When interior designer Amy Weaver and her husband, printing

Text by Diane Dorrans Saeks Photography by David Duncan Livingston The Joy of Family San Francisco Interior Designer Amy Weaver Has Updated And Refr...
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Text by Diane Dorrans Saeks Photography by David Duncan Livingston

The Joy of Family San Francisco Interior Designer Amy Weaver Has Updated And Refreshed The Beautifully Detailed Rooms Of Her 1907 San Rafael House

W

hen interior designer Amy Weaver and her husband, print-

ing company president Rick Weaver, began their search for a new family residence in Marin County twelve years ago, their first priorities were a spacious house, historic character, and a quiet street.



They found all of these qualities, and many more, in a tree lined

neighborhood in San Rafael. Above right: Amy Weaver in the family’s 1961

Their dream house had been built in 1907, soon after the his-

toric 1906 earthquake in San Francisco. Early residents of the shin-

Mercedes Benz 190 SL with her children, Morgan, Samantha and Cameron, and the

gled Arts & Crafts style house were professors at nearby Dominican

Maltese poodle, Sugar.

College, which had been founded in 1890. Many houses in the area Opposite: One reason the Weavers’ acquired the house was that it has direct access to the

were weekend retreats for city dwellers who would take the ferry

garden and the pool. The family room, which has oversized chairs and a four foot square

across the bay and continue to their destinations by railroad.

ottoman, is where the three Weaver teenagers gather in the evening. The chairs, which are trimmed with nail heads, are covered in yellow linen. SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER | 111

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Left: The sunny kitchen, which overlooks the garden, has mosaic tiles from Ann Sacks, a pine-plank floor, and a US Range cook top. The countertops are marble. Weaver selected the shocking pink Illy espresso machine. Right: The dining table in the breakfast room is by Ironies. Chairs are covered in Osborne & Little striped cotton. All table accessories are from Coqueliot. The painted metal chandelier was found at a Marin County flea market. Below: The breakfast room, which is adjacent to the family room, overlooks the English-style garden. Weaver set the Ironies table with linens and Christian Lacroix designed dinnerware from Christofle.

“We loved the family oriented neighborhood which is within walking distance of downtown San Rafael,” says Weaver, who is a third generation San Franciscan. “The house is surrounded by mature oak trees and has a magnolia tree in front.” The four bedroom, 4,000 square foot house, in the classic Hamptons shingle style, stands on a flat acre, with a pool and an English style garden. Parterres are planted with heirloom roses, Japanese maple trees, boxwood hedges, fragrant jasmine, and a decades old wisteria that blooms across an arbor. There were two staircases, and all four bedrooms were upstairs. A sunny room off the dining room had floor to ceiling windows that look out to a 100 year old rhododendron. “The interiors were beautifully crafted, with high wainscot in the formal rooms, and great views out to the garden,” says Amy Weaver. “The good news was that previous residents had not done any aggressive remodeling. All the original detailing was intact.”

The harsh reality was that while the house had great promise, and the century-old flavor was still apparent, the interior was very dark and many rooms were in disrepair. There was commercial grade carpet throughout the house, and the kitchen and bathrooms were very dated. In other words, says the designer, she and her husband knew they had years of remodeling ahead. “We embarked on a long program to rescue the house,” says Amy Weaver, whose firm, Weaver Design Group, is based in San Francisco. “Over time, we have touched and improved every inch of the house. We never dreamed it would be a twelve year odyssey.”

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The first order of business was to install new quarter sawn oak floors. Then Weaver painted the rough hewn Douglas fir ceiling beams in a favorite hue, Ancestral White by Pratt and Lambert. “The beams looked oppressive and dark, and the wainscot, in the Arts & Crafts style, was also dark-stained. We added wainscoting on the walls of the stairways and in the upstairs hallway and

added a powder room off the family room. I created a pass through from the kitchen to the family room area, remodeled all bathrooms, updated and painted all surfaces in kitchen,” she says. Suddenly, one day Weaver decided to paint out the dark wood in the entire house with the Ancestral White. “I would not usually paint beautiful wood, but the original timbers were not of good quality

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Below: For her dining room, designer Weaver selected a Regency style mahogany table, surrounded with chairs she designed. The chair seats are covered with antiqued green leather. A pair of antique lamps from Therien & Co stands on a 19th century sideboard. Accessories were found in London, and at Zaragoza, a design store in Marin County. The wall is painted in a pale taupe, with the wainscot highlighted in Ancestral White.

Above: Designer Amy Weaver updated the living room with chairs and a sofa covered in white linen. She designed the Art Deco style coffee table. Brilliant orange pillows by Etro were purchased at Sue Fisher King, San Francisco. The silk curtains are by Martin Kobus, Inc. All art in the house is from Ellins-Eaglesmith Art Gallery, San Francisco. Right: In a corner of the living room, Weaver arranged a cosmopolitan mix with an 18th century Italian chest from C. Mariani Antiques, San Francisco, and a pair of Moroccan lamps found at a London flea market. The antique barometer was acquired at Antique and Art Exchange, San Francisco.

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so I had no qualms,” she says. She then took out the old carpet and installed new Stark carpet of New Zealand wool throughout the upstairs. “We added a surround-sound plasma television for the children, and selected overscale furniture in very teenager proof marigold colored Lee Jofa linen for the family room.” As a designer, Amy Weaver works for many families and is very conscientious about selecting fabrics and furniture that are child-friendly. “For the family room, I designed a four foot square tufted ottoman, covered in Osborne and Little faux leather in a bright apple green, I am totally comfortable with the children putting their feet on it,” she says. But she didn’t hold back on style or fine fabrics. For a pair of antique English bamboo chairs, she specified apple green and cream “Campanelle” fabric by Fortuny. In other rooms, she has covered the random planked floor with sisal matting. “My family has enjoyed this house,” says Weaver. “Our next projects will be to renovate the pool, and to add barn doors to the garage to give it more character. We continue to collect paintings and photography, and to change and update the décor. My children have said we can never sell this house. We’re here for life.”

Opposite: Amy Weaver designed all of the new bathrooms in the house, including the master bathroom, which has the original wainscot surrounding the new tub. Right above: Amy Weaver gave her dressing room a European flavor with a Louis XVI style chair covered in a Travers silk strike, a tufted chair, and an English-style bench from C. Mariani Antiques. Right below: For the master bedroom, Weaver selected cream Italian sheets and bed linens from Sue Fisher King, San Francisco. The headboard is covered with a Bennison fabric, and the lamp is from Sloan Miyasato.

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