A Labor of Love

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In a century-old house, a couple conjures soulful spaces for their family

While many elements in the living room were preserved—like the woodwork and leaded-glass bookcase doors—the white oak chevron-patterned flooring and marble fireplace surround are new. Photos by Nicole Franzen, styled by Rod Hipskind.

As proprietors of a construction company and a design practice, husband and wife Mike Shankman and Kenly Lambie have completed numerous residential projects independently of one another. About five years ago they embarked on their first joint undertaking—which was significant in many ways, but in particular because it was the couple’s own 1911 abode in the Claremont Court neighborhood of Berkeley. “It was a labor of love, for sure,” says Lambie, who earned her master’s in architecture from the California College of the Arts.

The living room’s custom daybed is upholstered in Italian velvet and the Turkish rug is vintage.
Photos by Nicole Franzen, styled by Rod Hipskind.
The kitchen’s custom white oak cabinetry is topped with marble, and the hand- spun pendant lights over the island are by Anchor Ceramics. Photos by Nicole Franzen, styled by Rod Hipskind.

While her firm’s moniker, Studio Muir, pays tribute to her grandmother Edla Muir—a pioneering architect who lived and worked mainly in California—his NOA Design + Construction is named for the couple’s daughter. After living in New York and San Francisco together, they made the move to the East Bay, in proximity to one of Lambie’s best friends. “Mike and I fell in love with the house,” she recalls. “The previous owners had taken good care of it; a lot of the old woodwork was beautifully preserved. But they hadn’t updated the layout or finished the top-floor attic space.”

The pantry, painted in Farrow & Ball’s Mizzle, is outfitted with integrated Gaggenau appliances; the brass faucets are by Rohl, the sconce is by Wo & Wé and the ceiling lights are by Allied Maker.
Photos by Nicole Franzen, styled by Rod Hipskind.
The deck is composed of Garapa wood and furnished with Moroccan chairs comprised of nutwood and palm leaf webbing, as well as terra-cotta pots. Photos by Nicole Franzen, styled by Rod Hipskind.

Hence, she and Shankman tapped into their skills and talents to tailor the 5,000-square-foot house for their family of five while honoring the building’s heritage. The original façade was preserved, including the roof shingles, chimney, copper gutters, downspouts and leaderheads. Inside, the living room’s quarter-sawn oak woodwork was sanded and refinished, yielding a lighter tone. The original leaded-glass bookcase doors were restored and the built-in seating in the bay window reupholstered. Newly introduced are the chevron-patterned white oak flooring and white marble fireplace surround. Illuminating the generously sized venue are original wall sconces that were restored, as well as new silk pendants by Nedgis.

The dining room, which retained its original Brazilian redwood paneling, includes an Ovature Studios chandelier, new chevron-patterned oak flooring and Bertoia chairs that the homeowner acquired 20 years ago. Photos by Nicole Franzen, styled by Rod Hipskind.
The powder room was modernized with custom tambour wainscot paneling, painted in Farrow & Ball’s Dove Tale; the brass faucet is by Waterworks and the pendant is by Allied Maker. Photos by Nicole Franzen, styled by Rod Hipskind.

Elsewhere on this level, the small existing kitchen and family sitting room were redefined. “Our goal,” Lambie explains, “was to create a new, enlarged kitchen with a separate, functional pantry—reorienting this space to bring in more light in a way that would feel seamlessly integrated with the rest of the house.” New windows and patio door systems by Loewen coax sunlight into the kitchen, which leads out onto a deck. (The landscape was the purview of Stephens Design Studio and Melinda Filice.) Stools alongside the ample island encourage hanging out in the kitchen, as does a built-in sofa comprised of oak and leather upholstery.

The foyer’s quarter-sawn oak paneling was restored and new chevron- patterned oak flooring introduced; the pendant is by Ovature Studios and the picture lights by Urban Electric. Photos by Nicole Franzen, styled by Rod Hipskind.
The snug’s rosy walls are a custom Benjamin Moore color; the sofa with an integrated side table is also custom, upholstered in a Perennials fabric, while the sconce is from Obsolete and the pendant is by Made by Hand. Photos by Nicole Franzen, styled by Rod Hipskind.

Throughout the house, built-in elements conceived by Lambie and Shankman allowed for maximum customization and optimization of every inch. On the second story, their older son’s bedroom features an oak platform bed by the window and the office beckons with an oak-clad daybed nook. This entire floor was reconfigured to contain the three kids’ rooms, an office, a laundry room, two bathrooms and a snug. The primary suite was moved from the second to the third level, where the ceiling was opened and now follows the pitched roofline. Further transforming their sleeping quarters are custom acacia collar ties to support the roof structure; French doors that open onto a terrace; and a concealed door, with no visible hardware, that accesses the en suite bathroom. The latter features surfaces finished in tadelakt plaster, new skylights and a vanity area with floating mirrors designed by Lambie.

New custom crown molding and trim, which draw on original details in the house, now grace a boy’s bedroom; a built-in platform bed maximizes the space. left: In the office, a custom built- in daybed nook takes advantage of the vaulted ceiling; oak was used for the paneling, desk, cabinet and shelving. Photos by Nicole Franzen, styled by Rod Hipskind.
The boys’ bathroom features custom-colored terrazzo flooring, Fireclay wall tiles and a custom acacia vanity with a limestone countertop. Photos by Nicole Franzen, styled by Rod Hipskind.

“I love when you go into a space and you want to know more about the people who live there, and you feel like there’s soul and character,” Lambie says. While the whole house is a personal expression—reflecting its occupants’ aesthetic and functional ideals—some aspects are especially meaningful. Prior to launching NOA, Shankman was a full-time artist. Two of his landscapes hang in the living room and, in the snug, an oil painting graces the rosy-hued wall. Watercolor portraits in the stairway are by Shankman and daughter Noa. In a corner of the living room, the Eames lounge chair and ottoman once belonged to Lambie’s late father, who purchased them in the 1970s. In the dining room—paneled in a rare Brazilian redwood that Lambie and Shankman embraced—the Bertoia chairs “were probably the first pieces of furniture I ever bought, in New York 20 years ago,” she shares.

Opening the unfinished, low-ceilinged attic allowed for an airy new primary bedroom that now opens onto a rooftop terrace; the reading lights are by Darmes and the photograph is by Brooke Holm. Photos by Nicole Franzen, styled by Rod Hipskind.
The primary bathroom was designed to fit into the existing attic space and includes surfaces finished in tadelakt plaster as well as white oak flooring, a limestone countertop and fixtures by Cocoon. Photos by Nicole Franzen, styled by Rod Hipskind.

Since the completion of their house, the couple has gone on to work side by side on other projects. “I wouldn’t say it was easy,” Lambie allows of their inaugural collaboration. “I will say we got a really beautiful product that feels like us. There was a lot of push and pull; we both pushed each other in ways that I don’t think we could have had we not been husband and wife. But we really believed in the vision and, at the end of the day, we figured it all out and executed it.”