Material World: Glass artist shatters convention L5
Golden Gate Gardener: Strange beauty in the yard L3
Home&Garden San Francisco Chronicle and SFGate.com | Sunday, June 13, 2010 | Section L
Lea Suzuki / The Chronicle
AT HOME WITH JAY JEFFERS
Jay Jeffers in the dining room of the Castro district home he shares with partner Michael Purdy. “Michael and I would like to try high-rise living,’’ he says.
The house as style lab Edwardian cottage is an incubator for S.F. decorator’s evolving tastes By Leilani Marie Labong SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE
“Soul is the most important part of a home,” says San Francisco interior designer Jay Jeffers, 41, in the dining room of his 1908 Edwardian cottage in the Castro, wistfully gazing up at its eclectic gallery-style arrangement of art — mostly portraits of unknown people that portray, en masse, a captive audience. In this moment, Jeffers’ words are tinged with nostalgia. The spectators appear
solemn and sympathetic. The concept of soul — or, rather, the history that shapes it — has been resonating strongly with the designer lately, as new inspiration beckons and he prepares for a literal vertical move. Many times since Jeffers purchased the 1,500-square-foot home in 2001, he and his partner, Michael Purdy, have stood on its wraparound deck, where their survey of the far-reaching eastern views has unknowingly (read: auspiciously) grazed the tops of the sparkling new residential towers in SoMa and Rincon Hill. “Michael and I would like to try high-rise living,” says Jeffers. The decision was, understandably, bittersweet for the couple, considering the pivotal occasions that have transpired here (cue sentimental music): star-studded Independence
Joe Fletcher Photography
Persimmon, a shade that Jeffers considers a neutral, is echoed throughout the house.
Day bashes (who knew that Nate Berkus could draw such a crowd?); the arrival of Jeffers’ cocker spaniel, Kingsley, a surprise gift from Purdy several Thanksgivings ago; the cou-
ple’s celebratory soiree commemorating their impromptu City Hall nuptials in 2004. “If the house were on fire, I’d grab the Venetian mirrored frame with our wedding photo,” says Purdy. Of course, there is also Jeffers’ career to reflect upon. Over the past decade, the twobedroom, 2½-bath dwelling — essentially his style laboratory — has gallantly served as a canvas for three design makeovers, each a hallmark of the decorator’s evolving tastes. The first manifestation was a bold color expression of chocolate-brown walls and textiles ornamented with pops of lacquered chartreuse midcentury furnishings. “Ten years ago, midcentury was still innovative,” says Jeffers, whose keen eye for forthcoming trends, strongly evident in each of his
Jeffers continues on L4
THE DIRT By Joe Eaton and Ron Sullivan
Art-filled garden a fitting legacy In Big Daddy’s Complete Rejuvenating Community Garden, art, flowers and vegetables flourish atop an unlikely sliver of asphalt wedged between MacArthur Boulevard and Interstate 580 in Emeryville. The eponymous Big Daddy, local artist Vickie Jo Sowell told us, is the late Mr. Green, who ran a detail shop, car wash and gas station on the Peralta Street lot. He was a minister — so dignified she remembers him
by his honorific, not his first name — and a neighborhood guardian angel when she moved there in the 1980s. After his passing, a grandson continued the business, but a fire destroyed the buildings and the lot lay empty until 2002, when Sowell approached the city of Emeryville about reclaiming it as gardening space. Now the city leases the lot from Mr. Green’s landlord for $250 every three years. Each of 20 participating fami-
lies pays $35 a year for water. Finessing the problem of contaminated soil, Sowell’s crew built raised planting beds on top of the asphalt. West Oakland resident Deb Lozier, who’d collaborated with Sowell on public art projects, signed up quickly for a bed. “We live in a live-work building with no garden space, just a little spot for a worm box,” Lozier said. “We were excited to participate. It’s really great to have the
Dirt continues on L5
Mike Kepka / The Chronicle
Vickie Jo Sowell, who created Big Daddy’s Complete Rejuvenating Community Garden, checks her crops.