Anyone standing at the base of the imposing stone-walled double staircase leading up to the front door of this grand 1906 Tudor would be forgiven for assuming that the historic home’s rooms have a similar sort of gravitas. After all, says designer Melissa Warner Rothblum of Massucco Warner Interior Design, who helped orchestrate the property’s latest update, “many people think an interior has to match the exterior.” But not her—or her longtime clients, a family of four trading San Francisco living for the small-town charms of Ross. “This house is clearly very traditional from the outside, but the rooms within don’t have to follow that lead 100%,” Warner Rothblum adds. “You can have traditional elements and give them a modern twist—it still works.”
This ethos informed every inch of the renovation, a top-to-bottom undertaking that included the reconfiguration of the kitchen and primary suite as well as the addition of a pool house. It was no small task, as time—and multiple remodels—had taken a toll. “Architecturally, when houses this age have undergone a lot of work, the styles of the eras tend to get layered,” says general contractor Jeff Kerr, who worked with superintendent Dave Elwick on the refresh.
It was a message architect Stewart K. Summers recalls underscoring for the new owners after touring the abode. “I looked at them and said, ‘You’re going to have to be flexible because this home has been here for a hundred years, and there are going to be surprises.’ ” Fortunately, many of the dwelling’s quirks yielded opportunities. Removing a ladder-accessed loft just outside the primary suite allowed for an airy double-height sitting room. And when Summers eliminated the structural posts obstructing the kitchen’s flow, he was able to reimagine the roof framing and incorporate skylights that flood that space with light.
The interiors, in turn, represent a departure from the clients’ former style. “They always loved color and pattern with a bit of a punch,” Warner Rothblum notes, “but because these surroundings are so beautiful, we went much softer to bring the outdoors in.” Shades of peach, tangerine and rust appear in the dining room’s painterly wallpaper mural, the living room’s accent chair and the family room’s inviting sofa. In the kitchen, the island’s slate-blue hue dominates. And in the primary bedroom, a palette of lilac, blush and seafoam green sets a serene tone. “I wanted this space to feel different from the rest of the house, like a retreat,” Warner Rothblum says. In the adjacent sitting area, the designer created an ode to her clients’ previous residence with vibrant teal-upholstered pieces that had formerly occupied their foyer.
All the furnishings Warner Rothblum had selected for that San Francisco abode found a home here, in fact, but when the roomy Tudor quickly swallowed up those items, the designer went shopping, gathering new pieces in materials ranging from wood and brass to shagreen, leather and lacquered linen. “I don’t necessarily seek out something specific; I just know it when I see it,” she says of her approach, which yielded everything from the living room’s glossy pen shell coffee table to the foyer’s custom ceramic chandelier that spells out “dream” in tiny Morse code perforations. “To me, the key is ensuring that all those pieces are talking to one another,” the designer continues. “Sometimes it’s the fact that they’re total opposites that makes them work.”
Designing the new pool house presented the opportunity for another stylistic shift. “There was already a strong Tudor presence on the property, and I didn’t think that mimicking it was necessary or appropriate,” Summers says. “So, we went with a more midcentury modern look.” Around it, landscape designer Brad Goya employed bluestone hardscaping—a “classic but contemporary” choice, he notes—and natural, timeless plantings, “focusing on what fits the mountain and forest surroundings rather than passing trends.” Inside, Warner Rothblum evoked a retro Southern California hotel, pairing sun- washed blush and blue tones with palm frond prints. “Being in the pool house is like taking a little vacation,” she says. “It feels different from the main house on purpose.”
In Warner Rothblum’s mind, it’s that unexpected mix of traditional and modern that ultimately gives this abode so much personality. As she says, “I think we’ve shown here that the two can live together in harmony.”
