A focus on character and sustainability

PRESERVING SAN FRANCISCO'S UNIQUE HISTORY

San Francisco’s historic homes are made up of more than just the façades. We want to contribute to keeping this city’s iconic identity intact, which means that we need to protect, repair, and preserve more than just the outside walls. We want future generations to be able to experience that magic feeling we get when we walk into an old home that’s seen generations of San Franciscans — a solid feeling, and a sense that we’re all a part of a larger story. We want them to be fortunate enough to live in a storied home, in a storied city.

We try to honor the past and San Francisco's unique history while helping create comfortably modern homes out of buildings from the 1800s to the 1940s.

REDUCING WASTE, REDUCING COST

That’s not to say we’re completely rooted in the past. We care an incredible amount about the environment, and also enjoy living a lifestyle that features modern technology.

And… the greenest thing we can all do when renovating a home is to work with what’s already there. San Francisco’s historic homes have been through generations already and have held up all that time. This is telling of the materials in use. The craftsmanship and quality of these homes are already top notch. From the plaster walls to the hardwood floors and windows, they were built to last (and have!).

We believe that “gut renovations” should not be the only way to modernize and that thoughtful approaches for handling these superior materials should be one of the first considerations when updating a historic home. Removing them not only erases history, but it's just not sustainable to throw out incredible built-ins, larger than life trim pieces, noise reducing and temperature regulating plaster, and historic wood floors that could be refinished all in favor of “new”, especially when the new has often been proven inferior.

...you want some proof that older materials can be superior, you say?

Plaster: Plaster is superior to sheetrock in many ways, and is only being used today in high-end, custom homes. It’s mold resistant, helps regulate temperature, helps reduce noise, has some waterproof tenancies, and some cracks are easily mended. Not to mention that it’s just beautiful and can be shaped into spectacular coved ceilings.

"Preservation Briefs: 21, Repairing Historic Flat Plaster - Walls and Ceilings." NPS, US Dept. of the Interior

Windows: Old windows were built to be repaired, and they aren’t as energy inefficient as window salespeople would have you believe. Simple maintenance can handle so much of the noise and energy efficiency you’d get with replacement windows, and there are additional solutions out there to make them even more efficient. Beyond the functional, windows are character defining features. Poor replacement windows detract from a historic home’s façade.

"Preservation Briefs: 9, The Repair of Historic Wooden Windows." NPS, US Dept. of the Interior

"Preservation Briefs: 3, Improving Energy Efficiency in Historic Buildings." NPS, US Dept. of the Interior

Wood: Nearly all old growth forests are either extinct or protected by law. Original exteriors, floors, and trim in SF are made with wood that is impossible to get today without salvaging. Old growth wood is stronger, more stable, more resistant to rot and insects, and can be refinished over and over again while new engineered wood floors can typically be refinished just a couple of times. Both the material and the craftsmanship of the wood pieces in historic homes are extremely expensive to replicate today. And finally, when it is trashed, old growth wood takes forever to break down in a landfill... the greenest thing we can all do is to save and reuse.

"Executive order: Strengthening the Nation’s Forests, Communities, and Local Economies", United States, Executive Office of the President

"Maintaining the Original Exterior Wood Features on Your Historic Building", Wisconsin Historical Society

...so we think using what's already survived a century makes sense. But we still need greener and more modern ways to approach heating, plumbing, and electricity. We’re enthusiastic supporters of retrofitting historic homes with heat pumps, air handlers, and modern plumbing and wiring, without destroying what makes them spectacular and without trashing all the great materials already inside.

We minimize cost and waste by working with constraints and saving what's good, and by hiring and sourcing as locally as possible.

KEEPING THINGS DOWN TO EARTH

We're not trying to be featured in Architectural Digest, nor leave our creative mark on the world. We're not interested in only high-end, luxury homes and large projects. We love San Francisco, its history, its historic homes, and this blue marble we all live on. We care about delight and quality, making home ownership more approachable, and fairness and transparency in cost. Keeping up a historic home can be challenging, but we're here to help.

— Much love, Team Leola