Residence 05

Napa, California

House: Two levels, a few blocks from downtown Napa
Construction: Late 2023 to spring 2025
Type: Renovation for resale
Interior design: WIT Interiors and RE Investments Portfolio
Status: Recently completed
Two levels: Farmhouse light upstairs, darker and modern below

01 · The house

A good Napa house, finished like everyone else’s.

Honey-maple cabinets, faux-wood floors, a brick wood-stove surround, and a bulky raised tub downstairs. The rooms were generous and the location was hard to beat. Nothing about the inside made you remember it.

The project was collaborative: ownership set the two-level direction and approved every design decision, with Tessa Poppe shaping much of the upstairs interior and Mauricio Rodriguez leading much of the lower-level design and specialty execution.

The kitchen before, with maple cabinets — The kitchen

The lower-level bath before, with a raised tub — The lower-level bath

The brick wood stove before, with dark-stained trim — The house, before.

02 · The approach

Two levels, two personalities: farmhouse light upstairs, rock and roll below.

Upstairs stays lighter and brighter: a contemporary take on farmhouse, with sage cabinetry, open shelving, warm wood floors, and wallpaper. Downstairs goes darker and more modern: black trim, red lacquer cabinetry built for the space, slatted wood walls, and a black bath. Then the spaces nobody was using, the old shed and a room behind a hidden door, became reasons to walk out back or head downstairs.

03 · What changed

Two kitchens, two baths, a bar, and a door you can’t see.

Main kitchen: Sage green cabinetry, open wood shelving, a tiled range wall, and an island.
Upstairs bath: The tub-shower replaced with a walk-in shower in green tile, finished with gold edge trim.
Lower-level bath: The bulky raised tub removed for a black-themed bath with a glass-walled shower and a double vanity.
Living and dining: The brick wood-stove surround replaced with a custom walnut cabinet built into the corner, walls in slate blue and sage, and wallpaper in the front room and entry.
Lower level: A second kitchen with cabinetry built for the space, slatted wood wall paneling, and a hidden door that opens into a room of its own.
Backyard: The old shed turned into an enclosed bar with a pass-through window, and the deck and stairs refinished in black.
Outside: New paint, black trim and railings, and drought-tolerant landscaping at the front.

04 · Before and after

Front

Kitchen

Front room

The brick stove wall

The brick wood-stove corner before — Before

the same corner after, with a custom walnut cabinet — After

Upstairs bath

Bedroom

Lower-level bath

Lower-level living

The lower-level sitting room before — Before

The lower-level sitting room after — After

Backyard

05 · The result

A house with somewhere to discover.

Walk it from the front door down: light and patterned upstairs, darker and sharper below, a door you won’t find unless you know, and a bar out back.

Upstairs

The wallpapered entry hall — The entry hall

The front room in warm wood and white — The front room

Downstairs

The lower-level kitchen in red lacquer — The red kitchen

Slatted wood paneling and black French doors — Slatted wood and black French doors

The hidden door

The room behind the hidden door, with a slatted wood ceiling — The room behind it.

Out back

The old shed, now a bar with a pass-through window — The old shed, now a bar

Inside the bar, slatted wood walls and a dark ceiling — Inside the bar

06 · Role and credits

Acquisition, owner project direction, and design approvals: Anthony Booker, with partners
Interior design, primarily upper level: Tessa Poppe, WIT Interiors
Interior design, primarily lower level: Mauricio Rodriguez, RE Investments Portfolio
Lower-level build-out and specialty execution: wall paneling, hidden door, backyard bar, and finish work upstairs: Mauricio Rodriguez, RE Investments Portfolio
Completion and sale: Later ownership
Photography: Listing photography

Residence 01 · Martinez