This San Francisco residence features strategic colors and complementary furnishings in a vibrant environment that supports the clients’ beloved art collection. Jiun Ho used some of the house’s spatial irregularities, such as an interior courtyard that took up a fair amount of space, and an exterior staircase that one must climb in order to enter the house, to advantage. He reclaimed the courtyard as interior space and reorganized the home around a new grand staircase, now lined with artworks by Alfred Jensen, David Ortins, and Anselm Kiefer.

As in a good museum exhibit, the various elements in the rooms—art, furnishings,architecture—engage in a conversation about the obsessions of different generations of creative minds. The living room offers a perfect example. A pair of Louis XVI corner benches flank the Steinway piano, and reinforce a sense of symmetry and decorum. On the wall is an Aaron Young work that was created by driving a motorcycle over metal panels. Louis XV chairs and a minimalist bronze coffee table designed by the owners and fabricated by Henry DeFauw form abridge with Jiun Ho’s Chambord Sofa. The fireplace’s original carved stone surround was removed and replaced with a minimalist frame in white marble.

Interior Architect: Jiun Ho,  Photography: Bruce Damonte