See A Mountain-Like Retreat Near The Heart Of Silicon Valley
Just a few miles from the heart of Silicon Valley, a designer creates a mountain-like retreat for a tech industry client.
This house is away from the noise of the Bay Area,” describes interior designer Kristen Peña. Tucked into a redwood grove near one of San Mateo County’s many open space preserves, the residence, a 1970s ranch-style dwelling, provides the owner a true retreat in which to cook, read and relax, with myriad hiking trails at his doorstep. “He wanted a cozy home that reflects his appreciation of great furnishings and art, set against the backdrop of his true love: nature,” the designer notes.
“It almost has a Lake Tahoe feel,” Peña continues of the wood-accented residence. Though it had been well-maintained, it “needed a little love,” she adds. Without changing its footprint, Peña, along with senior designer Anya Daniels, junior designer Sofia Huibers and general contractor Mark de Bibo, updated the windows, doors and floors, and sanded and restored the ceiling beams. Then the fun part began. “We embraced plaids, rich velvets and dark leathers— materials that don’t often find their way into the California experience, but they made sense here,” Peña explains. “Woodside gets foggy, and there’s a quietness in that, so we went for a saturated, cozy feel, like you might find in the mountains.” To keep the rooms fresh, she opted for light walls and plenty of natural stone, like the kitchen’s oxblood-veined marble countertops. “We introduced shades of violet and maroon to create a striking contrast with the lush green outside,” she explains. “This client made brave commitments, and that’s part of what makes the home so striking.”
One of those notable features is the feeling of being immersed in the forest. “When you step down into the living room, it’s like walking right into the woods,” the designer explains. And while she kept the focus on the views, the interior details don’t just fade into the background. Take the travertine of the fireplace wall that also lines the back of the adjacent bookcase. “A lot of our design work is less about pattern and more about texture, so that stone really sets the tone for everything else you’ll see,” Peña says, noting the room’s tufted leather sofa and the chunky woven fabric of the side chair.
Home Details
Interior Design:
Kristen Peña, Kristen Peña Interiors
Home Builder:
Mark de Bibo, De Bibo General Contractors
Interior designer Kristen Peña brought new life to this 1970s home by bringing in a mix of contemporary and midcentury pieces. Just behind the living room’s B&B Italia sofa is a painting by Myles Bennett. The rug is by Safar Rugs.
Sheepskin-upholstered counter stools by Thomas Hayes Studio line the kitchen island. Aged-brass Apparatus pendants hanging over the Calacatta Viola marble countertop from Da Vinci Marble coordinate with the Newport Brass faucet.
A Wolf range and hood anchor one wall of the kitchen. Crafted by Shada Build & Design, the stained white oak cabinetry is accented with Ashley Norton hardware. The small dome light fixture is by Apparatus.
Circle chairs by Overgaard & Dyrman surround a table by PeñaMade. The brass-and-walnut chandelier overhead is by Allied Maker. Above the Yucca Stuff credenza is a painting by Jess.
Above the De La Espada desk and Sandra Jordan Prima Alpaca-upholstered Coup Studio chair is a piece by Bruce Conner. The sconces are Allied Maker, the plaid drapery fabric is by Sanderson and the rug is by Marc Phillips.
In a corner of the home office, Peña paired a rust-colored De La Espada armchair with a side table by Rose Tarlow Melrose House. The artwork by Jim Campbell hangs on a wall limewashed in Benjamin Moore’s Fresco Urbain.
Breccia Capraia marble from Da Vinci Marble on the primary bathroom’s wainscoting and countertops is complemented by Inax shower tile from SpecCeramics and Ann Sacks floor tile. The tub is Victoria + Albert, and the fittings are Gessi.
The primary bedroom’s headboard, which features a Rogers & Goffigon plaid, and built-in nightstands were crafted by Hardesty Dwyer & Co. Danny Kaplan for In Common With pendants illuminate a Rosemary Hallgarten rug. On the wall is artwork by Emil Lukas.
For the dining room, Peña designed a large, round walnut table that would lend itself to conversational dinners. “He loves to cook and host family, so it creates a place where everyone can gather and talk,” she says. But when guests are gone, there are private spaces to enjoy, too, like the moody office, where a purple-brown limewash on the walls creates a softness in keeping with the room’s velvet-upholstered lounge chair. “Tech people spend a lot of time working, so why not make the office cozy? ” she posits. In his bedroom, a blue-and-green palette imparts an almost vintage feel. There, Peña designed a wood-slat headboard wall (“It was so beautifully executed by Mark,” she notes) for textural interest but to also reference the linear nature of the redwood forest. “We didn’t do any draperies, because it was all about waking up to the trees,” she explains. The plaid-upholstered headboard also features small, inset nightstands for “less visual noise.”
“This client made brave commitments, and that’s part of what makes the home so striking.”
–KRISTEN PEÑA
While designing this home was a delight for Peña, one of the most enjoyable aspects was helping her client establish an unconventional art collection, which they did with the advice of Todd Hosfelt of Hosfelt Gallery in San Francisco. The first piece her client selected was a 1950s painting by Jess. “It’s framed in velvet, which is really sexy, and he loved it, so we placed it on the dining room wall where he could see it while cooking.” Other key works include a thread piece by Emil Lukas and an LED work by Jim Campbell.
“We’ve created an environment that embodies a masculine yet organic aesthetic, and every element reflects a harmonious relationship with nature and the client’s deep connection to the forest,” the designer says. “In many California homes, people want it to feel like summer all the time, but this place feels like fall or winter, and that’s brought a wonderful nesting component to the house.”