreme Black Italian stone that gives both areas texture.
The dining room is a double-height space, and the upper part is ringed with clerestory windows that flood the room and the adjacent kitchen with natural light.
This is a kitchen with benefits in the form of a built-in wine tower and cappuccino maker and a 13 foot, marble-clad island. In this house, the open plan has the kitchen bookended by a formal dining room and a casual family room, putting the focus on gatherings of all kinds.
The listing says that as much thought was put into the garden areas (there's an outdoor kitchen and fire pit on the lower level, as well as a penthouse-level deck) as the interior.
In other words, perhaps no one will ever use the word "shabby" to describe this house again.
- McMahon Architecture & Studio [Official Site]
- 1138 Rhode Island Street [Official Site]