Search

A House with Two Faces

While this house in San Francisco looks completely modern on this side, on the other, it’s a restored Victorian facade that blends into the neighborhood’s more formal frontage. The Janus House sits on a through-block lot, meaning both the front and the back are street facing, and Kennerly Architecture & Planning took on the task of maintaining the front portion’s historic exterior while extending the back towards the alley.

Janus-House-Kennerly-Architecture-2

The front!

Janus-House-Kennerly-Architecture-3

Despite the dichotomy of styles, they managed to blend the interior perfectly so that you’d never know you were in a home with two faces.

Janus-House-Kennerly-Architecture-4

The home opens up in the rear with walls of glass to flood the space with light.

Janus-House-Kennerly-Architecture-5

Janus-House-Kennerly-Architecture-6

The modern exterior is clad in a screen of white recyclable plastic giving it a neat ridged texture.

Janus-House-Kennerly-Architecture-7

Janus-House-Kennerly-Architecture-8

Janus-House-Kennerly-Architecture-9

The ground floor has a partial double-height ceiling over the stairwell that opens up to the living room above.

Janus-House-Kennerly-Architecture-10

Janus-House-Kennerly-Architecture-11

Janus-House-Kennerly-Architecture-12

What would be the attic space is now a gabled loft space for the children.

Janus-House-Kennerly-Architecture-13

The master bedroom has the same roofline which is highlighted by the orange painted wall behind the bed.

Janus-House-Kennerly-Architecture-14

Janus-House-Kennerly-Architecture-15

Interior Designer: Meg Hart Interior Design
Structural Engineer: Strandberg Engineering
Photographer: Bruce Damonte

Caroline Williamson is Editor-in-Chief of Design Milk. She has a BFA in photography from SCAD and can usually be found searching for vintage wares, doing New York Times crossword puzzles in pen, or reworking playlists on Spotify.