Vanishing Point

For James Hunter, design principal at The Wiseman Group, inspiration often arrives unannounced. Take, for instance, the lacy gold leaf wall treatment in a San Francisco Edwardian home, reimagined by Sutro Architects. Its muse? A lobby wall at the Hôtel de Paris in Monte Carlo.

Downstairs, in the newly excavated basement, a cozy media room opens directly onto the back garden. It’s a space designed for versatility—ideal for lively garden parties, yet just as suited to quiet movie nights. To keep the large monitor discreetly out of sight when not in use, Hunter designed a pair of  bookshelves with sliding shutters that when open, box in and conceal the screen. When pulled apart, the shutters cover the bookshelves and reveal the monitor. Covered in a graphic Fromental paper-backed silk wallpaper—a longtime favorite that scaled up effortlessly—the panels become a bold visual statement in their own right.

“We played with the color placement because we wanted it to read like abstract art,” says Hunter. The effect is heightened by a series of acrylic works by Steve Riedell on the opposite wall, and a cluster of petal-shaped coffee tables that come together in the shape of a lotus. The result? A layered, entertainment space that has its own disappearing acts!