HOME TOURS: Architectural Digest
Star Trek and Dune Inspired the Futuristic Design of This San Francisco Home
WRITTEN BY ALYSSA BIRD | PHOTOGRAPHY BY YOSHIHIRO MAKINO | STYLING BY KAY JARAMILLO | BUILD BY PEREZ CONSTRUCTION
Designer Christine Lin of Form + Field worked with the building’s existing architecture and incorporated new materials and furnishings to make the interiors live long and prosper.
When friends showed designer Christine Lin a Star Trek–inspired residence on the Zillow Gone Wild listings website to get her honest opinion, she didn’t think twice. “They asked me if the house was too crazy to take on, but I thought it had so much potential,” says Lin, founder and principal of AD PRO Directory design firm Form + Field. “You don’t normally find properties like this in San Francisco.”
Though it may not look like it, the 5,000-square-foot, five-bedroom home in the city’s SoMa neighborhood is more than a century old. The previous owner gut-renovated the three-level structure more than two decades ago, transforming it into their version of the Starship Enterprise. And while the existing aesthetic didn’t perfectly align with their vision, the couple didn’t want to lose its concept entirely. “We tried to respect the home’s history while making it feel both modern and timeless,” explains Lin. “The goal was to weave the space theme throughout in a more subtle way.”
Working with the existing interior architecture—which includes a large skylight illuminating the center of the home and a mezzanine overlooking the kitchen—Lin strategically refined the materials and added a few key functional elements, including a nursery for the couple’s first baby, an office, and a storage-filled laundry and changing room. “The original design had lots of bold color, metal, and other hard finishes, so we brought in warm counterpoints like maple cabinetry and flooring,” says Lin. “We also introduced various wall treatments and wallpapers to help evoke certain moods.”
Indeed, each space makes its own unique statement, beginning with the airlock-inspired entry. The original metal door and porthole windows remain, but Lin traded the gray walls for a gradient wallpaper that recalls the stratosphere. “We invested in a standout light fixture by Mirei Monticelli from Costantini that provides an ethereal feel,” says the designer.
With no formal living or dining room, the double-height kitchen and its dining area serve as the heart of the home. Conceived as a space station atrium, the canteen-like room features the original cabinetry and island, though its formerly bright yellow accents are now a cool silver, and the holographic flooring has been switched out for biodegradable linoleum. To maximize storage, Lin added a wall of maple and stainless steel cabinetry complete with a coffee bar. Bringing the room full circle is a woven painting by Margo Wolowiec that “acts as a window looking back to Earth.”
Upstairs, the monochromatic sandy-hued primary suite is meant to recall the subterranean villages in Dune. “We leaned into this feeling of hidden underground caverns through the use of the limewash and stone in the adjoining bath,” notes Lin. The bath is divided into two sections, both featuring travertine: a vanity and toilet room on one side and a tub and shower area on the other. The walls are treated with the same limewash and a coordinating waterproof plaster, tadelakt, in the shower area.
Meanwhile, another bedroom is equally as cozy, yet it offers a completely different experience. Lin employed an Art Nouveau language to translate the couple’s desire for a “new Earth” concept into a sumptuous guest suite with rich textures, warm tones, and a nod to nature in the form of a botanical wallpaper from Little Greene.
Throughout, custom furnishings mingle with new and vintage pieces, along with a few items that the couple had selected. Together, they arrived at a home that feels utterly tailored to this young family. “This project,” says Lin, “was about honoring the house while pushing the clients’ vision as far as we could take it.”
Originally built more than a century ago, this three-level residence in San Francisco’s SoMa neighborhood was gut-renovated by a previous owner a couple of decades ago. The new owners, a young couple, recently reimagined the existing sci-fi theme with the help of Christine Lin of design firm Form + Field.
A gradient wallpaper from the Detroit Wallpaper Co. envelops the entry, which is illuminated by a Mirei Monticelli light fixture from Costantini.
A large skylight illuminates the double-height kitchen and dining area, where Vipp swivel chairs surround a vintage Eames dining table. Artwork includes a woven piece by Margo Wolowiec and a Victoria Wagner sculpture on the mezzanine above.
The dining room is lit from the overhead skylights by twilight and candlelight by night.
The primary bedroom, inspired by Dune, features a custom bed upholstered in a Larsen fabric and a sofa by de Sede. The walls are treated with a sandy shade of limewash.
The primary bath is divided into two sections. On the left is the vanity and toilet room; on the right is a soaking tub and shower area. Both are concealed by flower-studded privacy curtains covering the existing glass-block walls. A Cozo pendant light hangs above a sculpture by Masako Miki.
New travertine surfaces extend to the other end of the primary bath, where tadelakt waterproof plaster matches the rest of the suite’s limewash walls. A vintage Comme des Garçons Rei Kawakubo chair sits in the shower area.
Lin updated the primary bath with travertine surfaces and limewash walls. The sconces are from RBW, and the artwork is by Brett Flanigan.
A botanical wallpaper from Little Greene lends a calming presence to a guest room. The ceiling fixture is from Ay Illuminate, and the bed is from Ellison Studios.
The guest room of a San Francisco home designed by Christine Lin of design firm Form + Field, features botanical designs around the walls. The project's construction is by Perez Construction.
Flanking the guest room’s vanity area are custom-milled cabinets featuring a CNC-cutting pattern that mirrors the botanical wallpaper.
