Welcome to The Boxwood House, my home away from home for just one amazing night.
My friend has lovingly restored, designed and decorated this very special San Francisco home. It was quite a project that she and her husband dedicated 2013 to and they offered it to us for the night of my 60th birthday.
To say that I was excited is an understatement!
The moment you walk through the door, the home welcomes with its classic elegance.
The living room in its 50 shades of gray.
The word that comes to my mind is "sexy!"
The chesterfield sofa is upholstered in pewter velvet, the armchairs in a gray wool menswear stripe and the draperies are a wool stripe as well.
The view however is what you notice when you walk into this room.
Just outside the window is the Palace of Fine Arts, built in 1915 as part of the Panama-Pacific International Exposition. In fact this home sits on one of the sites of the original Expo.
Talk about San Francisco history!
The dining room features an exquisite crystal chandelier.
Almost all the chandeliers in this home are vintage crystal, curated over time and restored by my friend's husband.
The etageres have an amazing collection of vintage books about San Francisco, California and the Panama-Pacific Exposition.
The buffet is burl wood, found at a consignment center and refurbished.
The kitchen is located in the back of the house and features gorgeous soapstone counters...
...and Sub-zero refrigerator and Wolf range.
And a fabulous chandelier!
I'm in love with the soapstone sink.
The kitchen has an eat-in breakfast area too.
And another fabulous chandelier!
Let's go upstairs to the master suite which also looks out to the Palace.
All I can say is sleeping here was an amazing experience.
First of all the view is killer and second the bed with its Frette sheets are so luxurious.
I slept like a baby!
Another fabulous chandelier too!
The master bath has a wonderful black and white marble check floor.
Oh, and did I mention the floor is heated? Yes it is!
Imagine waking up in the morning, walking into the bathroom with bare feet only to realize the floor is warm! So luxurious!
I have a confession.
I pretended that I live here!
There I said it.
There are two more bedrooms upstairs, as well as another bathroom and laundry room.
This room features a king bed with a sitting room.
The third bedroom has a full size canopy bed.
I felt like Goldilocks!
Seriously, I wanted to crawl into each bed!
The upstairs bathroom even has a view of the Palace from the shower!
Going back downstairs....
Even though this is an outside room, it is very protected from the San Francisco weather.
With a fireplace at one end and several outdoor heaters, it stays pretty cozy, especially if you close the curtains.
Under the loggia there is also an outdoor kitchen and dining area.
The "man cave" is wallpapered in grasscloth and features leather sofas, a huge flat screen television on one end of the room...
...and a kitchen on the other end, complete with a kegerator.
A bar cart is at the ready under a vintage maritime painting.
Most of the art in the house is either of San Francisco, vintage Panama-Pacific prints or is maritime themed.
The backyard is formal with an abundance of boxwood.
My friend has lovingly restored, designed and decorated this very special San Francisco home. It was quite a project that she and her husband dedicated 2013 to and they offered it to us for the night of my 60th birthday.
To say that I was excited is an understatement!
The moment you walk through the door, the home welcomes with its classic elegance.
The word that comes to my mind is "sexy!"
The chesterfield sofa is upholstered in pewter velvet, the armchairs in a gray wool menswear stripe and the draperies are a wool stripe as well.
Just outside the window is the Palace of Fine Arts, built in 1915 as part of the Panama-Pacific International Exposition. In fact this home sits on one of the sites of the original Expo.
Almost all the chandeliers in this home are vintage crystal, curated over time and restored by my friend's husband.
The etageres have an amazing collection of vintage books about San Francisco, California and the Panama-Pacific Exposition.
The buffet is burl wood, found at a consignment center and refurbished.
The kitchen is located in the back of the house and features gorgeous soapstone counters...
...and Sub-zero refrigerator and Wolf range.
And a fabulous chandelier!
The kitchen has an eat-in breakfast area too.
And another fabulous chandelier!
Let's go upstairs to the master suite which also looks out to the Palace.
All I can say is sleeping here was an amazing experience.
First of all the view is killer and second the bed with its Frette sheets are so luxurious.
I slept like a baby!
Another fabulous chandelier too!
Oh, and did I mention the floor is heated? Yes it is!
Imagine waking up in the morning, walking into the bathroom with bare feet only to realize the floor is warm! So luxurious!
I pretended that I live here!
There I said it.
There are two more bedrooms upstairs, as well as another bathroom and laundry room.
This room features a king bed with a sitting room.
The third bedroom has a full size canopy bed.
I felt like Goldilocks!
Seriously, I wanted to crawl into each bed!
The upstairs bathroom even has a view of the Palace from the shower!
...I forgot to mention there is a small room off the hall that serves as an office.
That mirror is actually a television by the way!
I love this room. It is upholstered in gray flannel which makes it even more cozy.
Across the hall from the office is a full bath that services the main floor and has a Palace view as well.
On the ground level, at the back of the house is an amazing outdoor area featuring a curtained loggia and a "man cave" that I could just move right in to!
With a fireplace at one end and several outdoor heaters, it stays pretty cozy, especially if you close the curtains.
Under the loggia there is also an outdoor kitchen and dining area.
The "man cave" is wallpapered in grasscloth and features leather sofas, a huge flat screen television on one end of the room...
...and a kitchen on the other end, complete with a kegerator.
A bar cart is at the ready under a vintage maritime painting.
Most of the art in the house is either of San Francisco, vintage Panama-Pacific prints or is maritime themed.
The backyard is formal with an abundance of boxwood.
Back upstairs, the sun is setting and the house begins to take on a warm, romantic glow.
The Palace is glowing outside the living room window as the "blue hour" descends.
Night time at The Boxwood House is absolutely magnificent and we were pinching ourselves as it got dark and the Palace took center stage.
As we toasted my 60th birthday with glasses of very special champagne, we decided we could never tire of this view!
A special thank you to my friend Teresa for making my birthday so very special and whose talent and attention to detail has been an inspiration to me for over 27 years.
I am very honored to have been a small part of this project, offering my opinion whether they wanted it or not, as well as the official photographer!
For more information on The Boxwood House, visit their Airbnb site here, or the VRBO site here.
A website is in progress and I will share it as soon as it is ready.
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