In renovating this Mission District house, architect Ryan Leidner took cues from the courtyard-house typology, sandwiching the two-part house around an interior garden, which is the first space one experiences on entering from the street. (Seen here is the newly-built addition.) The layout cultivates a feeling of openness, along with some actual exposure, allowing the two children and dog to play freely—usually a nail-biting task in the city. Courtesy Joe Fletcher
San Francisco’s booming tech economy has burnished its once-dog-eared Mission District, a neighborhood known for its cultural diversity and eclectic architecture anchored by the well-manicured Mission Dolores Park. In the spirit of honoring history while embracing innovation, local firm Ryan Leidner Architecture mixed old with new, indoor with outdoor, to create an art-filled refuge for a family with two young toddlers and a dog named Scout.
The existing building is an early Italianate-style butterfly-roofed commercial structure built in 1888 that had served as a saloon and grocery. To accommodate its new residents, Leidner and his team added a structure at the far end of its interior courtyard.
In the courtyard, Leidner designed the hardscape, but the owners did all the landscaping themselves, planting drought-tolerant olive trees, a few varieties of acacia, succulents, and wattles. Courtesy Joe Fletcher
The 1,300-square-foot addition features an open kitchen/living room, half-bath, and garage on the ground floor, while upstairs are two bedrooms and one bath. Storage functions take the form of a flush wall of cabinetry. Both sunlight and air enter the hallway and nursery via a lightwell that also offers the kids another outdoor play space. Throughout the house, a feeling of lightness and brightness is amplified by a subtle color scheme and finishes including natural wood, bleached Douglas fir floors, and pale-white surfaces. Meanwhile, Leidner’s team refurbished the wood of the original structure’s interiors, exposed old rafters and partially retrofitting the foundation for seismic events.
Despite all this, the 25-by-25-foot courtyard is the house’s greatest amenity: The owners love to spend time outdoors and gardening—the 5-year-old daughter tends to a patch of strawberries—and the house, even in its heavily urban context, allows them to do this in spades. “You feel as if you’re entering a secret garden, protected from the outside world,” Leidner says, “but then we also made a big effort to extend that lushness to the sidewalk landscaping to create a park-like space for the benefit of the rest of the neighborhood.” Concrete pavers and sedum cover the courtyard, echoing the siding of the historical building. This outdoor “room” flows into a ground-level living space through a set of lift and slide doors.
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Seen here is the historic structure, which is now complemented by a new addition. "The darker, midnight blue exterior paint color was used on all of the existing building elements to create a more dynamic contrast with the new structure, which was painted white," architect Ryan Leidner explains.
Courtesy Joe Fletcher
Seen here is the historic structure, which is now complemented by a new addition. "The darker, midnight blue exterior paint color was used on all of the existing building elements to create a more dynamic contrast with the new structure, which was painted white," architect Ryan Leidner explains.
Courtesy Joe Fletcher
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Seen in the foreground is the addition, with the historic building behind it; the latter is one of the oldest single-story commercial buildings in the Mission District. Leidner adds, "What's so appealing about old Victorian trim detail is how it casts shadows…so we played with that idea in the detailing of the new house, creating rhythm with both the shadow lines of the lap siding and the window extrusions."
Courtesy Joe Fletcher
Seen in the foreground is the addition, with the historic building behind it; the latter is one of the oldest single-story commercial buildings in the Mission District. Leidner adds, "What's so appealing about old Victorian trim detail is how it casts shadows…so we played with that idea in the detailing of the new house, creating rhythm with both the shadow lines of the lap siding and the window extrusions."
Courtesy Joe Fletcher
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"We chipped away the southwest corner of the facades, which on the existing building was an entryway, and on the new building was interpreted as a mitered glass window," he tells Metropolis. The extruded white oak window boxes on the new structure also nod to the more traditional approach to window casings while making them more three dimensional.
Courtesy Joe Fletcher
"We chipped away the southwest corner of the facades, which on the existing building was an entryway, and on the new building was interpreted as a mitered glass window," he tells Metropolis. The extruded white oak window boxes on the new structure also nod to the more traditional approach to window casings while making them more three dimensional.
Courtesy Joe Fletcher
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Seen here is the new addition's living room. Due to restrictions stemming from the older building's historic designation, there were strict limits on the addition's volume. "These requirements really dictated the overall footprint and envelope of the new building," says Leidner, "which in turn drove us to be very strategic about the interior layout and creative as to how we economized and prioritized spaces. We kept bedroom sizes to a minimum to allow for a larger open living space on the ground floor."
Courtesy Joe Fletcher
Seen here is the new addition's living room. Due to restrictions stemming from the older building's historic designation, there were strict limits on the addition's volume. "These requirements really dictated the overall footprint and envelope of the new building," says Leidner, "which in turn drove us to be very strategic about the interior layout and creative as to how we economized and prioritized spaces. We kept bedroom sizes to a minimum to allow for a larger open living space on the ground floor."
Courtesy Joe Fletcher
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The addition's ground-floor living room is furnished with chairs designed by Takeshi Nii, a vintage Finn Juhl loveseat, and a vintage coffee table.
Courtesy Joe Fletcher
The addition's ground-floor living room is furnished with chairs designed by Takeshi Nii, a vintage Finn Juhl loveseat, and a vintage coffee table.
Courtesy Joe Fletcher
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The bedrooms and private spaces are upstairs in the new building. On the landing of the stair hangs an artwork painted by Leidner himself.
Courtesy Joe Fletcher
The bedrooms and private spaces are upstairs in the new building. On the landing of the stair hangs an artwork painted by Leidner himself.
Courtesy Joe Fletcher
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Local artist Elle Luna created the painting in the master bedroom.
Courtesy Joe Fletcher
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Children's room in the new addition
Courtesy Joe Fletcher
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A sauna and outdoor bath/shower in the front house are frequently used. They formed a part of the brief from the outset of the project.
Courtesy Joe Fletcher
A sauna and outdoor bath/shower in the front house are frequently used. They formed a part of the brief from the outset of the project.
Courtesy Joe Fletcher
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The kitchen in the historic structure
Courtesy Joe Fletcher
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A black-and-white drawing in the living room of the historic structure is by a local artist David Wilson.
Courtesy Joe Fletcher
A black-and-white drawing in the living room of the historic structure is by a local artist David Wilson.
Courtesy Joe Fletcher
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A bathroom in the historic structure
Courtesy Joe Fletcher
You may also enjoy “A New Gallery in Racine, Wisconsin, Plays off Its Historic Brick Surroundings.”
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