Martha Hill, a real estate agent in Oakland, Calif., was merely keeping on top of new listings in 2019 when she spotted a remarkable loft about to go on the market.
“I happened to catch it online the night before, and knew I had to make a beeline to see it, because it looked so cool,” said Ms. Hill, 58, who was born and raised in Oakland, and had lived in many parts of the city.
Lane McNab, a San Francisco-based interior designer whose work she had admired at a friend’s house. “I didn’t want to fall into the trap of having an idea in the bedroom, an idea in the dining room, an idea in the living room and an idea in the kitchen, only to have a big, open space with four ideas competing for attention,” Ms. Hill said. “And I had seen Lane’s work, and how easily and softly she captured one idea and could flow it through space.”
Cucina, a kitchen-design company based in Alameda, Calif., who improved the spatial flow and added a larger island with a Neolith counter illuminated by brass-and-walnut Arc pendant lamps from Allied Maker. That space runs into an open office by the windows, where they painted the red structural members black, so they no longer command as much attention.
Ms. Hill moved into the loft in January 2020, after the floors were replaced and the kitchen was installed, and lived there through the rest of the construction. She waited until this year to renovate the bathroom, which brought the total cost up to about $180,000.
Now, “one of my great joys is literally to sit on the couch and look through a magazine or read a book,” she said. “It’s the thing you want to do on vacation but are too busy wine tasting, riding your bike or shopping to do. It’s my sanctuary.”
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