Beaver Street Reprise has been designed by Craig Steely Architecture and is located in San Francisco, California. The 1,500 square foot residence is a conceptually modern house that fits contextually into a Victorian neighborhood. It contains an apartment, an office, and a split-level living room and kitchen that open onto a 500 square foot deck with sod roof of California native grasses.

The apartment is entered at street level through a custom door of acrylic strips and left-over strips of Walnut from a local cabinet shop. From the outside at night, these acrylic strips glow. From the inside during the day, light shines through illuminating the entry hall. Climbing the stairs to the first floor of the apartment brings you to a foyer, facing etched glass sliding doors that enter into the office. Two bedrooms and a bathroom, share this floor. Continuing up, a sky lit stair climbs up on the west wall and enters the living room floor.

On the living floor the focus is the connection between indoor and outdoor living. A roof extends over a large portion of the south facing deck creating a protected outdoor living room. A rotating fireplace hangs outside. When the glass wall is slid open, the fireplace can be turned to face the interior and the distinction between inside and out can be broken down further. Zoned radiant heat in the floors warms the house and a 2KW photovoltaic net metering system provides more electricity than the apartment can use. Via

Photos: Rien Van Rijthoven