AURAX

Built  |  2023  |  Outer Richmond, San Francisco

From Within

A fragmented, heavily altered house made whole again around a new open staircase.

Kitchen with dark full-height cabinetry, a marble-look backsplash and a waterfall island in white oak, beneath a linear pendant

Decades of piecemeal alterations had left the house as a set of disconnected rooms. The owners asked for a home that felt like one place, with light reaching the middle of the plan and a kitchen they could actually gather in.

A new open staircase became both a sculptural centerpiece and a connector, bringing light and flow between levels. Through this anchor, spaces once disjointed now move together, unified by material warmth and natural light. The kitchen was reorganized around a long island under a single linear pendant; a built-in media wall gives the living room a calm focal point.

The result is a serene home that holds and reflects the life of those within.

“She spent countless hours sitting with me, interpreting my crazy ideas with patience, and she was extremely accommodating. She truly had the right vision for this job, and her professional qualities are very evident when it comes to execution.”Afshin Dehghan, client, From Within
Location
Outer Richmond, San Francisco
Type
Full interior remodel
Scope
Space planning, new stair, kitchen and media wall design, material and lighting selection, construction oversight
Size
Whole-house interior, 2,951 sq ft
Status
Built, 2023
Architecture
AURAX, Maryam Nassajian
Interiors
Navid Golchin
Structural
Della Tran
Contractor
Owner-builder
Photography
Ali Ferji
Open living, dining and kitchen level: a long sofa facing a dark tile media wall with a linear fireplace and slatted oak panels, sunlight across wide oak floors
Maryam Nassajian, the designer, walking down the new open staircase in white oak with a black steel and cable railing, lit by a tall linear wall light and step lights
Kitchen island wrapped in book-matched porcelain, beneath a single linear pendant, with dark cabinetry and a full-height backsplash
Living room with the media wall, slatted oak panels and a gas fireplace, beside the kitchen island and tall paned windows
Dining area with a solid walnut table, cream upholstered chairs and a linear black pendant, open to the living room with its slatted oak and dark tile fireplace wall and black-framed windows
The kitchen island and sink looking toward the living room and media wall
Primary bedroom with a full-height dark walnut slat wall behind the bed, floating walnut nightstands with globe lamps, and a framed white textured artwork
Primary bathroom in dark veined tile with a floating oak double vanity, a glass shower and a skylight
Hall bathroom with fluted wood-look tile, a floating oak vanity and a round skylight

Before and after

The house as it was

The walls around the kitchen came out, opening the main floor front to back.

Main floor

Existing main floor plan in grey: a separate living room, an enclosed kitchen and dining room, small rooms off a central hall, and a rear deck
Existing
New main floor plan: one open living, dining and kitchen space with an island at the front, an open stair, a bathroom, three bedrooms with closets and a rear deck
New

Ground floor

Existing ground floor plan in grey: a garage with a car, utilities and storage, a bathroom, unfinished rooms and closets
Existing
New ground floor plan: the garage, an office, a bathroom, a family room, a bedroom suite with its own bath and closets, and a new curved stair
New
The original enclosed stairwell: terrazzo steps between rough plaster walls, lit by a single small window
Before
The new open oak stair with a black steel cable rail and a linear wall light, with Maryam Nassajian on the landing
After
The original living room seen through an arched opening, with a corner fireplace and a closed door to the separate kitchen
Before
The same view after: one open living, dining and kitchen level with a tiled fireplace wall and slatted oak panels
After
The original kitchen: oak cabinets, tiled counters and a patterned vinyl floor
Before
The new kitchen with dark cabinetry, a marble waterfall island and open views to the living room
After
The original front rooms: a windowed room opening through an arch to a second room with tall windows
Before
The same corner after: the kitchen island beneath a linear pendant, open to the light from the front windows
After

During construction

Opening the house from within

Looking from the TV wall early in demolition, with the walls opened to the studs and the wall to the kitchen still standing
From the TV wall, before the wall came down
Looking from the kitchen side early in demolition, the walls stripped to the studs before the dividing wall was removed
From the kitchen, before the wall came down
Looking from the TV wall across the level once the wall was removed, with new framing overhead
From the TV wall, the level opened up
The garage stripped to its frame
The garage, stripped to the frame
Rebar laid over vapor barrier for the new slab, looking from the dining area toward the kitchen
Rebar for the new slab, from dining toward the kitchen
The stair framed beneath its skylight, bringing daylight down through the house
The stair, framed beneath its skylight

Every home begins as a vision. Let's start shaping yours.

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