This minimalist San Francisco house thrives through contrasts
Edmonds + Lee's latest residential offering is the redesign of a Noe Valley Craftsman house in San Francisco, which maintains the original historic facade untouched, while completely reimagining the interior and rear, following the studio's acclaimed modern minimalist approach

Joe Fletcher - Photography
Inspired by London-style Victoria conversions, the owners of a newly bought Noe Valley Craftsman style house in San Francisco called upon local architecture studio Edmonds + Lee to redesign the property as their family home; this meant keeping the street facing facade virtually untouched, while focusing their efforts and any major changes on the rear side interior and extension.
But what started as a simple kitchen extension quickly transformed into a full scale interior reimagining, as the architects and owners steadily added a newly-finished, expanded basement; a new staircase between basement and ground floor; and a minimalist garden facade, where the studio was able to fuse the historical house's outline with their own, modernist inspired approach.
The interior certainly maintains a flavour of its original, period character, using timber and a lot of the original detailing. Yet, the refresh clearly places the space in the contemporary realm through a sleek, minimalist approach, which combines neutral, calming colour tones and smooth, welcoming surfaces. At the same time cool stones and sharp lines ensure a polish look throughout.
Light floods in through large windows on all floors - even the basement, through the use of a light well. ‘The kitchen is the soul of the house — the clients are enthusiastic cooks and party hosts, partially thanks to the wife’s professional experience at Williams-Sonoma — and opens up to the outdoors, which was a central part of the original (and final) brief,' say the architects.
Striking the right cord between formal and informal, old and new, hard and soft, this striking historic home has been given a new lease of life.
INFORMATION
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
Ellie Stathaki is the Architecture & Environment Director at Wallpaper*. She trained as an architect at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece and studied architectural history at the Bartlett in London. Now an established journalist, she has been a member of the Wallpaper* team since 2006, visiting buildings across the globe and interviewing leading architects such as Tadao Ando and Rem Koolhaas. Ellie has also taken part in judging panels, moderated events, curated shows and contributed in books, such as The Contemporary House (Thames & Hudson, 2018), Glenn Sestig Architecture Diary (2020) and House London (2022).
-
Wael Shawky explores a theatrical moment in history in Edinburgh
Pull strings to get there if you can, as the Egyptian artist presents the third film in his ‘The Crusades Cabaret’ trilogy, at Talbot Rice Gallery
-
We bring you all the best bits from this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed
As car makers switch their allegiance to the sunny West Sussex countryside as a place to showcase their wares, a new generation of sports cars were sent running up that famous hill
-
Stay at Patina Osaka for a dose of ‘transformative luxury’ in western Japan
From nature-inspired interiors to sound-tracked cocktails and an unusually green setting, Patina Osaka is a contemporary urban escape that sets itself apart
-
Florencia Rodriguez on the importance of curiosity, criticism and cultural freedom
Florencia Rodriguez, architect, writer and artistic director of this year’s Chicago Architecture Biennial, comments on the state of the States
-
A 432 Park Avenue apartment is an art-filled family home among the clouds
At 432 Park Avenue, inside and outside compete for starring roles; welcome to a skyscraping, art-filled apartment in Midtown Manhattan
-
Discover this sleek-but-warm sanctuary in the heart of the Wyoming wilds
This glorious wood-and-stone residence never misses a chance to show off the stirring landscape it calls home
-
Inside a Montana house, putting the American West's landscape at its heart
A holiday house in the Montana mountains, designed by Walker Warner Architects and Gachot Studios, scales new heights to create a fresh perspective on communing with the natural landscape
-
Peel back this Michigan lakeside house’s cool slate exterior to reveal a warm wooden home
In Detroit, Michigan, this lakeside house, a Y-shaped home by Disbrow Iannuzzi Architects, creates a soft balance between darkness and light through its minimalist materiality
-
Inside the new theatre at Jacob’s Pillow and its ‘magic box’, part of a pioneering complex designed for dance
Jacob’s Pillow welcomes the reborn Doris Duke Theatre by Mecanoo, a new space that has just opened in the beloved Berkshires cultural hub for the summer season
-
A Rancho Mirage home is in tune with its location and its architect-owners’ passions
Architect Steven Harris and his collaborator and husband, designer Lucien Rees Roberts, have built a home in Rancho Mirage, surrounded by some of America’s most iconic midcentury modern works; they invited us on a tour
-
Inside Frank Lloyd Wright’s Laurent House – a project built with accessibility at its heart
The dwelling, which you can visit in Illinois, is a classic example of Wright’s Usonian architecture, and was also built for a client with a disability long before accessibility was widely considered