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"There's a backyard with an unobstructed ocean view. It's unparalleled, at least on the Great Highway," Vasquez observes of the pleasantly private back garden. Likewise with the 21-foot ceiling in the original structure, he said, "I think the volume of the living room, as it overlooks the backyard and extends to the mezzanine, is something that you don't see, certainly not on the Great Highway!"
Next to that, Aidlin-Darling designed a tower pavilion connected to the house by a second-story, frosted glass bridge, and an addition that gracefully added two bedrooms and two baths to the home.
"What Aidlin-Darling got right was the scale of the structure," said Lloyd-Butler, an investment counselor by trade. "We didn't end up with [new] rooms that overwhelmed the size of the existing bedrooms…The massing of what they did was totally appropriate."
After weeding through other firms' proposals to raise up the original structure or build on top of it, he recalls, "Aidlin-Darling was the one that came up with the idea that best respected the integrity of the structure."
The addition took the home from about 2,800 square feet to around 4,000, although exact figures are not specified. Most importantly, the pavilion does not lessen what the homeowner calls "the surprise" upon entering the spectacular living room, with its brick fireplace and innovative art wall.
"It's really a stunning thing to walk in and get that surprise," he said earnestly. When that is followed by stepping into the pleasantly private backyard garden, "It's kind of like a series of surprises when you walk in."
Both Vasquez and Lloyd-Butler said the 70-year-old home is in excellent condition, and received new appliances a few years ago.
The homeowner concedes though that the floor plan could be opened up a bit by removing or reducing a partial wall that separates the kitchen from the living and dining rooms. "If there were to be a change, I think that would be it, and it's a really simple change to make," he predicted.
Another possibility would be to make a rental unit out of the pavilion bottom floor, which already has a separate entrance.
As is, though, 2020 Great Highway is truly one of more remarkable properties in San Francisco, one that Lloyd-Butler said passers-by frequently stop to admire and compliment.
"People ask to come inside," he marveled of his home's fans. "It's crazy!"