San Francisco designer Charles de Lisle needs no introduction among the design cognoscenti. He’s been the arbiter of cool for a couple of decades in the Bay Area, orchestrating interiors for local luminaries as well as far-flung clients. And he’s on the 2022 AD 100 list, the holy grail for designers.
But the project we most admire is his own Sonoma retreat—a simple yet sophisticated compound featuring repurposed, reclaimed, and eco-friendly elements—which he shares with his partner Ralph Dennis, a designer with Studio Volpe.
Above: De Lisle installed solar panels and sourced vintage windows from an old Air Force base. “I had always wanted to build my own house, and this site reminded me of where I grew up in Western Massachusetts.”
Scout the Salvage Yards
Above: A propane Jøtul stove (“it’s less spark inducing than a wood-burning stove”) supplements heat generated by the solar panels. The black chair next to the stove is by Italian designer Gaetano Pesci and the chaise longue is by Bruno Mathsson—”I like a funny mashup of things that are important and things that are not.”
Repurpose Family Stalwarts
Above: The interior is fully cladded in plywood. De Lisle repurposed a vintage shop work bench as a dining table (his father, a high school history teacher, rescued it; it still has teenage initials carved on the surface). The table is surrounded by vintage Josef Hoffmann bentwood chairs. De Lisle used Kohler fixtures for the existing cast-concrete laundry sink (“it was the only piece we kept from the original cabin”). The industrial worktable is from Grainger.
Beautify Inelegant Appliances
Above: De Lisle encased a refrigerator (including the pulls) from his previous SF office in plywood.
Designate Zones for Living
Above: In the main living area, De Lisle deployed pieces from previous projects, including Japanese tansu chests and Charlotte Perriand-inspired daybeds.
Bathrooms Should Be Beautiful
Above: The bathing pavilion is enobled by a graphic Noguchi lamp.
Don’t Overthink It
Above: The linen sink skirt is a remnant from a previous project.
Repurpose Elements from Past Projects
Above: The floor is composed of eco-friendly cork-backed Marmoleum squares. The TP holder was a speaker shelf in De Lisle’s former office in SF.
Embrace Outdoor Bathing
Above: A Japanese cedar soaking tub is perched on the bathhouse deck.
Look to the Hardware Store
Above: De Lisle installed a sturdy Kohler outdoor shower, which was originally designed for state parks. Above: The pool is a simple affair; poured concrete with a deck embedded with local fieldstone.
When you register as a free Member of the Remodelista family of websites (Remodelista, Gardenista, and The Organized Home), you gain access to all current posts plus 10 archived posts per month, our internal bookmarking tool, and the community bulletin board.
Access 10 archived posts (older than one year) per month on each site
Use of our internal bookmark tool, so you can save products, posts, and other pages for quick reference
Access to our community bulletin board so you can ask and answer design-related questions
Unlimited access to the Product Catalogs, Design Travel sources, and Architect & Designer Directory listings
Choose from our ten newsletters to keep up with the latest on the sites
Or Subscribe for Maximum Value!
For $5/month ($59.99 paid annually) you'll enjoy unlimited, ad-free access to Remodelista, Gardenista, and The Organized Home and all the benefits of Membership.
Annual subscribers pay 50% off the monthly subscription price of $9.99
×
Subscribe to the Remodelista family of websites
For $5/month ($59.99 paid annually) you'll enjoy unlimited, ad-free access to Remodelista, Gardenista, and The Organized Home and all the benefits of Membership.
Annual subscribers pay 50% off the monthly subscription price of $9.99
×
Sorry! As a registered member you get 10 free posts from our archive (posts more than a year old) every 30 days. You have reached your limit for this 30-day period. If you would like to access unlimited posts from the archive (ad free, too), become a subscriber today, and keep reading as many articles as you want.
Full Access Individual Subscription
Benefits include:
Unlimited access to Remodelista, Gardenista, and The Organized Home sites
Ad-free browsing environment
Unrestricted access to 30,000+ archived posts
Receive the full-text daily newsletters
All features that Members have access to
Annual subscribers pay just 50% off the monthly subscription price of $9.99
Sorry! You have reached your limit of three (3) free posts from our archive every 30 days. You can increase this to 10 posts by joining as a free Member, or read unlimited posts with no ads by becoming a paid Subscriber.
Subscribe to the Remodelista family of websites
For $5/month ($59.99 paid annually) you'll enjoy unlimited, ad-free access to Remodelista, Gardenista, and The Organized Home and all the benefits of Membership.
Annual subscribers pay 50% off the monthly subscription price of $9.99
Become a Member at no charge
When you register as a free Member of the Remodelista family of websites (Remodelista, Gardenista, and The Organized Home), you gain access to all current posts plus 10 archived posts per month, our internal bookmarking tool, and the community bulletin board.
Access 10 archived posts (older than one year) per month on each site
Use of our internal bookmark tool, so you can save products, posts, and other pages for quick reference
Access to our community bulletin board so you can ask and answer design-related questions
Unlimited access to the Product Catalogs, Design Travel sources, and Architect & Designer Directory listings
Choose from our ten newsletters to keep up with the latest on the sites
Manage Newsletters
Congratulations on becoming a Subscriber to Remodelista, Gardenista and The Organized Home! You now have access to many great features across the sites:
Unlimited access to all three sites
Ad-free browsing environment
Unrestricted access to 30,000+ archived posts
Receive any of the newsletters, including the the full-text daily Remodelista and Gardenista newsletters
Use of our internal bookmark tool, so you can save products, posts, and other pages for quick reference
Access to our community bulletin board so you can ask and answer design-related questions
Congratulations on joining as a free Member of Remodelista, Gardenista and The Organized Home! You now have access to many great features across the sites:
Access to all posts published in the past year
Access 10 archived posts (older than one year) per month on each site
Use of our internal bookmark tool, so you can save products, posts, and other pages for quick reference
Access to our community bulletin board so you can ask and answer design-related questions
Unlimited access to the Product Catalogs, Design Travel sources, and Architect & Designer Directory listings
Choose from our ten newsletters to keep up with the latest on the sites
If at any time you want to become a Subscriber and enjoy unlimited, ad-free access to all our content, just go to the My Account link and choose Subscribe.