BEYOND WORK Though King now frequently works on large jobs, he had been in business just five years when he started the Smith/Garrett residence, his first really large project at the time. He enjoyed working out the details: “From an execution standpoint, unusual projects are the most fun,” he says. “The problems present a lot of challenges that you can confront creatively, which pushes your abilities.”
Clients such as Smith and Garrett, who align themselves with architects from the beginning, King says, really appreciate the value of design, so these projects are inherently more upscale, not specifically in cost, he points out, but with sensitivity to finishes, the floor plan, and spatial interaction.
Smith appreciates that King returns to work on minor maintenance issues at no charge. The remodeler says it’s the least he can do because the couple allows him to bring potential clients to see the house. “That has gotten us a lot of jobs,” King says. “Potential clients see the house and they love it. It’s been profitable for us.”
Project Details
Project | Renovation of 1892 Victorian row house to provide a connection to the outdoors while melding modern amenities with historic details.
Cost | $525,000
Square footage before | 4,500
Square footage after | 4,750
Remodeler | Jeff King, Jeff King & Co., San Francisco
Sun Flowers
When homeowner Eric Smith lived in New York, he purchased four stained glass panels made by painter Lowell Nesbitt, who died in 1993. Smith and partner Mark Garrett wanted to incorporate the 8-foot-tall and 40-inch-wide panels into the renovation.
Remodeler Jeff King found three places for them in the house. One is used as a pocket door between the living and dining rooms; another is in a fixed window in the breakfast nook; two more are used as sliding screens in front of the French doors in the master bedroom.
King ordered the French doors sized to fit the glass panels and designed an assembly where the panels can slide behind a custom bookshelf when not in use as privacy screens. “We also developed a soffit above the shelf and window that holds a shade that rolls down over the window at night to block out light,” King says.
Smith also owned a piece of stained glass with a curved top, which he had salvaged from a synagogue. King inset this into a custom curved-top door for the powder room and wrapped the door with new molding made to match the home’s existing Victorian molding. —N.P.