In the living room, a pair of Coup d’Etat waxed linen tufted sofas with gilded feet add eccentricity. Above the mantel, a 40-million-year-old ammonite from Pascal Levensohn’s collection. LEFT Belinda Levensohn.
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hen San Francisco fashion stylist Belinda Levensohn saw the Sea Cliff house, it was love at first sight. Fortunately, it was a clear day with no summer fog. Otherwise, this story might have had an entirely different outcome. “I was captivated by its refined Spanish architecture, the Pacific, the beach, the sun gleaming on the water,” recalls Belinda. “We wanted a special house with dramatic views. This was the one.” Belinda and her husband, Pascal—founder of Levensohn Venture Partners, an S.F.-based venture capital and advisory firm—had spent two years in search of a home overlooking the panoramic San Francisco Bay and Headlands. (They are the parents of Amanda, 19, an anthropology major at UCLA, and Marshall, 17, a high school senior.) “In a real estate ad, I happened to find a pretty picture of a small, primrose-colored 1937 bungalow in Sea Cliff, so I dashed out to see it,” Belinda recalls. “We loved its bones. It was neglected, but full of potential. We made the winning bid.” The Levensohns assembled their team of contractor Ben Rogne, architect Ken Linsteadt and interior designer Ken Fulk to update the decor and give the abode a more gracious feeling. They would take the architecture back to its Spanish-Moorish roots. “My background and our extensive travels in Spain and around the Mediterranean were a great foundation for developing a very specific and personal concept,” says Belinda, who was formerly the fashion director for Macy’s West. “I wanted the house to be a jewel box.” Fulk and his associate, designer Brian Anderson, worked closely with her to enhance the home’s innate CONTINUED ON PAGE 190
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