When your neighbors include San Francisco’s famous Painted Ladies, known by millennials as the Full House houses, the siren call of bold color is impossible to ignore. In steering the refresh of a 1900 Victorian down the road, Kelly Finley, principal of Joy Street Design, heard it loud and clear. “Our motto is no white kitchens,” says the designer, who splits her time between Oakland, California, and Atlanta. “Color is joy! Color is life!”

Originally, Finley’s team was only supposed to work on the home’s new addition. But an unusually strong storm blew the tarp off the structure mid-renovation, ruining many of the elements the young family of four had hoped to keep. It was undeniably a setback, but one that allowed Finley to go all-in on creating a unified home with an exciting palette. The drab all-white exterior was a must-go, replaced by two Benjamin Moore tones: cheery Imperial Yellow and welcoming Bedford Blue, the latter of which was extended from the front door down the front stairs. (As the home is set back between two larger buildings, this visually anchors it to the sidewalk.) Inside, touches of red—a lucky color in the husband’s Chinese culture—are interspersed with soft greens, blues, and mustard yellows. Often Finley would deploy all four colors at once: “Working within the footprint of a Victorian meant that the kitchen was small, and it was a challenge to achieve everything the clients wanted within the space,” she says. “I commissioned a custom mosaic from Fireclay to make the walls really pop.” Blue bookshelves in the parlor are backed with a warm ombré AiNO paper that mimics a desert sunset. “We decided to create more storage—you can never have enough—and then I found this perfect little red electric piano,” says Finley. The daughters are taking lessons this summer, but in the meantime, she says, “it makes for a great conversation piece.”

Wallpaper holds court from the dining room to the girls’ bedroom, where a confetti print adds childlike exuberance. By investing in materials and built-ins, rather than furniture that might get banged-up by the kids, Finley created a home that will grow with them—all without succumbing to a forgettable all-white palette. “I love designing for families; children especially need to be around color,” Finley says. “No child ever says white is their favorite color.”

Exterior

Thomas Kuoh

San Francisco’s North of the Panhandle (NoPa) neighborhood boasts many Victorians, like this one, which predates the 1906 earthquake and fires that destroyed 80 percent of the city. Paint: Imperial Yellow and Bedford Blue, both Benjamin Moore.

Living Room

Thomas Kuoh

Built-ins throughout the home keep things neat and help curate the family’s collection of knickknacks. Sofa and chair: Blu Dot. TV: Samsung. Rug: Jaipur Living. Cabinets: custom. Paint: Agreeable Gray, Sherwin-Williams.

Thomas Kuoh

Parlor

Thomas Kuoh

An electric red Kraft Music piano and loads of built-in storage are instant ice-breakers. Ottoman: Arteriors. Chandelier: Four Hands. Rug: Jaipur Living. Cabinets: Mark Johnson Cabinets. Wallcovering: Blur Rods by AiNO.

Kitchen

Pictured above.

Finley snuck in small luxuries like a Zip Water faucet that dispenses sparkling water. Stool: Design Within Reach. Countertop: Caesarstone. Mosaic tile: Fireclay Tiles. Dishwasher and refrigerator: Fisher & Paykel.

Thomas Kuoh

Thomas Kuoh

Banquette

Thomas Kuoh

Designer Kelly Finley tucked a cozy nook under a newly renovated staircase. Chair: Nuevo Living. Dining table: Crate & Barrel. Map: Minted. Chandelier: Arteriors. Paint: Simply White, Benjamin Moore.

Dining Room

Thomas Kuoh

Framed black-and-white family photos offer a calm moment amidst bright hues. Wallpaper: Wallaby Walls. Sideboard: Crate & Barrel. Dining table: Four Hands. Dining chair: Sunpan.

Girls’ Room

Thomas Kuoh

It’s not easy to keep pace with three- and five-year-olds, but the Olivia + Poppy Flake wallpaper does just that. Chandelier: Shades of Light. Neon rainbow: Target. Bed: Oeuf. Bedding, table lamp, and nightstand: Crate & Barrel. Rug: Jaipur Living.

Thomas Kuoh

Bathroom

Thomas Kuoh

A soothing, spa-like atmosphere is conjured with sconces and soft green tiles. Unable to expand out, Finley raised the ceiling up. Vanity: custom. Countertop: Benattar Marble & Granite. Sconces: Arteriors. Tile: Fireclay Tiles. Faucet: Brizo.

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The intersection of Grand Avenue and Airport Boulevard is set for a major overhaul in an effort to increase pedestrian and bicyclist safety, in particular for those traveling between the nearby Caltrain station and the city’s adjacent downtown.

The remodel will add bike lanes, widen sidewalks, make crosswalk improvements and remove a separated turning lane, in addition to adding planting to medians and other landscaping. The intersection, which is complicated by a highway on-ramp entrance, is a major connection point for those traveling into the city’s downtown from the freeway or the developing area to the east.

“This is an exciting project that’s been a vision of the city for quite a while,” city engineer Matthew Ruble said. “[It] is one of the most busily traveled and important intersections in our city.”

Councilmembers, however, held off on granting a $3.2 million construction contract during their meeting this week amid concern the proposed bike lanes would provide insufficient protection and a question regarding wages paid by the contractor.

“We definitely need a protected bike lane in that area, because if you’re just putting green paint on the side on Airport Boulevard, that doesn’t feel safe for a bike rider,” Mayor Mark Nagales said.

The bike lanes will be unprotected, meaning there will not be plastic posts or other physical dividers separating them from vehicle lanes. Ruble explained the primary focus of the redesign was to improve safety for pedestrians and cyclists traveling along Grand Avenue to or from the Caltrain station, and a larger revamp of Airport Boulevard would come at a later date, likely with protected bike lanes.

“We’re limited by constraints of the roadway until a larger project can come in for a more holistic approach,” he said, pointing to areas where cars would need to cross over the bike lane to make right turns or merge onto the freeway.

Still, councilmembers Eddie Flores and James Coleman questioned if changes could be made to the design ahead of the larger renovations.

“Why are we calling this a bike lane … if we are just coloring it and suggesting this is where bikes should go? I see great liability for potential swerving of vehicles in and out and crisscrossing with cyclists,” Flores said. “I would like to see a different option, if there is one. This is not where we should be.”

Ruble said minor changes could be made to the design without needing to seek new estimates from contractors, something he said would put the project back several months, and increase costs by hundreds of thousands of dollars given rapidly rising construction costs and inflation.

But Public Works Director Eunejune Kim warned that there would likely be little changes able to be made given the layout of Airport Boulevard.

As it was presented, the work would not require the removal of any parking places or reduction in vehicle lanes other than the separated “slip lane” for northbound Airport Boulevard traffic turning right on Grand Avenue.

The council agreed to reexamine the item during a meeting planned for June 8, after which there will also be further information regarding an investigation into the contractor, CF Contracting, concerning wages paid during a project in Sausalito.

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The intersection of Grand Avenue and Airport Boulevard is set for a major overhaul in an effort to increase pedestrian and bicyclist safety, in particular for those traveling between the nearby Caltrain station and the city’s adjacent downtown.

The remodel will add bike lanes, widen sidewalks, make crosswalk improvements and remove a separated turning lane, in addition to adding planting to medians and other landscaping. The intersection, which is complicated by a highway on-ramp entrance, is a major connection point for those traveling into the city’s downtown from the freeway or the developing area to the east.

“This is an exciting project that’s been a vision of the city for quite a while,” city engineer Matthew Ruble said. “[It] is one of the most busily traveled and important intersections in our city.”

Councilmembers, however, held off on granting a $3.2 million construction contract during their meeting this week amid concern the proposed bike lanes would provide insufficient protection and a question regarding wages paid by the contractor.

“We definitely need a protected bike lane in that area, because if you’re just putting green paint on the side on Airport Boulevard, that doesn’t feel safe for a bike rider,” Mayor Mark Nagales said.

The bike lanes will be unprotected, meaning there will not be plastic posts or other physical dividers separating them from vehicle lanes. Ruble explained the primary focus of the redesign was to improve safety for pedestrians and cyclists traveling along Grand Avenue to or from the Caltrain station, and a larger revamp of Airport Boulevard would come at a later date, likely with protected bike lanes.

“We’re limited by constraints of the roadway until a larger project can come in for a more holistic approach,” he said, pointing to areas where cars would need to cross over the bike lane to make right turns or merge onto the freeway.

Still, councilmembers Eddie Flores and James Coleman questioned if changes could be made to the design ahead of the larger renovations.

“Why are we calling this a bike lane … if we are just coloring it and suggesting this is where bikes should go? I see great liability for potential swerving of vehicles in and out and crisscrossing with cyclists,” Flores said. “I would like to see a different option, if there is one. This is not where we should be.”

Ruble said minor changes could be made to the design without needing to seek new estimates from contractors, something he said would put the project back several months, and increase costs by hundreds of thousands of dollars given rapidly rising construction costs and inflation.

But Public Works Director Eunejune Kim warned that there would likely be little changes able to be made given the layout of Airport Boulevard.

As it was presented, the work would not require the removal of any parking places or reduction in vehicle lanes other than the separated “slip lane” for northbound Airport Boulevard traffic turning right on Grand Avenue.

The council agreed to reexamine the item during a meeting planned for June 8, after which there will also be further information regarding an investigation into the contractor, CF Contracting, concerning wages paid during a project in Sausalito.

The post Key South San Francisco intersection set for $3.8 million rework | Native Information appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

Serina Calhoun has worked as an architect in San Francisco for 21 years and has faced plenty of headache-inducing projects, but the renovation of a Bernal Heights fixer-upper that she took on in 2020 stands out as truly atrocious.

Many of the city’s worst story lines converged at the seemingly cursed house, leaving Calhoun and the home’s owners slack-jawed by all the plot twists.

It involves insanely high real estate prices. Byzantine planning codes that even the city’s planners find confusing. Neighbors who demand a say in any change near them. Squatters, drugs and vandalism. Police officers who blame the district attorney as they let criminals go. A pricey private security guard. And heaps of frustration.

Sounds like San Francisco, alright.

“This is a whole other level of crazy,” Calhoun said.

It all began in October 2020 when Jennifer Sun and her husband, Ben, purchased a house in Bernal Heights for $1.75 million. In most parts of the country, that would buy a stunning mansion. In San Francisco, it buys a rather dated fixer-upper.

The couple are wealthy, and nobody but them will shed any tears over their home remodel gone awry. Still, what happened next points to what’s broken in San Francisco — and so much is broken.

A sticker, writing on the refrigerator and a sign are some of the damage left over from squatters who trespassed and lived in the home of a Bernal Heights couple.

Lea Suzuki/The Chronicle

The couple hired Calhoun to design a remodel, submitted their plans in March 2021 and hoped to secure permits within six months. They kept paying rent on their South of Market apartment so they could live there during the remodel, while also paying their new mortgage.

But six months turned into 12 months — and still, no permits.

The first hiccup was that the Planning Department said the home had been illegally converted into three units by a previous owner, and the couple wanted to restore it to its original single-family home set-up.

After some back and forth, the Planning Department said the plan was allowable because there was no record of any tenants ever living there.

Dan Sider, chief of staff for the Planning Department, said planners were ready to approve the plans including major interior work in July 2021, but then the couple submitted a proposal with a new wrinkle: extending the back of their home by just under 3 feet . That would make the back of the house even since the third story juts out beyond the lower two.

But this being San Francisco, and especially Bernal Heights, that seemingly small change is a very big deal. That’s because of a “special use district” approved by the Board of Supervisors in 1991 that governs every little change to homes in the neighborhood. The idea was to preserve the area’s character, but the details will make your eyes glaze over and, according to Calhoun, have prompted many architects in the city to refuse to work there.

In sections and subsections to subsections, it governs changes to homes in minute detail — down to the allowable width of curb cuts and garage doors.

“I can assure you that it is not a page-turner,” Sider said good-naturedly.

Jennifer Sun stands below two holes in the ceiling of her home, part of the damage from squatters. She and her husband have had to hire private security while they wait for permits to remodel their new home.

Lea Suzuki / The Chronicle

A group of neighbors called the Bernal Heights East Slope Design Review Board — with no apparent website or easy way to find them — gets to weigh in on projects in the area. An email sent to an address associated with the group was not returned.

The rules include the length of a home can extend into the backyard from the front of its property line. But because the couple’s house sits on a curved lot, Calhoun’s been trying to get an answer on where on the front lot to start measuring from. She said she waited until November just to get a planner assigned and has spoken to four different planners about the 3-foot extension, and that none knows the answer.

“They shared that the code is confusing even for them,” she said.

Then, the planner told Calhoun the home was historic and the facade — though nondescript — could not be altered. Sorting that out would have extended the project by another six to nine months, Calhoun said, so the couple dropped proposed changes to the front.

Then things got really weird.

In February, Calhoun received an email from a member of the Bernal Heights East Slope Design Review Board who reported a neighbor across the street from the couple’s home had grown “increasingly agitated” by the couple’s lifestyle and the cars coming and going from the home at every hour.

Sun said she was shocked. They weren’t living there. What cars? What lifestyle?

So they visited the property, which had weird spray paint across the garage door and signs of people inside. They called police, who accompanied them inside the house where they found squatters had taken it over.

Photos the couple took show piles of furniture, clothes and a fridge full of food. Graffiti covers the refrigerator and walls. One message can’t be relayed in full because of antigay language, but it reads in part, “No soliciting. No shopping. No snitches.” They bashed holes in the walls and ceilings, wrecked a sink and other fixtures, left dog poop on the carpets and discarded needles and syringe caps around the house. Flies were everywhere. The house still smells bad.

According to the couple, police officers gave the squatters — all of whom appeared high — 10 minutes to collect their belongings and leave. They arrested only one. No one else faced any consequences. The couple said police explained there was nothing they could do because District Attorney Chesa Boudin “has different priorities right now” and wouldn’t prosecute.

Salar Naderi, a spokesperson with the Police Department, confirmed police found seven people occupying the house and arrested Richard Ostergard, 47, who had warrants for stealing a vehicle, possession of stolen property and theft. Naderi said the homeowners “did not want to have any of the (other) subjects cited or arrested,” disputing the couple’s version.

In any case, Sun, 36, said that just a few hours later, neighbors texted and called to tell her the squatters were back. And it doesn’t sound like they’re merely people down on their luck. Photos show nice belongings, and neighbors reported them driving a Mercedes, BMW and Dodge Durango.

Neighbors continued to report to the couple that people were entering the home over the next couple of days, and that someone tried to access the property with a crowbar.

The couple quickly hired a private security guard whom they’re paying $8,000 a month to watch over the house every night.

“If we had known the city would take so long, we would have moved in and this wouldn’t be an issue,” Sun said.

Even though they’re doing well professionally, the couple said the costs have created “an immense financial impact” — and work hasn’t even started yet. Mortgage payments and property taxes on the house have topped $180,000 so far. They paid $3,000 to haul away the squatters’ belongings and don’t know yet how much it will cost to repair their damage.

Meanwhile, construction costs keep growing because of inflation and supply chain shortages, and there’s no telling how much the remodel will end up costing or when they can finally start.

“How does anyone afford this?” Sun asked.

Sun said she’s no longer excited about moving in after the remodel — which she thinks won’t be done for another year at best.

“It totally creeps me out,” she said. “Just unlocking the door, I get goose bumps. It’s uncomfortable being in here. It’s so unnerving. This is supposed to be home.”

This being San Francisco, there is one bit of good news for the couple. Redfin says their dream home turned nightmare is now worth more than $2 million.

San Francisco Chronicle columnist Heather Knight appears Sundays and Wednesdays. Email: hknight@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @hknightsf

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The owners of the popular Delfina restaurant in San Francisco have temporarily suspended seating while they begin work on a huge project that will merge their business with their other restaurant, Pizzeria Delfina next door.

On Monday, owners Craig and Annie Stoll announced this on Instagram, where they said the Delfina restaurant is temporarily suspending field service in its parklet and will only operate for take-out and delivery until March 2022.

“While the parklet is hibernating, there will be no rest for us because we are facing a major renovation!” Read the article in part. “Here is the plan; We’re combining @pizzeriadelfina and @delfinarestaurant in one room, adding a bar and updating our look. “

Craig and Annie had taken a close look at Delfina Restaurant during the pandemic and realized that after 23 years in business, it was time for a renovation.

“Those are dog years when it comes to restaurants,” said Craig. “We opened in 1998 in this tiny little room that now consists almost entirely of a kitchen, and we got the room next door a year and a half later. It was really nice then, but restaurants are tough.”

Once the renovation is complete, the shop will reopen as Delfina Restaurant and have a “developed” menu but retain many of its classic dishes. There will also be pizza on the menu and a takeaway and delivery menu, largely in line with what Pizzeria Delfina has to offer. SFist reported that the liquor license from the former Stolls restaurant Locanda, which closed amid the pandemic, has been transferred to Delfina Restaurant, meaning cocktails will also be available after it reopens.

Craig and Annie Stoll opened Delfina Restaurant on 18th Street in the Mission District of San Francisco in 1998. The couple plan to merge Delfina and the Pizzeria Delfina next door into one.

Steven W. on Yelp

A big reason for the merger, said Craig, has to do with the challenges of running two restaurants side by side. He added that there are too many managers on the team and it makes more sense to run the business with “fewer people”.

“We just have to streamline,” he said.

In March 2020, Annie Stoll told SFGATE that she and her husband made the difficult decision to temporarily close the Delfina Restaurant and Locanda when indoor dining screeched to a halt as an emergency response to the coronavirus pandemic. During this time, the couple kept their pizzeria Delfina going only for take-away.

At the time, the Stolls said they had about 300 employees at the Delfina Restaurant, Locanda, and Pizzeria Delfina locations across the Bay Area, but that they had to lay off about 90% of their employees. Eventually the Delfina restaurant reopened but Locanda was not so lucky and closed after almost 10 years.

Fast forward to the present, Craig is excited about the makeover and believes the update will help provide a better customer experience.

“Delfina was always meant to be a neighborhood restaurant, and the pizzeria did that, but it was tiny,” he said. “[The remodeled Delfina] becomes more manageable and accessible for our guests. “

Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to include comments from the owner.

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