Retro Nouveau: Storied Elements Honor a Home’s Heritage

When designer Noz Nozawa worked with a couple on their San Francisco condo, the palette was mainly black, white, and gray. Several years later, now with three young children and a recently purchased house, they tapped Nozawa again with a new wish list: family-friendly spaces and color.

The 1930s Rousseau storybook house was designed by architect Oliver Rousseau, whose famed Bay Area homes are known for enchanting flourishes like arched doorways and oversized windows. A renovation expanded it to four bedrooms and four-and-a-half baths. “I hoped to create a design for this house that told the family’s story but also captured the story of the original architecture,” says Nozawa. She dubbed it “retro nouveau”—a modern aesthetic layered with pattern and vintage-style touches.

A nearby park inspired verdant hues and lots of natural wood. The kitchen has vivid, playful greens. Pop stars include the powder-coated BlueStar refrigerator and range, cabinets with a custom wash, and a terrazzo checkerboard floor. Neutral tile and white Cambria natural quartz countertops balance out the aesthetic. Nozawa chose Cambria’s Whitehall quartz design. “I like the soft, warm undertone and the speckle of gray, which feels retro but in a contemporary material,” she says. “The couple enjoy cooking together, and I didn’t want anything that would reveal stains—it’s forgiving. And it’s cool that it’s made in the Midwest, it’s always great to buy American.”

Nozawa tied the kitchen and dining room together with rounded corners on the island and the dining table, greenstriped upholstery on the whimsical Henning Kjærnulf chairs, and reeded woodwork on the island and wet bar. When the client wondered if reeding was too trendy, recalls Nozawa, “I was like, if you love it, it’s a good design!” She arranged sculptural tiles by ceramic artist Linda Fahey on the bar’s backsplash and sprinkled a few doughnut-shaped tiles onto the kitchen backsplash as well.

Full of natural light, the living room invites lounging with a chaise sofa in performance chenille and 1970s Italian Space Age chairs. An inset bookcase, original to the house, lends a cozy touch, while the sofa’s moss hue shows that botanical tones can be just as magical as bold greens.

Downstairs, a guest suite bathroom delivers refreshed classic style with hunter green beadboard, concrete basins, and mini globe sconces. Nozawa went with Cambria’s Salt Lake design for the vanity top. “It looks as lovely as [the Cambria] in the kitchen, and the continuity contributes to the effortless flow of the house,” she says. The overall redesign marks a new chapter for a legendary residence and the family who calls it home.

Read this article as it appears in the magazine.

Anchor Vintage Forms so They Feel Edited Not Themed

Balance one or two heritage silhouettes with cleanlined furnishings and contemporary materials so your space feels curated and current. You can create a similar aesthetic in your home with some of our favorites for interiors from Stoffer Home.