A House Designed for the SEM (Single, Elegant Male)

“He is like a straight, British Anderson Cooper who drives an Aston Martin,” says interior designer Benjamin Dhong describing his San Francisco, Marina-dwelling client. Dhong was hired to bring a blend of modernity and elegance to the man’s new three-story townhouse. The designer describes the assignment as “a master class in problem solving.” Dhong met the challenge with a unique blend of styles and materials, and the result is an interior that makes the grade.

Mary Jo Bowling

Photo credit: Courtesy Benjamin Dhong Interior Design

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Sensual 70s Living Room

"The 1970s were sensual, and so is this cream-colored coffee table from that era," says Dhong of the goatskin-covered piece with brass inlays. "I wanted that jolt of sexy for this room, plus it looks good against the dark colors around it." The chairs, clearly inspired by Arne Jacobsen's famous Egg design, were purchased on Amazon. "I bought them intending to recover them," says Dhong. "But I was pleasantly surprised by their good quality. They didn't need a thing."
Photo credit: Courtesy Benjamin Dhong Interior Design

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Refined Wink

“I wanted the interior look like it belonged to a refined, but modern, gentleman,” says Dhong. In a sitting room, the designer mounted panels of neoclassic grisaille (a monochromatic image executed in shades of gray) wallpaper on a board and hung it as art. It’s the perfect foil for the classic midcentury masterpiece: the Eames La Chaise. “The chair is sensuous, it almost looks like a woman lying there,” says Dhong. “It’s a polyglot of styles, but it is meant to seem as if everything was acquired over time.”
Photo credit: Courtesy Benjamin Dhong Interior Design

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The Demise of Trad

“A living room with the traditional sofa, coffee table and two clubs chairs is just not interesting to me—it is so boring,” says Dhong. Instead the designer creates multiple seating areas in a single room. “I’d just returned from Morocco, and there you sit quite close to people and it’s intimate. It really influenced me,” he says. Dhong removed a little used, built-in cabinet and replaced it with a tufted banquette backed by squares of patinated mirror and fronted by Moroccan occasional tables.
Photo credit: Courtesy Benjamin Dhong Interior Design

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One Room, Many Options

Dhong envisioned the living room as a masculine London salon. One of the many places to gather is the game table to the right of the fireplace. The designer installed a modern prismatic artwork over the mantel and two ornate brass seahorses on either side. "They have so much personality," he says. "The are almost like little dogs. Their ornate details are highlighted against the dark painting."

Sensual 70s Living Room	Refined Wink	The Demise of Trad
One Room, Many Options	Dining Room Hallway	Space at the Table
Silver and Gold	Nature Bath	Open Dining Room
Master Bedroom