S - Leverone Design

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Life imitates art
in a Presidio Heights
home (p. 52).
SEXY
VEGGIES
at Verbena
P
O
P IFE
L
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A blue-chip art collection
lightens the mood in this stately
Presidio Heights abode.
BY E R I N F E H E R
p h ot o g r a p h y b y m i m i g i b o i n
Art advisor Tom O’Connor
(right) helped Suzette
Curtis and her husband
find pieces to suit both
their new home and their
personalities. Witty works
and Pop Art, such as a trio
of portraits by Alex Katz,
express the couple’s
desire for a home that’s
“not too serious.”
The combination
sitting room and
kitchen is meant for
living: classic Emeco
chairs offer sunny
seating options; an
overstuffed sectional
sits beneath a wall of
framed prints by
Banksy, Wayne
Thiebaud, and David
Hockney; and an
indoor-outdoor
coffee table by Frank
Gehry is practically
bullet proof.
S
uzette Curtis and her husband have a sizable collection of works by Banksy, the British street artist. Being smart collectors, they
always ensure they’re buying the real McCoy
by working with Banksy’s authentication organization, Pest Control. “The name of the place tells you that
he doesn’t take people like us very seriously,” says Curtis,
also a London native. “We are the pests.” And that’s exactly
what the couple loves about him. Conversely, when they
fancied some work by a well-known San Francisco–based
street artist, they attended a talk he gave at the Berkeley Art
Museum and quickly determined his work was not for them.
“He was incredibly pretentious and took himself so seriously
we couldn’t bear to have it in our house,” recalls Curtis.
This collecting philosophy has resulted in a home filled
with winks, nods, and a couple hundred scantily clad sunbathing
Sicilians. From Massimo Vitali to Wayne Thiebaud to Andy Warhol,
the works that line the walls present a world that is colorful,
clever, and never dreary—adjectives that could just as accurately
describe the couple.
54
7 X 7. CO M
They met 10 years ago while working for competing computer companies. When those rival businesses merged, so did
they. In 2012, they moved with their three young children into
their present home: a stately 8,000-square-foot Presidio Heights
stunner, previously owned by a tech super couple and decorated
by design luminary Ken Fulk. The family arrived with their own
dream team: art adviser Tom O’Connor and designer Matthew
Leverone. O’Connor was a kindred spirit whom they had met at a
neighborhood party—they hit it off when Curtis volunteered her
husband to dress up as Arnold Schwarzenegger for a campy serenade (“I loved them instantly,” says O’Connor), and their friendship was made official when O’Connor gave them sage advice on
a sculpture they were considering (“Pass. It’s overpriced.”). He
was soon accompanying the couple to art auctions and events,
such as Art Basel Miami Beach, to beef up their collection. Meanwhile, Leverone was sourcing statement pieces—such as Oskar
Zieta’s Chippensteel chair, Frank Gehry’s molded polymer coffee
table, and a custom sideboard in nuclear orange—informed by
his clients’ taste in art. “Once I saw their collection, I knew they
were willing to go there,” says Leverone of the bolder items he
picked for the house.
The design process was a fairly quick one, thanks in part
to the quality canvas they started with. “The former homeowners
have great taste, and Ken Fulk is a design genius,” says Curtis.
“I wanted the living
room to be populated
with people,” says
Curtis. So, Massimo
Vitali’s Sicilian beach
scene was an obvious
choice. Designer
Matthew Leverone
further played to his
clients’ love of fun
with such whimsical
furnishings as this
Ron Arad rocking chair.
TO WO R K W IT H
T H E I R CO L L ECT IO N S
A N D P E RSO N AL IT IES,
FU L K’S E XU BERAN CE
N E E D E D A DASH
O F L EV E RO N E’S
R EST RA I N T.
The living room
shelves are home to
ceramic sculptures by
Matt Gil and The
Souper Dress by Andy
Warhol. A Blow Up
sheet metal chair by
Oskar Zieta blurs the
line between Pop Art
and playful design.
The Ken
Fulk-designed
backdrop of
stark white and
glossy black is
a dramatic
backdrop for
bold art and
furniture with
serene lines.
In their previous
house, this Markus
Linnenbrink drip
painting was in the
bedroom, and Curtis
wasn’t wild about the
piece. But when she
hung it in the dining
room, she fell in love
with it all over again.
“It was like this house
was waiting for our
art,” she says.
O’Connor spotted this cloud
sculpture by Sanford
Biggers at the Chicago Art
Fair. He knew instantly that
his clients would love it.
PROP STYLIST: ROSY STRAZZERI-FRIDMAN
Throughout the house, art
and design interact in
impactful ways. Leverone
custom-designed the
orange sideboard, which
picks up the hue in a pair of
Keith Haring prints. A
high-gloss black Matt Gil
sculpture complements
Kartell’s Super Impossible
dining chairs.
“I can’t thank them enough for the time and trouble they saved
me.” The walls, ceilings, and floors were mostly left the same—
including an entryway done in nine coats of British racing green
automotive paint and a stark white dining room with inky black
moldings. “Every wall had gorgeous, thoughtful textures—things
you don’t find every day of the week,” says Curtis. To work with
their collection and their personalities, Fulk’s exuberance needed
a dash of Leverone’s restraint. The majority of furnishings and
textiles Leverone brought in were decidedly modern and neutral
in order to let the artwork shine. “With this project, we started
with the art, and the furnishings came in to complement that,”
says Leverone. “In most projects, it’s the other way around. I
really appreciated working with people who put the art first.”
This “art first” philosophy was carried out in different
rooms in different ways. It was decided that the living room—
which Curtis worried was at risk of becoming a formal, infrequently visited space—was to be “populated with people.” She
started with a Massimo Vitali photograph of hundreds of bathers
on a beach in Sicily. Next, a trio of portraits by Alex Katz was
installed above the sofa. Finally, a dress sculpted out of Campbell’s soup cans by Andy Warhol was placed near the window—
providing an ethereal silhouette and an ever-present guest for a
family who loves a good gathering. “We always match art to the
mood of the room,” says Curtis. “The kitchen is for being social
[more than a dozen prints of different styles mix and mingle on
the wall], the dining room is for eating, drinking, and being merry
[an exuberant drip painting by Markus Linnenbrink and two
colorful Keith Haring prints grace the space], and the entryway
sets the tone and says hello [a portrait of an orangutan by Warhol
welcomes guests].”
O’Connor emphasizes that all of the works were acquired
with a space in mind. “They buy because they love the work and
the artist, but they always know where it will go,” says O’Connor.
Place and passion seem to be the only things driving the couple’s
acquisitions. “We don’t buy for financial reasons. We just buy
what we love,” says Curtis. “It’s very emotional. You can read up
on the artists, and you can educate yourself. But for me, it’s about
that visceral reaction. You have to have that pull.”
7 X 7. CO M
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