Author: punchwpadmin

Words by Johanna Harlow

Sometimes success comes through sequencing. Taylor Eigsti puts as much consideration into the order of the songs on his latest contemporary jazz album, Plot Armor, as he does in creating them. “The sequence tells a story,” he notes. Even if the music is good, an album can fall apart if it isn’t told in the right order—if “it doesn’t unravel in the right way.” He reaches for a metaphor to drive home the point. “You could see a great Picasso painting, but if it’s hanging in the bathroom of a Wendy’s, you’re going to be like, ‘Whatever.’ The framing is so important.”

Taylor’s life, like his albums, unfurls with profound purpose. As Menlo Park’s child prodigy turns 40 this year, he’s traveled a road paved with triumph and loss. Taylor has released nine albums, performed with the likes of Sting and John Mayer, and symphonies that include the New York Philharmonic, toured internationally and won a Grammy. But he’s also outlived his entire family and several mentors. Music is more than a career, it’s Taylor’s key to unlocking connection and catharsis.

Cover Photography: Lauren Desberg / Photography: Elizaveta von Stuben

Piano Prodigy

Taylor was born into a musical household, the offspring of two radio DJs from Indiana who fell in love, married and eventually moved to the Bay. But it was his sister Shannon, also a pianist, who catapulted him into musical pursuits. Not long after jamming with The Doobie Brothers at Shoreline Amphitheatre to their song “Listen to the Music,” Shannon passed away from leukemia. “She died one day before her high school graduation,” Taylor says. He began piano lessons soon after, at the age of four.

Though Taylor might be a polished performer today, his first recital was less than auspicious. “I started crying and I ran off,” he reminisces with a smile. “And then I yelled out, ‘Do I still get a donut?’” His stage fright didn’t last long however, and he landed his first paid gig at eight.

At that early age, little Taylor was all about smooth jazz. “I would fall asleep listening to that every night,” he says, adding that he looked up to pianist and composer David Benoit, who would later become his mentor. “I would try to pretend like I was him and emulate him because I liked the energy, the funkiness, the playfulness,” he describes. “I was him for Halloween!”

Photography: Elizaveta von Stuben

For the next few years, Taylor played background music at bars and restaurants. “I was able to get a lot of the ‘paying your dues’ young, which I’m grateful for,” he says. On the cusp of his teens, this 12-year-old had already played alongside his musical idol David, including at a concert at Sunset Magazine’s picturesque gardens in Menlo Park. But it was also the year Taylor’s dad passed away from cancer. Not long afterward, he would tell a local newspaper, “I’m a musician and so my music helps me get through things … I can take out anger and sadness, and the other 20 zillion feelings that people get, on the piano.”

Staying strong, Taylor started a band with his friends at the age of 13, dropped his first album Tay’s Groove at 14 and started teaching at Stanford Jazz Workshops at 15. “So many people in this area gave me a chance,” Taylor shares, mentioning promoter and jazz historian Herb Wong, the folks at the San Jose Jazz Society and countless others who took him under their wings and set him up for success. By the time he reached his college years, he’d already recorded four albums.

Photography: Andy Nozaka

Finding His Voice

But it wasn’t until his 20s that Taylor felt like he’d truly found his own sound. “It became less emulating,” he reflects. Now, “I have more conviction over who I am as a musician and as a stylistic identity.” Classifying his work as modern progressive jazz with some cross-genre flair, Taylor notes, “As I grew older, I absorbed a lot of other influences from different types of music—everything from classical music and Björk, pop music and soul, R&B … I play all the time with musicians who are a little bit more genre-unspecific.”

His music’s intricacy, another mainstay in his composition, stems from musical collaborations. Not only have numerous artists lent their voices and instruments to Taylor’s albums, but he’s also repaid the favor, joining in as a supporting sideman on over 70 albums to date. “It’s such an interesting community where we all play in each other’s bands,” he describes. This relational method of music-making stands out when Taylor performs with his quartet. He frequently interacts with the other players on stage, a captivating conversation held entirely in expressions and riffs.

Photograph: Patryk Larney

That collaborative spirit is strong in his 2021 album Tree Falls, a work filled with rich symphonic sound and sweeping strains. “I wanted to have the strings and woodwinds and have that kind of orchestral lushness in there,” Taylor describes.

One special song, “Rainbows,” was inspired after Taylor listened to a recording from his sister’s memorial service. “Some tunes take 10 years, some tunes are just the never-ending bridge—I wrote that tune in 10 minutes,” he shares.

The Highs & Lows

It didn’t take long for Tree Falls to garner a lot of attention, and the season following the album’s release was a whirlwind. “It was a really weird year,” Taylor notes of 2022. In quick succession, he went through a breakup, won a Grammy Award for best contemporary instrumental album, then lost his mother to her long battle with dementia.

Days after her death, Taylor found solace in composing. “I’ve dealt with enough tragedy in my life that I’m not going to stop the world and just sit in the grief,” he notes. “Every single day that I would be home from the road, I was working on that album.” He spent 71 days recording on four different pianos (including Frank Sinatra’s Steinway) to bring the album Plot Armor to life.

Photography: Tafadza Chiriga

Not only is the album dedicated to his mother, but the lyrics of the track “Fire Within” are also drawn from notes left behind by Taylor’s mom. It’s sung by Lisa Fischer, a backup singer who toured with the Rolling Stones for over 25 years, and whom Taylor considers family. “I needed the screaming voice behind the Rolling Stones for my mom,” Taylor laughs. “I didn’t want some sappy, sad tune. That wasn’t her, you know?” He adds that Lisa truly took the task to heart. “She set up pictures of my mom in the studio. She wanted to channel her.”

In fact, 20 musicians supported Taylor on Plot Armor. “I wanted moments where you’re hearing a viola and it turns into a flute and then it turns into a voice,” Taylor describes. “I deliberately wanted blurriness because life isn’t always clear … The more we make music reflect life, the harder it hits us emotionally because I think it becomes more human.” And he, more than most, understands that life, unlike piano keys, isn’t black and white.

Taylor hugs his mom. (Photography: Taylor Eigsti)

Taylor Today

The pianist continues to prosper, embracing new projects and performing alongside the musicians he calls friends. He’s also worked on film soundtracks for directors Spike Lee and Tony Kaye. “It’s a selfless form of creating music, because you’re invisible but powerful,” Taylor says of cinematic songs. “Like a hand in front of someone’s face but the fingers are open. Powerful but transparent and present.”

What’s next? “My next record will probably be something for my dad,” Taylor says. “There’ll be more electronics on that. Because he was a gadget guy, and he was always soldering in the garage.”

Though he mainly lives in New York, Taylor retreats to North Carolina, where his girlfriend lives, when he needs to detach from all distractions. He’ll hole up at his house (fondly called “The Ranch”) and let inspiration strike. “I use that house like a compositional studio now. I can write on the walls and stuff. It looks like I’m trying to solve a serial killer case,” he chuckles. “It’s an isolated bubble. There, the world slows down.”

Photography: Jim Fung - Peninsula Symphony Orchestra

That said, you’ll still find Taylor returning regularly to the Bay Area. Recently, he played alongside his longtime pals at the Peninsula Symphony Orchestra, treating the audience to his original compositions as well as Gershwin’s rousing Rhapsody in Blue. “They’re just so friendly,” Taylor says of the symphony’s musicians. “Everyone’s giving me hugs!” He also faithfully puts on concerts at Stanford University each year. “It feels like a home game,” he says with a big smile.

all that jazz – tayjazz.com

Words by Johanna Harlow

Ahome staged by Coco Silver is a tastefully transformed space—but the process of gussying up a house before selling it is far from glamorous. “This is a tough business,” shares the owner of Coco Home. “It’s not about pretty sofas.”

With a stylish yet sensible aesthetic, Coco pairs her practical overalls with a sharp blazer and bold frames. She’s currently at her base of operations: a warehouse lined with Costco-sized racks, each one brimming with furniture, rugs, mattresses and enough art and photography prints to fill a gallery or two. As she moves among the rows, Coco explains that preparing homes for potential buyers involves a lot of “schlepping and packing and unpacking” as well as constant refurbishing and serious strategizing—and that’s before arriving on site.

Cover Photo and Above Photo: Courtesy of Ashley Maxwell Photography

“Sometimes when you get there, it works flawlessly—most of the time. And then other times you’re like, ‘This is a hot mess. Nothing is working,’” observes Coco. “The house has to speak to the pieces you bring in. And if it doesn’t, it vomits them out. And you’re like, ‘Nope, it does not want to be here.’” Fortunately, with a decade and a half of experience under her belt, this is a rare occurrence for the Mountain View resident. She also has lead designer Bre Heagney and a strong team backing her. “I can do it in my sleep now,” she affirms.

The main ingredient to making the staging process look effortless? It’s all in the prep work. “When we walk through a house, we’re like, ‘Okay, where’s the baby going? Is this going to be multi-generational and the grandparents are going to be here? Where’s Thanksgiving happening?’” She adds, “We even name the rooms.”

Photo: Courtesy of Evoke Media

Coco and her team take stock of what they have currently available in the warehouse, then delegate items across a number of projects—all while making each and every home look like a cohesive whole. Like a chess player, Coco must think several steps ahead. Except the pieces she’s moving are coffee tables and couches. “You constantly have to pivot,” she notes.
But for Coco, it’s in her blood. “My mom was Pinterest before Pinterest—always changing furniture and building couches out of cement blocks,” Coco recalls fondly. “We’d wake up to a whole new living room.”

Don’t get the wrong idea. Staging and interior design are “two completely different animals,” Coco observes. “Interior design is permanent. It’s lifestyle. How are your kids going to wear and tear this piece of furniture? Do you have dogs? Is it comfortable?” On the other hand, “Staging is an illusion. It is setting a set. It’s a prop house. We look at all the angles, at where the shot’s going to be and how it’s going to photograph, the size and scale of furniture.”

Photo: Courtesy of Evoke Media

Though she sources everything wholesale these days, in the scrappy early days of her business, Coco incorporated items from thrift and antique stores as well as pieces from her own home. “I’d have the box of my favorites,” she says. Like the print of Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring given to her by her mother. “When I first started staging, that went into all of my houses.” Once in a while, it still makes a comeback.

Coco moves away from the main part of the warehouse to a side room with all kinds of treasures. Sculptures and serving trays, impressive bottles of whisky and gin, a pair of gilded antlers and endless other homey knickknacks ensure that no coffee table or bookshelf in one of Coco’s homes goes naked. There’s an abundance of wicker baskets and ottomans. Heaps of throw blankets and pillows (fluffy, patterned and tasseled). A bounty of books organized in color-coded stacks with inviting titles like The Time-Traveling Fashionista, The Diary of Frida Kahlo, Bad Girls Throughout History and How to Boil an Egg.

“I think my home looks very much like a Coco home project,” muses the staging designer, who says she gravitates toward an open look with neutral colors and a minimal approach.

Photo: Courtesy of Evoke Media

Coco also appreciates versatile items that work well across a variety of homes. “It’s such a curated eye,” she remarks of the designing process, explaining that there’s an art to weaving things into a cohesive whole. If you don’t have that knack, you’ll end up instead with a “big pile of home goods.”

Among Coco’s other talents is hospitality. In collaboration with singer and friend James Lanman, she hosted a popup holiday party last year at her warehouse, using her staging stash to deck out the industrial space. It had this “vibey kind of New York minute feeling,” she describes. “It was very speakeasy.” Guests savored pisco sours and Peruvian bites in the lobby-turned-lounge, then were ushered into the main warehouse for an intimate concert. As the audience settled into Coco’s eclectic inventory of couches and chairs, wrapping themselves in throw blankets, James and his five-piece band took the stage, performing jazzy holiday songs under the stringlights. “It broke my heart to take it down,” Coco says, adding that before they did, she used the setup as a backdrop for a couple of photo shoots as well as a sleepover with her kids.

Photo: Courtesy of Evoke Media

That isn’t the last time Coco has utilized the space to build connections. She’s also opened up her warehouse to host a real estate panel to shine a light on exemplary vendors in the industry, and plans for another popup with James are in the works. “When you come into someone’s home, it’s such a personal moment,” Coco muses. “To bring people to our house is so rad.”

Whatever the future holds, there’s a storehouse of possibilities waiting for Coco. Wherever she goes, she’ll be right at home.

making room – lovecocohome.com

Words by Loureen Murphy

When Kendra Nicholas Nash of Nash Design Group clicked with her neighbors at a San Carlos block party, she found they had even more in common than UCLA alum status and same-aged kids. They shared a similar design vibe. So when these neighbors bought a lot, complete with dilapidated house begging for demolition, they turned to Kendra. Together, they began discussing plans for a new Spanish Revival structure—kid-friendly for their growing family, yet classic enough to be their forever home.

“The client’s style is very aligned with that effortless feel that I think about in design,” says Kendra. “In the end, it should look effortless yet thoughtful.” She assigned Lead Designer Amalia Kallas to capture the vision that photographer/influencer Emily Scott and her husband shared for their intentional project.

Right off, the Scotts and NDG anchored three key design elements: signature Spanish arches, Spanish floor tile, and surprisingly enough, the cooking range. The grand arched window by the dining area launched the arch motif. “They really wanted beautiful light,” says Kendra. The theme now echoes throughout the home in doors, archways, the beverage niche and the cooking alcove. Within that alcove sits the custom Lacanche range in Tilleul, a soft green carried throughout the design, also used on the custom tile stair risers by Fire Clay.

Rich terra cotta tile by Arto Brick grounds the whole first floor with a Mediterranean aura. That level comprises a great room with kitchen, breakfast nook, dining room, fireside sitting area, maker studio and laundry, along with the primary bed and bath. Kendra says the great room owes its impact to the tiles’ vernacular.

The high-ceilinged white stucco interior offsets the dark flooring and gives the natural light more play, while exposed wooden beams reinforce the Spanish feel without heaviness. Wrought iron railings along the stairs complete the look. Though the construction is new, vintage found and restored pieces add texture and generational depth, lending the lived-in sense the clients treasure. In Emily’s studio, where she restores and upcycles anything from frames to textiles, these items take on new life.

The owners and designers now bask in the success of the home, and the great room in particular. “When dealing with such an open space, all of the materials and lighting and finishes have to complement each other,” Kendra explains. Whether it’s positive and negative space or materials and fixtures from different vendors, designers must evaluate colors, patterns and materials from all angles of the room. Cohesiveness and harmony equal a win.

Some favorite details include the stair risers and the light fixture above the stairs, a customized trio of pendants creating a unique chandelier. Another pleaser: the highly customized marble-topped island. Because the breakfast nook with built-in bench already meets the need for seating, the island has no overhang. Instead, the piece serves as a beautiful workhorse, with every inch in use—down to the drawers holding remotes to control the window treatments.

Perhaps the powder room best embodies the home’s old world/new times vibe. Plaster-finished walls in warm Valentine by Omega Color Tech embrace the ornate antique mirror from Placemakers, the simple pendant lamp from Lostine and Watermark Designs’ wall-mounted brass fixtures over the Art Deco sink with vanity space by Kast Concrete Basins. Kendra says the juxtaposition of a few modern pieces amid the old world ambiance stamps this place as her clients’ home, revealing their distinct personality.

Despite permit delays, Covid shortages and welcoming a third child in the midst of the process, Kendra’s clients rolled with everything. They didn’t compromise on their budget nor on their vision. Now they thrive in this beautiful, airy new space—their dream home. “I always tell clients, ‘If you just keep thinking about this one thing over and over again, then it’s what you’re meant to have,’” reasons Kendra.

divine design – nashdesigngrp.com

Photographer Gino De Grandis always seems to be in the right place at the right time. At Pillar Point Harbor in Half Moon Bay, a thicket of docked boats bristling with bare masts is drenched in a lustrous honey-colored haze. “The golden light was really unique that day,” says Gino, who was there to take a couple’s anniversary photos.

Image by Gino De Grandis / luiphotography.com

Calling all Shutterbugs: If you’ve captured a unique perspective of the Peninsula, we’d love to see your Perfect Shot. Email us at hello@punchmonthly.com to be considered for publication.

Nature photographer Michael G. Pagano caught this wide-eyed fellow while traversing the grounds at Filoli in Woodside. “With its century-old oak trees and open meadows, I’m always fascinated by the array of wildlife that abound, such as black-tailed deer, acorn woodpeckers and wild turkeys,” he describes. On this particular day, he came upon two owls sharing a branch. “Believe me, I don’t know ‘whoo’ was more surprised—me or the owls!” Though one flew off, the other stuck around for Michael to admire. The great horned owl (also known as the tiger owl) is one of the largest in the Bay Area and can weigh up to four pounds.

Instagram: @paganografx

Calling all Shutterbugs: If you’ve captured a unique perspective of the Peninsula, we’d love to see your Perfect Shot. Email us at hello@punchmonthly.com to be considered for publication.

Words by Jennifer Jory

As local florist Aili Ice strolls through the San Francisco Flower Market, a wild artichoke with a blooming lavender center catches her eye. She spies a twisted dogwood branch and imagines how she can bring it to life with the artichoke and some violet-colored irises. “I see all the colors first and then I see what jumps out and inspires me,” she remarks.

Aili’s floral creations crafted in her Menlo Park studio are intended to bring beauty to spaces but also healing. And there’s a reason her work exudes a restorative quality. After an unexpected family loss in her early 20s, Aili answered a florist’s job posting without any previous experience. The opportunity became a pivotal moment in her life. “They gave me a vase and said make something,” Aili recalls. She got the job. “A chapter in my life came to a close and a new beginning started through finding the flower shop,” Aili shares. “They nurtured me and allowed me to grow. Then I learned the tricks of the trade.”

The healing art of flowers came full circle for Aili when she was asked to participate in a unique two-year clinical study at Stanford Hospital called The Gratitude Project, which measured how the gifting of flowers from doctors to patients would affect their recovery. The results of the study showed a very positive correlation. “Florals, nature, organic materials and anything that has a closeness to nature is all wellness,” explains Aili. “When you go out into the forest and see moss, you get heightened joy. It also sparks curiosity, dopamine and happiness.”

Fast-forward several years. Aili was practically running the floral shop when the owner asked if she would like to take over the accounts, and Aili Ice Designs was born. She worked around the clock, delivering weekly arrangements to businesses from dentist offices to venture capital firms.

“Anyone who wanted to enhance their space with natural materials,” she sums up. “If you walk into an office space for an interview and you look at a floral arrangement, it breaks the ice and puts you at ease. It might start a conversation with the receptionist and then you nail the job.”

With the support of her lifelong friend and operations manager Becky Medina, Aili offers a number of group workshops. She leads classes on the art of planter design, terrariums and succulents, to name a few. “It’s fun to watch someone say they are not creative—then uplifting them and watching them feel so empowered,” notes Aili with a smile.

A Peninsula native, Aili grew up in Redwood Shores and Foster City, graduating from San Mateo High. She went on to study art and art history at Cañada College, while working in stage production in San Francisco. It was around this time that Aili started to reevaluate her life when her mother passed away after a long battle with cancer. She decided to join her father and brother sailing down the coast of Mexico. Aili also sailed through the Panama Canal, where she found a sense of healing and inspiration. “On the Atlantic side, there were clusters of little islands and school children getting on boats to go to school,” she says, adding that she also found herself reinvigorated by the area’s art galleries. “Seeing vibrant cultures and unique lifestyles really electrified my senses.” She immersed herself in the culture, traveling through fishing villages and taking long rides on antiquated buses.

Those experiences, along with earlier travels to Hawaii, Hong Kong, Costa Rica and Taiwan, served as inspiration for Aili’s floral arrangements. She enjoys the challenge of bringing a client’s vision to life, but admits there are days when the tight timeframe and scale of a project can be intense. “The grandness of an arrangement such as a giant, 15-foot foliage arch made of fall leaves built in two hours can really stretch us,” she acknowledges. “Recently, a last-minute request at an Atherton garden party for floating umbrella arrangements for a pool turned out to be really fun. Everyone loved the whimsical look.”

Aili's design for a Bouquets to Art event at San Francisco's De Young Museum was inspired by the demure expression of Mrs. John Rogers--the faint blush of her cheek evoked by the pink tulips, while dark flowers call out the burgundy background and gold vases reflect the painting's gilded frame.

From an artistic perspective, Aili says she looks forward to the Bouquets to Art event at San Francisco’s Legion of Honor Museum every year. “This is something I do for myself,” she discloses. “I love the beautiful challenge of choosing a painting and interpreting it through florals and organic materials. If I can bring that same feeling through in my work, it is such a joy. To be among my colleagues who get to express themselves this way and show it to the masses is special.”

Throughout her professional journey, Aili says she has been inspired by the memory of her mother. “I believe my mother led me to a life of art, and influenced and molded me with her love for flowers and gardening,” concludes Aili. “Working with organic things helps you feel close to nature and it is good for the soul.”

pretty petals – ailiicedesigns.com

Words by Loureen Murphy

When a Los Altos Hills couple dreamed of a perfect hideaway, they envisioned views blurring the lines between indoors and out. Creature comforts inviting long reads and delicious sips. Artwork stimulating imagination and conversation. They found the ideal spot right in their own backyard—for a detached ADU, designed by Roselle Curwen of Roselle Design.

As third-time clients, the homeowners trusted Roselle’s solid architectural background in planning the 800-square-foot accessory unit from the ground-up. With their college-age kids coming and going, the couple wanted the cottage to multitask as a guest house, hangout, home office and retreat as needed.

The designer started by slightly rotating the proposed footprint to capture the glorious hilltop view. Roselle then drew up plans for a main room/lounge, incorporating a built-in desk and storage cabinet to provide a tidy home office. Sharing space with the open kitchen, the main room is bookended by the primary bedroom and the bunk room, each with its own bath. The layout allows quiet and privacy for sleepers, two of the key emotional effects Roselle focused on in her design.

Intentional in every aspect, Roselle designed a sloped roof to accommodate solar panels and also evoke airiness in all the rooms, raising the eyes to the windows, while visually expanding the space. White oak millwork throughout the unit, in cabinets, nightstands, frames and flooring, further enhances the link to the native oaks outside, while creating cohesion within. Natural gray vibranium quartzite kitchen counters, with their flowing, swirling patterns, contrast with the room’s clean lines.

Roselle spent whole days in showrooms with her art-loving clients, hunting for fixtures, materials and finishes. “Seeing what they’re drawn to helped tremendously with this project,” she says. For example, in the main room, winglike sconces by Christopher Boots with backlit crystal edges flank a whimsical piece depicting flamingos flying from an ice cube tray. At Dolby Chadwick Gallery in San Francisco, they selected everything from the primary bedroom’s pastel sculptural Hunt Rettig piece to the commissioned work by Lela Shields hanging above the desk. The homeowners also invested hours in slab shopping for the kitchen and baths. The super-involved clients say they love all the little details highlighting the unit, like the Rocky Mountain Hardware fixtures that will patinate over time and the pyrite flecks in travertine stonework that sparkle like gold in the sunlight.

Though the clients gave Roselle complete creative freedom to curate everything inside, right down to the stemware, settling on all the project’s elements required plenty of back-and-forth. “They are very open to feedback as well as to me,” she says. “I balance items that might be very detailed or ornate with a simple, more raw form. You need a variation of materials to add depth and character to a space.“ To ensure everything progressed as they intended, Roselle did frequent walk-throughs with the homeowners.

Even so, the pathway to satisfaction held some obstacles. Achieving 99 percent blackout over the bedroom windows required a high level of collaboration among designer, clients, contractor and the shade company Desmond Johnson.

After Desmond Johnson sketched the initial concept, “we all collaborated with the contractor on how to make the face frame magnetic and functional while hiding the motorized roller shade when open,” Roselle explains. The wait and extra work proved worthwhile. Overnight guests can rest in a blanket of calming darkness.

Roselle says the homeowners relish the treehouse-like sense of seclusion their new hilltop nest offers and use it more than anticipated, even when their children are away. Calling her experience on this ADU “transformative,” she found satisfaction in entwining her design expertise with her clients’ tastes to create a unique personal space for them. The most fulfilling thing for her? “The way the vision comes to life.”

Words by Amber Turpin

Combine a pinch of Texas formality, a touch of Parisian elegance and some coastal Santa Barbara cool, and you end up with a refresh of a grand Mediterranean home in Hillsborough. Throw in a family of four, a contemporary art collection and a couple with a vast height variance, and what rises to the top of the design concept is a theme of customization.

The house was in need of an update and the team behind design firm Dimitra Anderson Home says that Hillsborough is one of their favorite communities to work in. The structures here tend to have some character, according to Principal Designer Dimitra Anderson, with homes lovingly restored rather than leveled—which is often the fate of older farmhouses or ranch homes farther down the Peninsula. “It feels a little like an extension of San Francisco,” she says. “There’s character and a bit of history.”

Senior Designer Shea Ross adds that in Hillsborough, “Every single home is different. You’ll find a Spanish home next to a modern home next to an Italian home. We like the challenge of working within an existing space.” This made the team especially excited to work with the family on a remodel of their 7,200-square-foot house built in 1981. The large home was ready for a change, and the family brought in Dimitra mid-construction to join Geiszler Architects in undertaking the renovation.

The specific challenge in this case was to transform the enormous space into a comfortable, timeless home that worked for the entire family, which includes two teens. Collaboration is a main tenet for Dimitra Anderson Home, and the design approach is similar with every client, whether an individual, couple or family. “It’s about identifying how they want to live in the space,” explains Dimitra. “For this particular client, she’s from Texas so there’s a little bit of a traditional vibe. We leaned into more formality in the living room and more casual in the family room.”

Beginning with floor plans, the collaboration process focused on maximizing the flow of the two key spaces, the large living room, with the goal of making it multi-functional and liveable, and the family room. The next step was to work together on high-level design schematics, with a shared Pinterest board and multiple meetings about the overall look and feel of the house.

The result of this collaboration was a major overhaul of the main floor, to optimize flow and function for the entire family. These elements include high-quality performance fabrics and materials, plus a main structural centerpoint of steel railroad tie beams in the ceiling of the family room and an entire wall of folding doors that create an open, inside-outside flow. A large L-shaped sofa and a neutral-toned Jaipur rug add texture and softness.

The living and dining room also evoke elegance. The homeowners wanted more formality and some nods to Paris, where they love to travel. This is seen in the built-in bar, topped with marble and enhanced by rich green cabinets with gold accents. The dining room features a metallic wallcovering paired with a crystal chandelier, with an antique dining table and contemporary chairs, added by Dimitra for a shift from the otherwise traditional space.

More antiques, from the owners’ extensive collection of silver, are on display in the kitchen, set within seeded glass flanking cabinets. A large center island, finished in a Farrow & Ball dark matte blue, was built for prep as well as for dining, with soft cushioned chairs set around it. White perimeter cabinets and walls create a timeless, clean feel.

Overall, the main priorities for Dimitra and her team were the interiors, the furniture and the space planning related to the furniture, since they came into this project when it was already under construction. “The home was so large, so it was about maximizing the space and creating multiple vignettes,” explains Shea. “Some prioritize form, some prioritize function; this client really cared about both.” Because the couple have a very big height difference (she tops out at 5 feet while he is 6-foot-5-inches tall), everything was custom. “There’s a lot of thought that goes into the decisions and furnishings that get made,” Shea says. “She really wanted to be involved with the shapes and fabrics, both form and function. It was challenging, in a good way.”

The design team singled out some favorite elements in the project, including the statement floral wallpaper in the powder room. But the atrium at the entrance of the home was a true standout for them. Flanked by steel doors, with stone floors and deep, geometrically patterned swivel chairs, the room is stunning. Shea also likes that this space pushed the formality boundary a bit, with the graphic fabric of the chairs. It also tied well to the owner’s contemporary art collection displayed throughout the house. Dimitra reflects, “For me personally, I love the atrium. When you walk into the home, the sightline just goes out to these views of the Bay. The floor is a beautiful tumbled stone that brings the outside in. It’s just a really beautiful space. You walk into that space and it’s definitely a ‘wow’ moment.”

As for the homeowners, the remodeling project is a win. “The finished space came together to meet our needs and personal style, whether we are all piled on the sofa watching a family movie together or hosting a party with adult friends,” they share.

custom creation  – dimitraanderson.com

Words by Sheryl Nonenberg

What is believed to be the last painting created by the famed Abstract Expressionist Joan Mitchell occupies almost an entire wall in the entryway of Komal Shah and husband Gaurav Garg’s hilltop home in Atherton. This canvas, a lively dance of swooping blue, magenta, yellow and crimson brushstrokes, usually serves as a starting point for any tour of their expansive art collection. “She was making these very expressive gestures,” Komal explains. “As she got older, she really came into her own.” The same can be said of Komal herself, a high-powered executive in the tech world who is now considered one of the most influential art collectors in the United States.

While some collectors are motivated by the prestige and social advantages that notable art acquisitions can afford them. Komal has always had a very specific focus—she wants to “shine a light” (a phrase she uses often) on women artists and artists of color. And just as she forged her way to success as an engineer at Oracle, Netscape and Yahoo, Komal is leading the charge for artists whom she feels are underappreciated or overlooked. It has, quite simply, become her mission in life.

One might assume that Komal’s passion for championing women artists was born out of a childhood where she herself faced limited options for the future. In fact, it was just the opposite. “I was so lucky to have a father who encouraged my interest in a career in computer science. In fact, he mortgaged our family home so that I could attend Stanford University,” she shares. He did this in spite of her uncles’ admonishment that “those funds should be used for her dowry.” She earned a master’s degree at Stanford, and then her MBA at University of California, Berkeley.

Her first foray into the arts came in 2011 when Komal joined the board of the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco. She already had an interest in it (her very first acquisition, in 2009, was a painting on paper by Indian artist Rina Banerjee) but found that her innate love of abstract art was leading her in a different direction. “I found that I felt more comfortable with North American artists of my generation,” she says, adding, “I was awestruck the moment I became a crazy collector.”

With some guidance from recognized experts in the art world like Gary Garrels, a former curator at SFMOMA, and art historian Mark Godfrey, Komal began the process of learning about contemporary art—and honing her eye in pursuit of her “mission.” She attended gallery and museum openings, went to artist studios and art fairs. This led to a “natural networking,” she says. Komal learned that Joan Mitchell had influenced a group of contemporary women artists, all working abstractly: Amy Sillman, Charline Von Heyl, Jacqueline Humphries and Laura Owens. She began to collect their work and get to know them personally, through visits to their studios. “My happiest days are when I can go to a studio and watch art being made,” she says. “It is the best part of collecting: the stories, the person.”

Art by these four women takes center stage in the first floor of the home, which is bathed in light and completely neutral in color, allowing the large, boldly colored art works to dominate. Walking from piece to piece, Komal speaks knowledgeably about each one, not in an art-history-lecture sort of way, but from personal experience—from the heart. Starting with what she calls “the cornerstone” of the collection, Joan Mitchell’s Untitled. “For contemporary women artists, she was one of the most influential.” And, Komal laughs, “she was a badass.”

But it is not just contemporary women artists who have earned Komal’s admiration. She has a special place in her heart for older women who may not have received the attention they deserve. She cites a small sculpture by Sue Fuller entitled String Composition #552. Komal explains that the artist began as an abstract painter and then decided to replace paint with simple colored thread pulled in geometric configurations, which are then encased in Lucite. It looks very sleek and modern, even though it was created in 1965. Komal says she enjoys art by women who were “ahead of their time.”

Unfortunately, that often means that the artist doesn’t enjoy the recognition that a male artist would have received. A good example is Janet Sobel, who is represented by a small mixed-media painting, Untitled. Komal points out that it is done in a drip style and dated 1946—three years before Jackson Pollock would use the technique that brought him into worldwide prominence.

Why does a person whose career has been defined by numbers, objectives and computers find all of this wild, abstract art so compelling? Komal replies without hesitation, “These artists are unbounded by their creativity and imagination—they can go anywhere.”

Today, Komal has a foundational collection, serves on the boards of prestigious institutions—SFMOMA, the Hammer in Los Angeles and the Acquisition Committee of the Studio Museum in Harlem—and created Artists on the Future: The Komal Shah and Guarav Garg Conversation Series at Stanford. Now she’s decided she wants to focus her efforts on making the collection more accessible to people beyond the Bay Area.

Working with curators from SFMOMA, Komal created a 432-page catalog called Making Their Mark: Art by Women in the Shah Garg Collection. The book includes images of works by 136 artists plus eight scholarly essays and short texts by a variety of contributing artists and is available on Amazon. She would love to see it become required or recommended reading at universities.

Last year, a large-scale exhibition devoted to the Shah Garg Collection opened to rave reviews in New York City. The show comes to the West Coast this fall at the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, opening on October 26 and running through April 20, 2025. The exhibition coincides with the launch of the Shah Garg Women Artists Research Fund, which will support new scholarship in the form of public programs, publications and exhibitions featuring female artists at the Berkeley museum.

Acknowledging that art collectors are merely temporary custodians for objects that she hopes will live on, Komal declares that what she is doing right now is more fulfilling than anything she’s undertaken before. “I was a workaholic in the tech world and now I spend 60 hours a week around art,” she says. “I can make a much bigger impact in the arts. This is where my heart is.”

ART APPRECIATION

Starting this fall, contemporary art aficionados can view over 70 works from the Shah Garg Collection when the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive displays Making Their Mark. The exhibition runs October 26 through April 20, 2025. bampfa.org

Words by Johanna Harlow

Over the summer, a dozen woolen landscapes warmed the walls of M Stark Gallery, an airy art haven on the edge of downtown Half Moon Bay. The show—dedicated to the work of needle-felting artist Birgitta Bower—is called Wild and Wooly, a fitting title for fleece scenes so full of texture and motion they almost feel alive. Birgitta knows how to tease wisps of wool into drifting clouds and creeping fog. How to use spiral stitching to create a roiling sea and how to thicken the wool at the crest of waves so the surf seems likely to slosh from the canvas.

Photos of Birgitta’s work don’t do these tangible tableaus justice. In one, a husky’s snout protrudes from the canvas. Its beaded eyes hold a life-like shine—something you’d likely miss if not for the light pouring through the gallery door. The afternoon sun also illuminates a solitary silver thread, shimmering across the horizon of a Redondo Beach scene. “Silver lining, I call it,” Birgitta beams.

After showing her work at the Coastal Arts League, the Falkirk Cultural Center in San Rafael and the Marin Society of Artists, Birgitta’s art caught the eye of Marianna Stark, the curator and owner of M Stark Gallery (and self-described “cool hunter” of contemporary art). Right away, she recognized its mastery. “I show artists who live on the Peninsula, who I think are doing exquisite, interesting, original work,” Marianna describes. Not just traditional landscapes, but artwork that “hits me in the solar plexus.”

Birgitta first found felting through figurines, which she sold at the annual Swedish Christmas Fair in San Francisco. The El Grenada local turned to needle felting over a decade ago and describes the medium as “kind of painting and sculpting at the same time.” Her main source of wool is from Romney sheep that graze on the weeds of a Sonoma vineyard. Though the coarseness of the material would make for an awfully itchy sweater, it gives the tiny barbs of Birgitta’s felting needle something to latch onto, making it easier to jab bits of wool through the canvas. She also sources finer fleece from Alpacas by the Sea, a herd raised in Montara. “The alpaca wool is whiter than the Romney so it’s good for clouds and waves,” Birgitta notes.

When Birgitta first became interested in this malleable medium, she ran across a Craigslist post for free fleece from shorn sheep and raced off to the Russian River region to pick it up. “I packed it into our SUV. I just filled it!” she recalls. Back at home, she poured hours into the laborious process of cleaning it and cutting out foxtails, dirt and sheep droppings (or “vegetable matter,” as it’s delicately called in fleece circles). “It takes a lot of time, but the process makes you ‘bond with your wool,’” Brigitta says. Her spouse, returning from a trip, came home to find a frothy white cloud in their living room. “My husband thought, ‘Did you take the insulation off the attic?’”

These days, Birgitta works out of her studio—namely, her converted dining room. “I’m always trying to figure out how to fit in it,” she chuckles. She sorts dyed wool of all colors into heavy-duty metal cubbies that used to hold bolts of fabric. “It’s the antithesis of light, fluffy wool!” she observes with a smile.

As Birgitta adds layers to her wooly works-in-progress, she starts texturing them—adding white beads for flecks of sea foam, incorporating real seashells beside felt sea stars and sand dollars, crafting the tentacles of a sea anemone from yarn she found at Fengari, a shop in Half Moon Bay.

She also stitches in details, the embroidery adding a greater sense of dimension. “You can do these optical tricks that make you feel depth,” Birgitta explains. In one image, she brings swaying stalks of tall grass to the foreground of a scene where cows graze in the distance. In another, she draws the eye to snarled fishing nets on the docks off Pillar Point Harbor.

Like a bird collecting for her nest, Birgitta gathers up strings of all colors, textures and sizes. While contemplating a field in need of individual blades of grass, she’ll mentally flip through her inventory, then suddenly straighten. “Oh, I think I have that green somewhere,” she’ll say—and off she’ll flit, bringing back just the right one for the job. “Embroidery thread is so bright,” she notes appreciatively.

For future projects, Birgitta would like to try free-motion sewing with a machine. “It’s a bit of a learning curve,” she notes. “You have to sort of get it into your hands somehow.”

When not fabricating her next landscape, you’ll find Birgitta outdoors. She’s happiest hiking the nearby trails with her dog, photographing nature and plunging into bodies of water. This last activity is inspired by summers in Sweden, where she grew up. “There’s lakes everywhere and everyone goes swimming!” Birgitta explains.

Despite her affinity for the great outdoors, the gallery also seems to be this artist’s natural habitat. “I don’t put my art under glass,” Birgitta notes as she stands beside the scene depicting the boisterous sea. The freedom suits these wild, wooly landscapes and their adventurous creator.

string theory – wildandwoolyworld.com

Words by Jennifer Jory

Fender guitars hang on the walls. Professional sound studios line the interior. Stage lighting illuminates the open floor plan, casting a glow throughout the 10,000-square-foot music club in downtown Redwood City. Sound Union, a new concept for making music and meeting musicians in a club-like atmosphere, is redefining the typical band practice.

The masterminds behind this marvel? Local entrepreneurs John Avilla and Tom Zazueta, who let their innovative spirits run wild, opening their longtime dream of a “health club” for musicians in March. “I had friends who went to country clubs to work out,” reflects John. “I realized there is not a club like that for musicians. We wanted to create a place where members build cohesive groups and further their skills.”

Say goodbye to jam sessions in dingy garages. Sound Union provides a number of comfy studio spaces where instrumentalists from folk to funk can play and meet with other artists. “A lot of musicians have been playing in their garages or bedrooms,” reflects Tom. “There was nowhere to go to meet other potential band members.” The partners also welcome the not-so-musically inclined for frequent house concerts held in the Loft space. “The big thing here is the community,” Tom emphasizes.

Sound Union’s crown jewels are its state-of-the-art sound studios and instruments. “People can pull off the shelf and play top-of-the-line equipment,” says John. The studios are kitted out with all types of guitars, amplifiers, drums, basses, ukuleles, pianos and keyboards. Members can play music and rehearse in one of three large recording-quality studios, two smaller music rooms or a songwriter’s collaboration studio. There’s also a podcast room, a cozy concert venue and even a full kitchen.

While the club is designed with members in mind, any music lover can check out the local talent when its studios open for monthly Third Thursday events. “We typically have all three studios jamming with members and prospective members,” shares John.

Tom and John created Sound Union to also serve as a music-inspired co-working space, offering an alternative to the kitchen table or the office. “When members want to take a break from work, they can go in and play music,” Tom explains. “Members enjoy ample places to mingle and often just come in to talk to other musicians.”

John and Tom first formed a friendship through their careers in branding and marketing. “It is a typical Silicon Valley story,” says John. “We worked on some of the first websites for Fortune 500 companies.” After decades of working together, the creative duo dreamed of creating a venue that would provide musicians with the connections and collaborations needed to take their talents to the next level.

Through developing Sound Union, John and Tom hope to make an impact on the Peninsula music scene. “I am a lifetime musician in my spare time and that’s how I recharge my batteries,” says John. “We wanted to affect people in a very positive way. We hope our members will go out into the world and make good things happen because their creative juices are flowing.” The two men see music as a cure for isolation. “When you talk about loneliness, music is a way to break that down,” John reflects. “You can step into a studio and let your hands do the talking and it is nonverbal, but it is community.”

John knows a little something about collaboration, having grown up in a musical household that Tom jokingly describes as the “Partridge Family.” Largely self-taught, John and his eight siblings would often make music together. At one point, he and six of his siblings played in the aptly named Avilla Family Band. “Music has always been a part of my well-being,” John says. “I started as an eight-year-old singing in the family band. We played for family and friends at parties for a few years. That experience ignited a lifelong passion for music.” In his Santa Clara County hometown of San Martin, he joined the high school jazz band, played the snare drum in the marching band and percussion in the orchestra. “I grew up with a very competitive school band experience. We won national band championships,” he reveals. “I also played in the jazz band at UCLA.”

Tom brings technical expertise to the partnership and focuses on sound engineering for Sound Union members. “We have a good yin and yang,” says John. “Tom is the guy who will figure out a tech solution faster than most people I know.” Having Apple Computer headquarters in his backyard inspired Tom to pursue his interest in computers, and he spent the early part of his career at Apple and eBay. “In our neighborhood, we were surrounded by tech entrepreneurs. I was playing with a Mac before it was released,” reflects Tom. “I got excited about what was happening in the Valley. I was hooked.”

Tom and John searched for 18 months until they found Sound Union’s current location in the heart of downtown Redwood City. They spent six months completely renovating the space and manufacturing the custom sound studios. “Our soundproof studios are the most impressive element in our clubhouse,” John adds. “They are the recording and broadcast industry standard used at KQED in San Francisco and SiriusXM in Florida and Nashville.”

While the founders completed the renovation and finishing touches, adding color, texture and soundproofing, they hosted soft-launch jam nightly sessions for new members. “We were putting the wings on the plane as it was taking off,” John laughs. “When we opened, we sold 10 lifetime memberships to people who believe in what we are doing and want to be a part of it.”

Since opening its doors just six months ago, Sound Union’s growing group of members and guests have enjoyed a number of live performances from touring professionals. “We’ve hosted several Grammy winners,” says Tom. “Members get to interact with and meet the band. You can sit three feet away and talk with the band members.” Traveling musicians, some who have toured internationally, are responding enthusiastically to Sound Union’s first-class hospitality. “When bands come here, it’s not a dive bar. They see what is going on and get the vibe. It’s fun to see their reaction.”

Sound Union musicians perform for the public as well. “The newly created musical alliances have taken on a life of their own,” says Tom. Members have created events to showcase the music they are working on, with more performances in the works. “We have started to create this community where our culture embraces all talent levels,” John explains. “We have people from 25 to 75. Everyone gets in a room and they jam together.” Both founders say they enjoy a broad range of musicians and genres but agree their favorite Spotify channel currently is “Sound Union Artists and Musical Performers.”

Through the expertise of the club’s sound engineers and musicians, founding member Andy Swanson recently achieved a lifelong goal of writing and recording an original song. “I started to think about my son going off to college and what I wanted to tell him,” explains Andy. “I had a riff and a chorus. I brought the idea to Sound Union and collaborated with vocals, eight guitar tracks, drums and a gold record-sound producer that helped for the love of making music.”

Andy’s wife Aimee Swanson praises the creative, inclusive environment. She describes a recent night at Sound Union after an event ended and an impromptu session began organically. “All of a sudden there were seven musicians, including a bongo player, jamming together with a small audience!” Patrick Murphy, a Sound Union drummer who practices regularly in the studios, also notes the welcoming feel: “If I was practicing solo and someone walked by and I recognized them, I would invite them to play.”

On most evenings, members can participate in workshops and discussions on topics such as personal performance style. A recent two-hour jazz masterclass was conducted by a multiple Grammy-nominated jazz trumpeter and music educator Mike Rocha. At the weekly acoustic guitar night, Sound Union staff create a campfire atmosphere, where the lights go down and twinkle lights sparkle with the music. There’s a Sound Union app to learn about events and find other members to round out an ensemble.
What’s next? John and Tom hope to introduce the Sound Union concept in other cities throughout California and the U.S. “We want to be the place where people make the best music of their lives,” John declares. “That is a seminal part of our mission. We hope to touch a lot of lives with this.”

make a sound – soundunion.com

For photographer Devin Roberts, you couldn’t ask for a better Bay Area outlook than Mussel Rock Park on the border of Pacifica and Daly City. “The rocky coastline, sandy beaches and white-capped waves strike me as quintessential Northern California,” Devin says. On this particular day, he captured a plucky paraglider riding the updrafts. “I love the bright colors of the paraglider juxtaposed with the muted tones of the landscape, creating an image that I hope portrays the beauty and wildness of the California coast.”

Image by Devin Roberts / @devoroberts / devorobertsphotography.com

Calling all Shutterbugs: If you’ve captured a unique perspective of the Peninsula, we’d love to see your Perfect Shot. Email us at hello@punchmonthly.com to be considered for publication.

Words by Esther Young

In third grade, Shannon Haley made her most vivid feelings known in songs she wrote on piano and guitar. As a teen, she developed a big, operatic voice—and a morning ritual of singing along to the country radio station 95.3 KRTY before school. She ended her days rehearsing rigorously with Los Altos High School’s elite choir, the Main Street Singers.

In perfect harmony, just one town over in Palo Alto, Ryan Michaels absorbed songwriting inspiration from his dad, a pedal steel guitarist. Growing up in his family’s Sunnyvale music store where his parents worked, music and soccer were the only two things that mattered to him. During his teen years, he flunked out of one local high school after another, until Ryan got to Mid-Peninsula High. His guidance counselor, Heidi Scheissler, took notice of the solo trips he was making to Nashville. She submitted his songs to be graded as English projects, which enabled him to graduate early and win a full-ride soccer scholarship to Nashville’s Belmont University, a school known for its music business program.

Meanwhile, Shannon took a full-ride scholarship as an opera major at UCLA. Throughout the week, she focused on repertoire and performance. But on the weekends, she went to country bars to play her own songs. Slowly, she realized the dream driving her wasn’t singing opera at the Met. It was songwriting. Seeking a like-minded community, she started taking trips to Nashville and recorded her first demos. A friend advised her to connect with a guy there who “knew everybody.”

A few years earlier, Ryan had started a rock band that was touring nationally. He had made a name for himself, but not just in music. Having gone to countless open houses while watching his parents manage investment properties, he had developed a keen interest in real estate. Ryan obtained a real estate license and earned a reputation in Nashville circles. He was juggling both business and creative pursuits when he got a Facebook message from Shannon, asking to connect.

As Ryan describes their coffee shop meeting, “I walked in, Shannon’s sitting there and that was it.” He knew they would get married. While Shannon was a few dates away from reaching the same conclusion, both recognized that they had serious musical chemistry. “I believed in our musical connection so much that I just didn’t want both things to fall apart because we were trying to do both,” she shares. Ryan invited her to perform a song with his band at the Roxy Theatre that weekend in Los Angeles.

“When she came out to do one song with me, no one in the audience wanted to see the band anymore,” Ryan laughs. “They just wanted that: the duo.”

Instinctively, Shannon sent her producer the first song she and Ryan wrote together. Ironically, “The Price I Pay” was a breakup song, but it blended their styles perfectly. Each of their managers and producers agreed that this duo was written in the stars, but it took years to refine their sound. For their first few collaborations, they were still two separate artists singing together. “You really have to, as an artist, shed yourself,” Ryan explains, “and prioritize your artistry in this group.” Their art eventually evolved as they did—from lyrics that felt like watered-down versions of their personalities to bodies of work that truly reflected them both. These days, their synergy on stage is undeniable. It’s in the way they meet each other’s eyes while singing and the way they sway in tandem as they strum their guitars. As they found their rhythm, they caught the attention of Danny Strick, then the co-president of Sony/ATV Music Publishing, and he opened a record label for Haley & Michaels.

Ryan and Shannon got married in 2015 at the Mountain Winery in Saratoga. They compiled clips of their wedding ceremony into a music video for “Giving It All (To You),” a hit single they later played live for co-host Hoda Kotb on the Today Show. Their sweetest surprise was hearing the song on a radio in a tiki bar during their Hawaii honeymoon.

Navigating the music industry and its hurdles, they charted an independent route. They produced other artists, including father-daughter duo Mat and Savannah Shaw, whose Christmas album hit No. 1 on Billboard. Haley & Michaels also released their single “Hail Mary,” which was featured in the Netflix film Walk. Ride. Rodeo. and its music video was produced by the San Francisco 49ers and shot at Levi’s Stadium. The couple traveled to 200 cities as they promoted their first full-length album and played shows across Europe and the U.S.

When the pandemic started, they were in England opening for the likes of Darius Rucker and Eric Church. The pandemic shutdown hit while they were at Chicago’s O’Hare airport. When they finally arrived home in Nashville, it gave them time to think. “We were just so in the grind,” Shannon remembers. “If you lose perspective—even the notion that it is possible to do something else—there is no time for that.”

Later that same fateful year, the couple had their first child, Keira, welcoming her into the world with “Born Yesterday,” a sweet song that features their baby’s heartbeat while still in the womb. Two years later, little Liam followed. “Having [children] didn’t change our love of music or our desire to play concerts,” Ryan says, “but it became so easy to let go of so many things and reprioritize.” They decided that being closer to their family was most important.

Back in the Bay Area, Shannon and Ryan are among their family and childhood friends. They enjoy their favorite spots: strolling Saratoga’s Hakone Gardens on holidays, enjoying dinners at Hobee’s or an upscale evening at La Forêt in San Jose, and bringing the kids to Linden Tree Books in Los Altos, a place Shannon loved as a child.

Ryan joined The Agency, a boutique real estate and lifestyle company. “Helping people, that’s the point of our music,” he says, “and you can also do that by helping people get into their homes.” His new Los Altos office on Main Street is just blocks away from The Post, where—years before they met—Ryan and Shannon had each sat at the bar, watching halftime shows, not realizing that one day, they would be the ones performing in a stadium.

Words by Loureen Murphy

A pair of Franco-Californians stood at the threshold of a new era in their lives, as he retired and she pursued her European wine import business. When they opened the door to Kanika Design to remodel their 1977 Los Altos Hills home, they welcomed in a world of change.

Kanika Bakshi-Khurana came to the project with more than just design experience. She spent her first 10 years of life in India, and later, with husband/managing partner Adi Khurana, traveled to 60-plus countries, immersing herself in the different colors, cuisines and people. The homeowners loved Kanika’s quick response to their inquiry and the designer’s willingness to meet with them personally from the outset.
“It’s not the materials. What makes a house beautiful is you,” Kanika explains to clients. “It’s your energy.” So the right milieu for creative collaboration begins with connection. “For me, it’s mainly listening,” says the naturally shy designer. “I observe a lot,” assessing the visuals conveying their likes and wants: in short, their style. “They may say, ‘I don’t have a style.’ But we all have a style.”

Initial conversations brought these Los Altos Hills clients to a unifying theme for the whole project: open space and natural light. With this, they sought to honor their French heritage and their current lifestyle in every aspect of the remodeling.

After presenting the timeline and all costs up front, Kanika hit a snag when she and the general contractor from Lasal Construction carried out an inspection for earthquake insurance purposes. Finding significant degradation in foundational elements, Kanika helped her clients prioritize the home’s physical stability and longevity. “Our clients were happy with this proactive approach,” she says.

That done, they moved on to design matters. The entryway swallowed light, negating the impact of a single porch sconce. The massive double door was dark and used only on one side. Inside, it thwarted the airy feel that the owners sought. The solution? A lighter-toned door with a generous sidelite. Flanked by two sleek new sconces, it welcomes visitors.

The existing kitchen, though functional for the avid cooks, cried out for a style and functionality upgrade. Increasing the window size augmented the natural light from the skylight and opened up greater views onto their beautiful back garden. Widening the window meant removing the cabinets and installing a vertically textured Italian marble backsplash. The wide-grouted tile gave way to neutral quartz countertops with a larger peninsula creating more prep space. Maple cabinets below balanced the new white ones above. Their need for higher baking temperatures called for a pair of Gaggenau ovens.

Crediting her travels with an increased appreciation and knowledge of craftsmanship, Kanika introduced a show-stopper right above the new stove—an Italian hand-cut mosaic backsplash in black, white and shell, highlighted by 24K gold glass. “When it comes to quality design, no one can beat the Italians!” she says. Kanika also replaced the terracotta floor tiles in the eat-in kitchen with classic Italian porcelain checkerboard tile. The now-timeless and elegant kitchen has greatly increased functionality with dedicated places for baking sheets, spice racks and utensils within easy reach.

In the adjacent dining room, Kanika updated the recessed lighting and installed a custom oak built-in where the outdated one had occupied the end of the room. Set atop the salvaged original kitchen floor tiles, the solid oak piece serves as a prep and buffet area for entertaining. A wine cooler hides behind one of the cabinet doors, and stylish black hardware on the new unit matches that of the kitchen, tying the two rooms together. Above the built-in, free-floating shelves hold memorabilia from the homeowners’ travels. A vibrant ocean blue covers the walls, immersing the space in beauty and calm.

To achieve the overall goal, Kanika focused on the house’s common areas, removing walls between the kitchen and living space, eliminating a dark, cramped passageway and allowing a free flow between them. Enlarging the small windows invited more natural light and enhanced the home’s stunning hillside views.

Kanika says that once her clients have moved into their renovated space, she usually takes them to dinner. In this case, the delighted couple insisted on hosting her and Adi. While the aroma of a freshly baked baguette filled the house, the homeowners emphasized how much they like the subtlety of the design. And when the husband remarked with great satisfaction that it looked exactly like the rendering, Kanika thought, “We did our job right.”
“Bringing them what they’ll love is very important to me,” Kanika says. She compares the challenge of merging people’s different design styles to a marriage. “You’ve got to make both of the clients happy. At the end of the day, it’s both of their homes.” And not just a home, but a timeless haven.

seamless style – kanikadesign.com