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DLC-ID swiftly infuses a bachelor pad with color and character

Past the kitchen, a mohair sectional by Flexform rests under a charcoal raven by Eric Nash. The curtain fabric is by Coraggio Textiles and the jute and wool rug is from Mansour Modern. In the foreground, a rare pair of Reinaldo Leiro and Arnoldo Gaite Rolo armchairs, c. 1970, in chrome-plated steel and Brazilian leather add character. Photos by Douglas Friedman.

When faced with a tight timeline and a very specific budget to design a newly purchased home for a client in San Francisco, Jon De La Cruz, founder of DLC-ID, quickly made a concise plan of action. “We set out on a long weekend to Palm Springs in the off season (think 120 degree weather) when there was not a lot of competition from other design-tourists and hit all of the vintage furniture shops in the morning before it got too hot,” De La Cruz recalls. “We took pictures and prices and business cards of all of the pieces that were of interest, reviewed them poolside during the hottest parts of the day then later negotiated with the dealers via email and by about a weeks time the pieces arrived for his move in date.”

De La Cruz docked a 14′ foot Zebrino marble island in the kitchen for entertaining, giving front row seats to guests while several people can cook and prep on the active side of the kitchen. The tractor stools are from Bassa-Fellows and the vintage Bauhaus pendants are from Obsolete in Culver City. Photos by Douglas Friedman.
In the dining room, a Tronchi Murano glass chandelier is festooned over a group of rosewood Juliane dining chairs by Johannes Andersen. Medusa by Adam Fuss presides over the head of the table. Photos by Douglas Friedman.

The three-story, four bedroom, Swenson Victorian home was built in 1886 and sits high atop Liberty Hill on a quiet street just steps away from Mission Dolores Park. “There were lots of spaces to be filled, and as a person living alone he didn’t want to feel like he was moving into a vacuous home,” he says. “The homeowner is the consummate host, always gathering his eclectic group of friends for costume parties, game nights, awards shows and sports so the space had to be comfortable and open enough for standing room as well as clustered conversation.”

A pair of Cy Mann lounge chairs and a burlwood sofa and love seat by Milo Baughman circle a Percival Lafer waterfall table in a den. The Library wallcovering by artist Deborah Bowness and Fortuny Glicine pillows add dimension. Photos by Douglas Friedman.
Crowd (Where’s Warhol?) wallpaper and a wall mounted Dornbracht single arm faucet are tucked into the powder room. The multiple mirrors and reflective mylar walls create a crowded funhouse effect in what would otherwise be an impossibly small water closet.
Photos by Douglas Friedman.

Before purchasing the house, the client lived in a one bedroom apartment so the team had a long list of purchases to fill the new home. “His love of mid-century design was influenced by grandparents who owned a suite of Danish Modern furniture,” De La Cruz says. “He had previously purchased a lot of ubiquitous MCM pieces from DWR but wanted to be introduced to more collectible, unusual pieces.” The shopping trip to L.A. and Palm Springs was a success as they were able to work quickly with some of his favorite, well-established dealers on securing many pieces at very good prices because they needed restoration. “He definitely took a leap of faith when running through the dealers spaces,” he recalls. “It was almost like a scavenger hunt.”

A game area is covered in Phillip Jeffries’ Cork wallpaper. The game table is MIlo Baughman flanked by an original pair of teak Danish chairs from the owner’s grandparents’ home. Photos by Douglas Friedman.

The final result is a highly-curated treasure chest of furniture, lighting and art that tells a story in each room. “We let the pieces find us,” De La Cruz remarks. “The things that caught our attention we would find a place for, rather than set out looking for a specific size sofa chair anything. This allowed him to develop a fondness and a memory attachment to each piece and appreciate the transformation process!”

“The bedrooms were an addition to the structure, the southwest facing windows in this room were asymmetrical to negotiate around the original pitched roof line,” he recalls. “To alleviate this we composed a curtain wall headboard assembly with wool limousine cloth to provide black out privacy from nosy upslope neighbors as well as blanket the room with warmth.” Photos by Douglas Friedman.