Quiet Luxury
Menlo Park, CAA Silicon Valley couple with high-powered work lives came to us seeking an antidote: a home that felt understated and serene, with rooms that would soothe rather than shout. Working with a local team of architect, builder, and landscape designer, we created an 11,700-square-foot Menlo Park residence that feels closer to a watercolor than a blueprint. Restraint became the guiding principle, expressed through a hushed palette of whites and natural tones accented with pale sage woodwork. Here, texture does the work that color might elsewhere: pale wood planks line a bedroom ceiling, while a sculptural soaking tub is set against a wall of narrow handmade tiles laid vertically. The tranquil result is a home that offers quiet relief from the velocity of everyday life.
- Sullivan StudioInterior Designer
- CKA ArchitectsArchitect
- Westcott ConstructionBuilder
- Keith WilligLandscape Architect
- Brad KnipsteinPhotographer
- Michael WaltersStylist
The wife’s Japanese heritage informed many of the home’s defining details, from chrysanthemum-patterned screens that form a gossamer threshold between the hall and living room, to a botanical wallcovering in the dining room that evokes mountains and meadows.
The clients wanted something minimalistic and soft—nothing loud at all.
The dining room is like a Japanese landscape—wallpaper that looks like mountains, lighting that resembles dewdrops.
The lower level is largely devoted to the family’s three children—each with their own bedroom, and a shared family room that includes a bunk bed for sleepovers. Here, playful pops of color—orange sconces, yellow cushions—combine with details like planked wood paneling that tie the décor in with the upstairs. “They didn’t want a room that was hands-off,” says Sullivan Studio senior designer Yoko Kato. “Every room is conducive to having kids around.”
