Houzz Tours
A Chef’s Kitchen at Home in San Francisco
Master chef and restaurant owner Joanne Weir is always fine-tuning her colorful, treasure-filled kitchen. Take a tour
They say the kitchen is the heart of the home, and that holds doubly true for the kitchen in the home of San Francisco chef, cookbook author and TV personality Joanne Weir. Though the space might be considered small by some, it’s packed with special features and storage. As a bonus, the style that defines her kitchen also runs through the rest of her home.
“We have a classic San Francisco home with a somewhat small city kitchen,” Weir says. “So positioning items in the kitchen has been carefully thought out and is being continually refined.”
Decorative painting on island: Paige Weber
Decorative painting on island: Paige Weber
Weir is pictured here with her latest cookbook, Kitchen Gypsy. The kitchen is also the set for Joanne Weir Gets Fresh, her current national PBS television show.
The island in the center of the kitchen, home to her pots and pans, is where Weir does most of her cooking. “It’s a large work surface, close to the ingredients, utensils, pans, refrigerator,” she says. “Also, the stove is right behind me.”
A knife slot added to the island offers convenient storage.
“They are even kept in order so I know which knife to grab,” Weir says. “It starts at one end with the small paring knives, to chef knives, then toward the back, the serrated ones which I use the least.”
“They are even kept in order so I know which knife to grab,” Weir says. “It starts at one end with the small paring knives, to chef knives, then toward the back, the serrated ones which I use the least.”
A few of Weir’s cookbooks are tucked beneath a set of cupboards. Weir has written 19 books, starting with her first in 1994. She wrote 10 on her own and nine for Williams Sonoma.
A small pantry houses the small appliances. “I like to have those things tucked away; I don’t like them out on the counter,” Weir says. “I have a city kitchen, it’s not big, so I have to be conscious of space.”
The pantry holds the coffee maker, toaster, blender, KitchenAid, Cuisinart and even an electric ice cream machine. It also fits in a Sub-Zero wine fridge with a 60-bottle capacity.
The pantry holds the coffee maker, toaster, blender, KitchenAid, Cuisinart and even an electric ice cream machine. It also fits in a Sub-Zero wine fridge with a 60-bottle capacity.
The canisters filling the shelves hold pasta, quinoa, polenta and tea. Weir chose containers in various sizes that would stack easily.
Canisters: The Container Store
Canisters: The Container Store
The counters are free of clutter and ready to be used, thanks to the abundance of cupboards and the pantry storage.
The rest of the home, built in 1890, also showcases Weir’s style and interests, starting in the living room. “I wanted the room to feel indoor-outdoor, so I added double doors to the back deck and installed tall windows,“ she says. “I like a lot of light.”
Chairs and sofa: Laura Hunt Design
Chairs and sofa: Laura Hunt Design
The fireplace was originally stucco, and the opening was on the floor. Weir knew that a higher firebox would be more useful, so tumbled antique bricks were used to build a new opening. The lower opening now provides wood storage.
“I have been collecting American art pottery from the early 1900s for years,” says Weir about the collection on the mantel.
Weir turned her fireplace into a working spit with the help of blacksmith Jefferson Mack. “I copied the spit idea from my years of cooking at Chez Panisse,” she says. “The fireplace can be used to roast meats and vegetables.”
A 1 rpm motor (built into the wall) and a bicycle chain rotate the spit.
The opening to the patio was moved from the kitchen to the living room and turned into double glass doors to let in more light.
The colorful hand-painted majolica pottery in the dining room, collected during Weir’s travels around the Mediterranean, is as useful as it is beautiful. The light over the table was made for her in Morocco during one of the culinary journeys that she conducts yearly.
“I have been collecting plates forever, while traveling in Italy, Spain and France,” she says. “My collection is so complete, I only add special plates with unique details or if the paint is intricate and unique or if I find an antique piece.”
An unusual painted cabinet in the dining room also provides storage.
“I owned a lovely cabinet which resembled this one, but it wasn’t very useful. It had drawers and didn’t hold many things, but I still loved it,” Weir says. “So I had a new piece designed and hand-painted in a similar style that would be more functional.”
Cabinet: designed by Laura Hunt Design and painted by Paige Weber
“I owned a lovely cabinet which resembled this one, but it wasn’t very useful. It had drawers and didn’t hold many things, but I still loved it,” Weir says. “So I had a new piece designed and hand-painted in a similar style that would be more functional.”
Cabinet: designed by Laura Hunt Design and painted by Paige Weber
“I wanted the cabinet to hold everything for the table,” she adds. To achieve that goal, drawers were added on one side to store silverware, napkins and linens.
On the other side, vertical slats hold trays, placemats and platters.
On a tray on top of the painted cabinet sits a spoon that reads “gypsy soul,” echoing the title of Weir’s latest book, Kitchen Gypsy.
The overhead light and sconces in the master bedroom are Fortuny designs made by Venetia Studium. Weir brought them back from one of her teaching stints in Venice, Italy.
Rug: Alexander’s Artisan Rugs; headboard: Laura Hunt Design; side tables: Chelsea Textiles
Rug: Alexander’s Artisan Rugs; headboard: Laura Hunt Design; side tables: Chelsea Textiles
The original master bedroom closet was opened to the guest room next door, which became a new walk-in closet. A set of drawers occupies the old closet space.
Table lamp: Laura Hunt Design
Table lamp: Laura Hunt Design
“We needed the closet space, so we transformed the guest room. We call it the dressing room. It’s definitely more than a closet!” she says with a laugh.
Closet design and fabrication: Bo Williams
Closet design and fabrication: Bo Williams
Weir requested a designated spot for her shoes, so she got a pullout cabinet with shoe storage on both sides.
The ceiling is over 11 feet high, making a very tall closet possible. An easy-to-lower double clothes rack utilizes the space.
A small empty room became the master bathroom.
A majolica vase decorates the custom sink console in the master bathroom.
The front bedroom serves as Weir’s home office. Cookbooks fill the shelves, along with her numerous medals, including the James Beard Award (for her cookbooks), the Taste Award (for television) and the Five Diamond Award (for her work in the hospitality industry).
Art: Minnie Pwerle; light fixture; Venetia Studium; coffee table: Grange
Art: Minnie Pwerle; light fixture; Venetia Studium; coffee table: Grange
The tiles around the fireplace and the stained-glass section of the bay window are original. The rest of the office is updated.
Green chair: Grange
Green chair: Grange
The landing in the hallway contains an open cabinet of wine. Weir purchased the bust in an antiques store in San Francisco.
Wine cabinet: Grange; art: Hunt Slonem; gold pieces: Lunares Home
Wine cabinet: Grange; art: Hunt Slonem; gold pieces: Lunares Home
The powder room is tiny, so they added a hammered corner sink with marble around it. A Venetian plaster finish softens the walls.
Weir is pictured here in the dining room, in front of her colorful collection of Mediterranean majolica dishes and platters.
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See more photos of this project
My Houzz is a series in which we visit and photograph creative, personality-filled homes and the people who inhabit them. Share your home with us and see more projects.
Browse more homes by style: Apartments | Barn Homes | Colorful Homes | Contemporary Homes | Eclectic Homes | Farmhouses | Floating Homes | Guesthouses | Homes Around the World | Lofts | Midcentury Homes | Modern Homes | Ranch Homes | Small Homes | Townhouses | Traditional Homes | Transitional Homes | Vacation Homes
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Who lives here: Joanne Weir and Joe Ehrlich
Location: San Francisco
Size: 1,875 square feet (174 square meters); two bedrooms, 2½ bathrooms
“The kitchen has been a work in progress over the last 26 years,” Weir says. “I’m constantly changing things.” Weir is a fourth-generation chef and co-owns Copita, a modern Mexican restaurant and tequileria in Sausalito, California.