Wash and wear

Lisa Tennyson -- Interior Design, 7/1/2003 12:00:00 AM

When a San Francisco bachelor bought a house with views of the Golden Gate Bridge and leafy Presidio, the Victorian's dark, confined third floor was a much less pretty sight. To turn the 1,800-square-foot space into a contemporary master suite in minimal black and white, the owner called on Lundberg Design.

For starters, principal Olle Lundberg broke through to the attic, revealing a 16-foot cathedral ceiling, and removed all interior framing. Then, instead of building separate rooms, he established sleeping, bathing, and dressing zones with partitions of translucent laminated glass. The 7-foot-high partitions never touch the ceiling, maximizing the suite's tremendous volume. Shadowy activity is visible through the glass—voyeurism and modesty achieved simultaneously.

Steel-framed translucent glass sliding doors, the only doors on the third floor, ensure privacy in the bedroom. Furnishings adhere to a palette of sand and olive green. Where there used to be a series of small windows, Lundberg instead placed two sets of French doors.

He installed a frosted-glass window in the bathroom's walk-in shower, finishing the ceiling and walls in white Venetian plaster. Black granite tile covers the floor; slabs of the same material surround the oversize tub, which backs up to a centrally located double sink vanity topped in more black granite slabs. "Floating like this, the vanity feels more like furniture and less like a built-in," says Lundberg. A single laminated-glass screen conceals the toilet.

Black-stained oak storage cubes and flooring set off the dressing zone. For hanging garments, Lundberg designed a system of stainless-steel rods cantilevered from thin mild-steel posts anchored to floor and ceiling. Fiber-optics are embedded in the floor beneath the laminated-glass partitions. "Turn them on at night, and the partitions glow like lanterns," says Lundberg. "It's both theatrical and romantic."

Clockwise from top left: Granite floor tile defines the master bathroom of a San Francisco house; the sink vanity pairs a granite-slab counter with stainless-steel basins and fittings. The vanity backs onto an oversize tub. Laminated-glass partitions divide the bathroom from the dressing zone, where clothing hangs from cantilevered stainless-steel rods.

Sinks (bathroom): Just Manufacturing Company. Fittings: Vola. Drawer pulls: Forms + Surfaces. Tub: International Bath Corporation. Custom vanity mirrors (bathroom), storage cubes (dressing room): Phoenix woodworking. Glass supplier: Paige Glass. General contractor: O'Neill Construction.