Getting it Right

Nancy and Hibbs Hawke, the creators of Hawke Building Company, had worked on countless houses since 2009, including a former one of their own, before they embarked upon the process of remodeling their forever home. A 1928 gem located in a San Francisco historic district and originally designed by Harold Stoner—an architect who influenced the style of the city’s West of Twin Peaks neighborhood—the Hawkes wanted to “do the house justice,” starting with the kitchen. They enlisted the help of Henrybuilt and Sutro Architects for the job.

There was a line to draw between classic and modern, traditional and practical, beautiful and timeless. Nancy and Hibbs needed a kitchen that would serve their needs today while sustaining its quality of design for years to come. A sense of flow with the rest of the house was important, as was peak functionality and organization: attributes core to Henrybuilt’s holistic system that the Hawkes made sure to prioritize, avoiding a “figure-it-out-later” approach to interior components. Nancy and Hibbs anticipated frequent cooking and large gatherings, and they needed a space that was engineered to accommodate that. They wanted the form and the function—and the design expertise to fulfil both seamlessly.

Having known each other for more than 20 years—and gotten married 16 ago—amid a career of remodeling others’ homes, it was time for Nancy and Hibbs to consider what they wanted for themselves. It was time to craft the perfect space to wake up to and end each day for years to come. It was time to get it right.