Victorian facade renovation
Downey Street. Originally a large, but undistinguished Victorian in the Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco. When renovation of the facade began, it was covered asbestos shingles, stripped of any Victorian detail it ever had. Forensic demolition indicated that it never had much detail, so we decided to create our own. Because of its severe western exposure, painting over the years had always been a big maintenance problem. For this reason it was decided to use the embossed, pre-patinated copper and brass sheet metal that is often used for decorative ceilings — a favorite material of the owner — as the cladding and for some of the moldings. The dentil rake molding at the top of the gable is copper, for instance. Two shades of gold leaf were used on the sunbursts. Major architectural elements were fabricated by Scott Wynn.