A Historic Home Gets A Timeless Redux In California
In each corner of the dining room, Buergler designed built-in cabinets, which hold the owners’ collected tableware. The cabinets flank the room’s arched doorway, which looks past the entry hall to the archway of the living room. The Hepplewhite dining chairs are from the owners’ collection.
Stepping onto the property was like going back in time,” says the wife about an Atherton, California, abode she purchased with her husband. The home certainly had a rich history: It was built in 1904 and transported in 1925 to the center of a 19-acre orchard.
So when the new homeowners discovered this gem, they wanted to enhance its historic feel while bringing it to present day. To complete this task, they called on designer Dara Rosenfeld, architect David Buergler and builder Paul Conrado.
“It’s a very traditional house,” says Rosenfeld. “It was important to make it feel timeless and yet more current, so it will carry through to its next years.”
To complete the structural work, custom milled siding, cornices and window architraves were built around the windows and doors. Additionally, extensive millwork and architectural detailing were incorporated throughout the house to add depth of character.
Streamlined and elegant, Rosenfeld’s vision incorporated new custom pieces of her own design as well as some by designers such as Rose Tarlow Melrose House. Contemporary pieces accented and complemented the owners’ collection of significant late 18th- and early 19th-century Asian and European antiques.
Timeless, yet current, the home has been purposefully positioned to stand another hundred years.