04/28/2016
This long-running project, shown below in ROBA's post from 2013, has
just come on the market. Spectacularly sited on the Vallejo Steps on
Telegraph hill. The following link to the SFGate website expands on the interiors and panoramic views: http://blog.sfgate.com/ontheblock/2016/04/26/a-branch-staircase-that-leads-to-panoramic-views-on-the-vallejo-steps/
Many of our projects at ROBA involve older structures, often built in the late 19th or early 20th century, that have been “remuddled” or altered in a fashion that is out of character with the original structure. This house, located on the Vallejo steps on Telegraph Hill, began life as a working class, Edwardian era two-flat. like many of its neighbors. The panoramic views afforded by this unique location were too hard to resist for one previous homeowner who added a bachelor style penthouse in the mid-1960’s, complete with floor to ceiling windows. The result was a glass box perched on a utilitarian stucco box, top heavy with balustraded roof decks and further compromised by half-hearted ornamental grillwork. The single-glazed penthouse was seismically and thermally unstable, and the structure suffered from numerous life and safety issues, including faulty wiring and unsafe exiting, resulting from the 1960’s remuddling. ROBA’s task was to restore a sense of integrity and coherence to this disjointed structure without blowing a construction budget already stretched to the limit. Returning the house to its Edwardian roots was impractical due to the asymmetrical massing of the third floor. Instead, ROBA pursued a modernist approach that celebrates asymmetry, sets back the most precarious-looking balustrades so that they are not visible, and tempers the severe lines of the façade with integral color stucco. Austerity of surface treatment combined with stepped massing helps the finished structure feel at home with its neighbors. Stay tuned for more about the interior features of the project, including the downtown views enjoyed by this spectacularly sited house.
