CHAPTER 3
STORY: Leilani Marie Labong
PHOTOS: JOE FLETCHER
DEEP
End
San Francisco designer Ken Fulk recharges a historical brick building into The Battery, an exclusive hangout for the society set, the digerati and the fringe. Here’s a look at one of the spaces designed for peace and (dog-eared) pages. In the glory days of San Francisco’s Gold Rush era, large ships dropped anchor at the rollicking Barbary Coast (known today as the Jackson Square design district), providing ungainly fortune hunters curbside access to the city’s best opium dens and brothels. Where docks once existed, turn-of-the-century brick-and-timber structures now stand. Inside the historical Musto Building, which has been transformed into a fashionable new members-only social club called The Battery by acclaimed SF designer Ken Fulk, one particularly dark and contemplative space bears the name of the legendary waterfront. Taking cues from the area’s maritime history, Fulk painted the walls and ceiling of the Barbary Coast Library in a deep navy blue C2 Paints shade called Moby Dick. The bold oceanic hue sets the stage for the design’s unique conversation pieces. A large-scale early-1900s metal sign from an East Coast naval museum depicts an old ship a-sailing; a creepy-chic chandelier of seven taxidermy birds represents not just the seven hills of San Francisco but also a squawking, fish-preying flock (practically a prerequisite for the life aquatic) and a beautiful floor is made of reclaimed oak planks arranged in a handsome herringbone pattern to evoke a ship’s deck. Although the building’s century-old brick shell and some original redwood columns were preserved, the brand-new interior architecture, a collaboration between Ken Fulk Inc. and SF design studio Fee Munson Ebert, still manages to recall a bygone era. “Even though we started over inside, we
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CALIFORNIAHOMEDESIGN.com WINTER 2013
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