Several years ago, during the height of San Francisco’s intensely competitive housing market, interior designer Jeffry Weisman’s clients were looking for a property—any property, in fact, given the lack of inventory. “Everyone was scrambling like mad to get something,” recalls Jeffry, one half of the duo behind design firm Fisher Weisman. “They ended up buying this house which they described as checking all the boxes in terms of space and location, but it wasn’t their dream home.”
A fairly modest compromise at just over 5,500-square-feet of living space, one of the major selling points of the five-story, 1932 Edwardian-style Pacific Heights home was that it only needed a very light remodel. “They were hoping for six months, but we were planning on nine,” says Jeffry. “The idea was to make a few quick fixes—like removing a bunch of neo-Gothic details which had been applied like icing on a cake by the previous owner—and buy as many antique pieces as we could to make it the quickest project possible.” But the homeowner’s vision for a comfortable house in the short term became a massive three-year endeavor, a hurdle owed to undetected mold.
“She’d been poisoned by mold before, so they had the house tested extensively before buying it and it received a clean bill of health,” says Jeffry. “However, when they started opening the walls, she kept getting sick—and once you’ve had mold issues, your body is extremely sensitive to it.” Retesting for mold with opened walls revealed just how extensive the problem was. “They probably ended up spending about three-quarters as much to remove the mold as they paid for the house itself.”
The upside to the story is that the clients were forced to do something much more extensive by turning the mold-riddled property into their actual dream home. “From the initial scope of work a lot changed,” says Jeffry. “The staircase had a particularly unfortunate balustrade and railing that we replaced, the entry hall floor was a strange tumbled limestone that we swapped out for a more classical dark gray-and-white marble, and touch-ups to the kitchen and all four-and-a-half bathrooms became complete redesigns.” He even completely rebuilt the fifth floor—an obvious add-on from the 1950s that “felt like a shack on the roof” —which required moving an obtrusive chimney. “It was centered in the middle of the rooftop terrace and we relocated it, allowing for more entertaining space and an outdoor kitchen, and all they had to give up was a wood-burning fireplace in the primary bedroom [and replace it with gas].”
Alongside the “very passionate and enthusiastic” clients, Jeffry effectively transformed the interim home into an uncompromising showplace. “What originally looked like a good investment needing some quick fixes and attractive furniture became a home they truly love—and that’s a very happy ending.”
This story is from Issue 1 of The Quarterly. Click here to see the full issue.
