It was originally a Mormon Church, built in the upper Castro district before or after the earthquake of 1906; that’s not quite clear. Then it became a Methodist church. After that, in the early 1990s, it was converted into the city’s first gay and lesbian synagogue, Sha’ar Zahav. But then that community needed a larger space and sold the place to a young couple in 1997. They sold to a Doctor, who passed away and the house was sold to Joe and Rafael, San Francisco realtors, who share a passion for distinguished and unconventional buildings.

The new design is a perfect recast of the space with a sleek contemporary design, but at the same time, honoring the original architectural features, including the high roof, lined with beautiful wood paneling.

The interior decor includes Joe and Rafael’s collections of interesting objects, for instance, a group of old globes, of different sizes and colors, and placed in a compelling way, and as your eye wanders here and there, everything fits into the spirit of the place, literally and figuratively.

In the living room, where the apse used to be, there’s a fireplace. It makes for an interesting play on the relationship between the hopeful magic performed on the altar and the mysterious appeal of fire.  Both call together a community, and both you might argue suggest the fundamental principles of good design, which should enlighten, even provoke, and in some way always transform.

The front of the same room, where the nave used to be, is the dinning area, and again the interpretation is aligned with the original purpose.  After all, this is where the real celebration of life happens.

Altogether, it’s a fantastic merging of life and style, a space reinterpreted, a holy space no less, but recast with good intention. It reminds you that the real substance of a church is not the building or the symbols inside, but the people, themselves, the congregation, however you define that.