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Houzz Tour: When an Architect Designs for Himself
Feast your eyes on the rustic elegance of John Lum's San Francisco loft
Between career stops at a lifestyle magazine and now at a major home furnishings retailer, and owning a 1915 bungalow whose repair situation was once described as akin to playing Wack-A-Mole, I've spent a lot of time considering home design ideas. Sometimes I'm surprised by the things that capture my attention.
Between career stops at a lifestyle magazine and now at a major home furnishings... More »
When San Francisco architect John Lum decided to remodel the living space over his office, he made a discovery: it was difficult to be both architect and client. "Usually we try to listen to what [clients] want," Lum says. "Most people want more lush homes." But he wanted to focus on the basics of the 1917 building. "I tend to follow symmetry – I like things very rationalized," he says. The warehouse's 32-inch rafters gave Lum a module that allowed him to design the 1,300-square-foot space with gridlike precision. "I wanted to keep the rustic quality, the found sensibility of the space," he says. "I was on an extremely tight budget. Instead of highly refined finishes, it would be in my best interest to do things simply."
| Lum says that although he is Chinese, he had never really gravitated toward Asian interiors. So it was somewhat surprising that many of the choices for his own home seemed derived from an Asian aesthetic. The curved sculpture by the window is by artist Ted Uran, and is made of steam-bent wood. The chair in the foreground with its back to the viewer is a reproduction of a Jean Prouvé. |
| The dining room table is a custom piece, with a translucent red glass top. He bought the light blue vintage chairs at a local shop. The stools opposite the sofa are solid oak, which used to be very pristine until Lum left them outside. "They got all cracked and weathered, so I brought them inside," he says. |
| Lum's partner, photographer Michael Light, took the photo over the couch, an aerial image of the desert. |
| "Since the kitchen was going to be part of the living room, I wanted it not to look like a kitchen," Lum says. The base of the island is perforated galvanized metal; if you look closely, you can detect its translucence. The island is topped with white marble, and the countertop across from it is a 600-pound slab of steel. The back wall is the same stucco as in the bathroom, with a steel trowel finish to give it a smooth, burnished surface. |
Lum's collection of art and sculpture is eclectic, and his answers to questions about it are enthusiastic and detailed. This print, titled Long Vertical Falls, is by abstract artist Pat Steir.
"I don't like things that are highly decorative," Lum says. "I like things that are highly mechanical." He displays his collection of old clocks (most of which don't function) atop a Ming Dynasty cabinet from the 1500s. "In Chinese culture, looking at nonworking clocks is considered very bad luck; I don't believe in that," he notes. The artwork above is a collage by Dennis McNulty.
The bathroom is actually at the core of the space, which is laid out with the living area at the front and the bedrooms at the back. The walls are made with the same stucco as the exterior of the building, applied with a steel trowel for exceptional smoothness and finished to resist water. The bathtub is salvaged, and the entire ceiling is a skylight. Note the open shower, which helps the room retain an expansive feeling.
Lum chose inexpensive sink and shower fixtures, which he says he does occasionally regret because they don't operate flawlessly. The sink top is made of steel.
The doors between the front and rear of the apartment open to everything from the refrigerator and a pantry to the washer and dryer. The doors themselves are ash veneers stained a dark brown that has a green cast to it.
Lum says he is primarily interested in texture and form in his designs and his own home, which is probably why much of it feels faintly like a sculpture gallery. "It took me five years to get a couch," he confesses. See some projects he has designed for others
More remodeling projects:
A Design in Harmony with the Land
A Modern Renovation in Seattle
Warm San Francisco Remodel
More remodeling projects:
A Design in Harmony with the Land
A Modern Renovation in Seattle
Warm San Francisco Remodel
Ideabook updated on Nov. 9, 2012.
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The feel of this space is so deliberately and painstakingly serious that a room to rest from it all would be cool.