Cottage at Michaelangelo Park

This addition and alteration to a small two-storey cottage posed particular problems that even in San Francisco are an anomaly. The original cottage, set in the center of a city block that drops some three hundred feet from west to east, is itself some forty feet below its south-facing street-level entrance. The entrance sequence is unusual: starting at the west side of the garage, it continues down a flight of steps to an intermediate balcony level providing access to a studio/guest bedroom overlooking the new cottage to the north beyond. The entrance stair then re-centers on axis with the entrance to the cottage.  Between the garage/studio building at the south end of the lot and the cottage is an extensive garden. The main level of the cottage is at this garden level and includes an entrance terrace and pergola, an octagonal top-lit entrance hall and beyond, a loft-like kitchen-dining room and living room. Over-scaled windows in the principal room frame views to the east of the Bay and Coit tower while to the north a view window opens up to a city park below. A staircase off the octagonal hall leads to the master bedroom and media room below. The cottage's overall composition comprises a simple shingled box; a glazed lantern to capture south light; and the south-facing pergola to offer shade and weather protection for the entrance, as well as a place for the client, a fervent gardener, to enjoy the fruits of her labor.

RAMSA Partners Robert A.M. Stern and Grant Marani led the design.