In 1925, a traditional 1904 home was lifted up and placed on a barge to be transported across the bay from San Francisco to Atherton, where it was dropped into the center of a 19-acre orchard. More than 90 years later, a couple came across the house and they were at once smitten with its potential. “Stepping onto the property was like going back in time,”
the wife says. “It had a park-like setting and a great sense of history.” Intent on enhancing the home’s historic feel while making it work for the present day, the new owners carefully assembled a project team that included designer Dara Rosenfeld, architect David Buergler and builder Paul Conrado. “It’s a very traditional house,” Rosenfeld says. “It was important to make it feel timeless and yet more current, so it will carry through to its next years.” Though the home itself had historic charm, it had very little architectural detailing and thin siding, and it needed a lot of structural work. Buergler, who has extensive experience dealing with period homes, set about putting plans on paper to remedy the structure’s shortcomings. “The house is American neoclassical, which includes Georgian and Federal styles,” Buergler says. “We kept the basic box form and a similar front entrance and then added wings that are proportionate in size on either side.” Custom-milled siding, cornices and architraves around the doors and windows complete the new look.
Inside, Buergler reoriented the existing rooms to go along with the new additions. A front entry leads to a living room on one side and dining room on the other, while a large kitchen—anchored by one of the architect’s famously large islands—was designed as part of an open dining-family area. “It’s in a relaxed style influenced by the Sir John Soane’s Museum in London,” says Buergler, who also added a new master wing on the first floor. In addition to reworking the spaces, the architect designed and added extensive millwork throughout the house, including wall paneling, dentil moldings and archways.
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