Property of Mr. Lowell Groves, designer-importer | Architect Roy Starbird

What the creative eye can see in unlikely material is illustrated in these views of designer-importer Lowell Groves' remodeled top floor apartment in a narrow old two-story house on San Francisco's Telegraph Hill. Until architect Roy Starbird and Mr. Groves went to work on it, the upper floor was a cramped railroad-type flat walled off from the Hill's matchless view. Now front walls of glass and a deck open it to San Francisco's hills and bay. The restrained decorating treatment of stark white walls and dark bare floors composes the most effective setting for the owner's fine collection of antique Dutch East Indian furniture and Far East art objects.

Of interest in the decorating scheme are the vertically striped blinds in navy and white to draw over the window walls at night, an accent of color in the simple living-dining room. Though the apartment is small, adroit use of niches and corridor and kitchen walls for storage contributes to the illusion of space. An uninterrupted view through the living area from the deck emphasizes both the dramatic qualities of the possessions Mr. Groves has collected and the serenity of the setting.

The interior walls are painted white, against which the dark woods and brass trim of the furniture stand out in sharp relief. The cool effect is reminiscent of colonial houses in India. Textured beige silk covers the sofa and natural linen is used on the chairs. The 18th century highboy was made in Ceylon by the Dutch and based on English designs of the period of William and Mary, modified with native Indian brass work. The dining table, a family heirloom, was once a sewing table. It is in perfect scale with the Regency chairs upholstered in navy blue tweed. Rickshaw lamps flank the 19th century Chinese oil painting of Park Street, Calcutta.

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source: House and Garden Magazine | November 1956