No, 83 Isn’t Too Old to Renovate. Just Ask San Francisco Resident Roberta Gordon
Roberta Gordon, 83 and widowed, realized during her early 20s that the ranch-style hillside home built by her father, an electrical contractor, was not accessible. She watched her aging parents struggle with the steep location and the home’s many stairs. Even though "they had added weird ramps," Roberta recalls, "I saw how difficult it was for them get older there."
Roberta Gordon’s two story hillside home in San Francisco’s Westwood Highlands neighborhood, built by her father, has been adjusted by architect David Gast and interior designer David Bjorngaard for her to age in place. A staircase from the street below leads into the former basement, now reconfigured as an additional dwelling unit for a future caretaker.
Like many homes in San Francisco’s Westwood Highlands neighborhood, the shed-roofed 1960s house was built on a slope. Its two-car garage sat at the end of a steep driveway and, several steps down, the single-story, 2,000 square-foot residence sat atop a barely finished basement that had more stairs going down to it. There was no elevator.
In 2015, Roberta inherited the house and decided to fix those problems so that she could enjoy it for the years to come. Retired from teaching, she sold her house in another part of the city where she raised her two boys before turning her attention to her parents’ property. It had a south-facing garden and views of the Golden Gate Bridge to the north. And it was beloved by family. Her younger son, Aaron Gordon, a general contractor, has fond memories of his grandparents’ workshop in the basement, where he’d play Ping-Pong and they’d host great parties. For a couple of years, Aaron used it as his office.
Stairs connect the street to the decked entry garden, where Roberta grows herbs she cooks with. The glass door leads to the kitchen. A Koko dining table and Gigi dining chairs are from Janus et Cie.
To prepare for the day she can longer use stairs, Roberta installed a lift that connects the garage with the entry garden. It’s concealed with a door that matches the home’s siding.
The entry has a cubby for Roberta’s shoes and a branch-shaped grab bar made of bronze by British designer Phillip Watts.
To keep costs down, Roberta evaluated several scenarios with her design team, which included Aaron, architect David Gast, and interior designer David Bjorngaard. For instance, because a single elevator linking the garage, main house, and basement—which they decided to convert into an ADU for a future caregiver—would have required pricey seismic bracing, she chose an elevator connecting the main floor and basement, and a separate lift from the garage to the front door for bringing down groceries in a wheelchair, if she were to need one in the future.
Today, the main floor still contains three bedrooms and two baths in the same configuration, but is more open to support mobility. The designers removed all unnecessary doors so that small discrete rooms, like a bedroom Roberta uses as an office, flow one into the other and feel larger. They also widened hallways on the main level so that a wheelchair can circumambulate it unencumbered. After a recent back surgery, Roberta took the renovation for a test run. "I walked around the house for exercise," she laughs.
The custom slatted wood railing is fitted with discreet flip-down hooks to hang coats. Stairs lead down to a guest space and an additional unit for a future caretaker. An elevator, not visible, also connects the two levels. The Overlap pendant is by Michael Anastassiades for Flos.
The kitchen is customized for Roberta, an avid cook. Easy-to-reach pots hang from a custom rack by Bjørn Design. Its hooks can be lengthened if she has to reach from a wheelchair someday; a lowered counter where she likes to work, read, and play cards can accommodate a wheelchair, should she need one. Oak veneers for the ceilings, floors, and cabinetry were a splurge, but Roberta loves their warmth and texture.
Practical, long-lasting finishes throughout meet Roberta’s dictum that everything should be easy to use. Stone-like Cambria quartz backsplashes and seamless countertops don’t have grout, making it easier to keep things clean.
She loves to cook and entertain, so the designers enlarged the dining space by extending the room a few feet outside the building envelope with a bay. They added glass doors that connect the dining room and adjacent kitchen to the garden. The doors also brighten the interior, as do new skylights and light wells. Pots and pans hang low from a ceiling rack so the chef doesn’t have to reach or bend, whether standing or in a wheelchair. The kitchen counter is lowered at one end, serving as a desk where Roberta can work or read with her morning coffee.
A central wall separating the kitchen from the living room is a shared storage core for both rooms, keeping everything close at hand. It’s clad with oak that matches the ceilings and floors, and, though more costly than wallboard and paint, it gives the interiors a more elegant feel and will age better, too.
The expanded dining room has new sliding doors that connect it with the garden. The threshold is seamless for easy indoor/outdoor access. An Arrangements pendant by Flos hangs above a custom table by Mark Albrecht and Nobel Soft side chairs designed by Gino Carollo. A photograph by Michael Light is fixed above a custom console by Bjørn Design. The woven Ortigia chairs are by Flexform.
The living room has a gray rug by Tai Ping Carpets, rust-colored B&B Italia sofas, a pendant by David Weeks, and a frieze of butterflies by artist Kirk Maxon inspired by birds that flutter in the treetops outside Roberta’s balcony. Blinds, pocketed in the soffit above the doors, come down automatically when the sun is too bright.
"Cocktail hour is sacred," says Roberta. So, in a storage wall (shared by the living area on one side and the kitchen on the other) Bjorngaard tucked in an elegant bar (with a French Pyrolave lava stone counter and backsplash) that has everything she needs for drink service.
Although Roberta initially envisioned gray floors and black and white accents, she had an overriding aesthetic code: that nothing should look institutional. Because San Francisco can be foggy, Bjorngaard took her edict further by evoking "the colors you see on a bright day," he says. "They are less cold." So, rust and saffron-colored furnishings and art (inspired by Roberta’s favorite clothing) prevail. Even the front door is burgundy to match garden plantings, and the entryway is enlivened by a sculptural bronze branch-shaped grab bar Roberta uses to put on her shoes.
One of the smaller bedrooms is now configured as Roberta’s office. For easier access, the room has no door. Floor to ceiling storage can be opened using an app on her phone so she can easily access its contents.
Roberta’s bedroom suite is positioned at the east end of the home and has north facing views. The B&B Italia nightstand was customized to match the bed’s height.
The primary bath has large slabs of porcelain tiles made to look like veined marble, which cost much less than real stone. The seamless concrete floor flows into the curb-less shower for access. There is in-wall storage on the left, and the sink and countertop are made of seamless Corian. The wood door pockets away.
"I wanted a home where I would be able to walk out onto the deck and to my fabulous garden," Roberta says. "I can even look out at it from my kitchen." Looking through its new large windows "is like sitting in the view rather than looking through a peephole," she adds.
Roberta says aging is now an adventure she’s feels ready for. A few technological tricks add to the fun. "My garbage cans open up with my knee. The cabinets open with a remote. I have stuff on my phone that opens the garage door," she says. "And it shows me when I have visitors at my front door."
The wraparound balcony provides outdoor space Roberta can always access.
This view to the north is what Roberta sees from her living room, office, TV room, and bedroom.
Related Reading:
Erick Mikiten Has a Vision for the House You’ll Grow Old In
A Home Designed for a Couple Aging in Place Features Walls of Windows and a 92-Foot-Long Skylight
Project Credits:
Interior Designer: Bjørn Design / @bjorndesign_ca
Architect of Record: Gast Architects / @gastarchitects
Builder/General Contractor: Aaron Gordon Construction / @agc_sf
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