Modern By Design: Met Home Showhouse

On June 17, the Metropolitan Home Showhouse opened its doors for a month-long designer showcase to benefit the San Francisco Ballet. Developer Regina Callan and architect Mark English teamed up with 12 of the Bay Area's most prominent designers to renovate a 7, 000-square-foot historic house in Pacific Heights. If the crowd—which snaked around the block to get into the front door—at the opening party is any indication, this is one showhouse not to miss.

The editors of CH+D were there taking notes; some of our favorites moments:


David Oldroyd and Greg Stewart from Orlando Diaz-Azcuy Design Associates created a sleek, white living room. Their “area rug” is one of the most inventive ideas in the house: The sofa, coffee table and curved chairs appear to rise from the floor in one piece of molded plywood coated with glossy white vinyl—According to Stewart, “It's made to imitate California's rolling coastline.” The vinyl coating is Lonseal, a Greenguard-certified recycled product.



The custom Ted Boerner sofa in Steven Miller's family room was an instant hit—Boerner had a couple offers on the sofa by the end of the opening party.

Adding a touch of disco to the indoor/outdoor hangout space, Miller upholstered an armchair in Moore and Giles' laser-cut leather [http://www.mooreandgilesinc.com] that is metallic gold.


Nicole Hollis's brooding black library on the second floor is anchored by the smoke-glass Modo chandelier by Brooklyn designer Jason Miller—the prototype was shipped out just in time for the opening of the house.

Gary Hutton designed the master suite; the hallway leading there is painted charcoal gray and dotted with gray pearls pinned in a pattern charting recent seismic activity.


Hutton's bathroom features a bath screen made of Ivory soap bars that cleverly disguise the toilet from the rest of the space.

At the top of a grand central staircase, the house opens to a lofty great room by Jay Jeffers, who also designed the adjacent powder room and loft area.

Recipe for success: The sofa, designed by Jeffers, is paired with throw pillows from Maharam and Samuel & Sons and a patchwork hide rug by Kyle Bunting, available at De Sousa Hughes. The vintage Venini twist lamps are from Modern One. The Paul Benson stainless-and-lacquer console is a coveted item—CH+D's marketing director is already on the waiting list for the next edition.

The wing chairs are from Modern One and upholstered in Galbraith & Paul fabric. The antique rosewood table is from Therien. The iron game table from Coup D'Etat is paired with Tommi Parzinger chairs and a “wool stump” rug by Mark Nelson Designs.
Willem Racké did the decorative painting in the loft area.



E.B Min and Jeffrey Day of Min | Day architecture firm designed two modern bedrooms and a bathroom off of the great room. Sliding doors in both the pink and blue rooms feature perforations in the sliding doors that are an abstract interpretation of the Bay's infamous fog.


On the basement level, Erin Martin of St. Helen's Martin created a media room that resembles an ultra-hip ski lodge in Switzerland. Kyle Reicher of Ferrous Studios created the round iron swing.