No, 83 Isn’t Too Old to Renovate. Just Ask San Francisco Resident Roberta Gordon

Zahid Sardar
·1 min read
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After inheriting her family’s hillside home, the retired teacher made adjustments that would support her lifestyle for the years to come.

Roberta Gordon, 83 and widowed, realized during her early 20s that the ranch-style hillside home built by her father, an electrical contractor, was not accessible. She watched her aging parents struggle with the steep location and the home’s many stairs. Even though "they had added weird ramps," Roberta recalls, "I saw how difficult it was for them get older there."

Roberta Gordon’s two story hillside home in San Francisco’s Westwood Highlands neighborhood, built by her father, has been adjusted by architect David Gast and interior designer David Bjorngaard for her to age in place. A staircase from the street below leads into the former basement, now reconfigured as an additional dwelling unit for a future caretaker.

Like many homes in San Francisco’s Westwood Highlands neighborhood, the shed-roofed 1960s house was built on a slope. Its two-car garage sat at the end of a steep driveway and, several steps down, the single-story, 2,000 square-foot residence sat atop a barely finished basement that had more stairs going down to it. There was no elevator.

In 2015, Roberta inherited the house and decided to fix those problems so that she could enjoy it for the years to come. Retired from teaching, she sold her house in another part of the city where she raised her two boys before turning her attention to her parents’ property. It had a south-facing garden and views of the Golden Gate Bridge to the north. And it was beloved by family. Her younger son, Aaron Gordon, a general contractor, has fond memories of his grandparents’ workshop in the basement, where he’d play Ping-Pong and they’d host great parties. For a couple of years, Aaron used it as his office.

Stairs lead from the street to the decked entry garden, where Roberta grows herbs she cooks with. The glass door leads into the kitchen. A Koko dining table and Gigi dining chairs are from Janus et Cie.
Stairs lead from the street to the decked entry garden, where Roberta grows herbs she cooks with. The glass door leads into the kitchen. A Koko dining table and Gigi dining chairs are from Janus et Cie.
To prepare for the day she can longer use stairs, Roberta installed a lift that connects the garage with the entry garden. It’s concealed with a door that matches the home’s siding.
To prepare for the day she can longer use stairs, Roberta installed a lift that connects the garage with the entry garden. It’s concealed with a door that matches the home’s siding.

See the full story on Dwell.com: No, 83 Isn’t Too Old to Renovate. Just Ask San Francisco Resident Roberta Gordon
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