Gerry And Goodwin Steinberg’s New Home – A 14th-Floor Penthouse
The first thing you notice is the panoramicview: layers of coastal mountains rise above the red-roofed Stanfordcampus, an ever-changing tapestry of greens, reds and sky blue.After 40 years in Los Altos, Gerry and Goodwin Steinberg movedthis spring to a penthouse atop the 14-story condominium at 101Alma St. in Palo Alto.
“Instead of deer, quail and squirrels, I now watchclouds, stars and planes,” said Gerry, former Santa ClaraCounty Supervisor and now a partner at Enshallah Development,a San Jose Real Estate Consulting firm. “I love living hereat this stage of our lives; it’s a very exciting new viewpointfor us.”
“Here was everything I thought I was going to build formyself – a glass-walled home near downtown Los Altos or Palo Altowhere we could walk in and get a cup of coffee and read the newspaperin the mornings and lock the door and go away when we felt liketraveling. It just happens to be 14 stories up in the air insteadof on the ground,” said Goodwin (Goodie), award-winningPeninsula architect.
The Steinbergs’ goal when they headed west from Illinoisin 1953 was to live in the San Francisco Bay area, as close toStanford as possible. “I was sent overseas with a B-52 crewfrom Hamilton Air Force Base, and I knew I wanted to return here,”Goodie said. “I found I could buy six acres of land in LosAltos in the early ’50s, like so many young engineers who werecoming here from all over the country.”
The Steinbergs raised their two children on propertieson Magdalena Avenue and West Loyola Drive, in homes Goodie designedto integrate interior and outdoor living spaces and sweeping views. The home on West Loyola Drive opens up toward the mountains. The house itself is wrapped in glass and has flowers, lawn andswimming pool nearby. The balance of the surrounding three acresis left in its natural state, Goodie said.
The Steinbergs new high-rise home fulfills their early focuson Stanford and reflects Goodie’s life-long zeal for indoor/outdoorintegration: the first thing he did to the penthouse was openup the unit-long terrace that had been glassed in by previousowners. “The terrace sets the tone for everything,” Goodie said. White mesh and metal sets of tables and chairs,chaise lounges and huge ceramic pots of bamboo, succulents andother greenery now make the terrace an outdoor paradise for viewingeverything from CalTrain (“It’s like watching a Lionel trainset,” Goodie laughed.) to the glassed dome of Stanford MemorialChurch. “If I sit a certain way out here, everything I seebelow the railing is urban and everything above the railing ispastoral. I love it,” Gerry said.
“We still have all of our comforts,” Goodie added.”The spaces here create the same quality of life we had inLos Altos, with the interior subordinated to the view; we enjoyactivities like reading and entertaining in the same atmospherewe have always had.”
Goodie’s sister, Sylvia Schneider, helped create the penthouseinteriors. An interior designer and resident of Chicago and TheBoulders in Arizona, she shares his aesthetic vision. “Weenjoy working together; our father was an architect,” hesaid.
Common themes throughout the rooms create a mood of subdued,peaceful simplicity and lush comfort. Parquet floors in the principalrooms are covered with textured beige area rugs. Beige carpetingthroughout the rest of the condo combines with the perfect shadeof white on all of walls, creating a quiet, gallery-like backgroundfor art, antiques and occasional bursts of color like two celedongreen velvet couches in the living room and coral/rust-coloredvelvet chair cushions in the newly installed library alcove.
Mirrors in most of the rooms reflect the light and viewsand contribute a penthouse sophistication: this is the city, afterall, not a grassy hillside. The dining room features not onlya wall-size grid of mirrors, but also a copper and mirror-griddedchandelier designed by Goodie, whose inventiveness can be kindledanywhere, anytime.
“I stood in the master bathroom and saw the effect of mirrorreflecting upon mirror and said, ‘Wow, I ought to design a lightfixture that captures this multiple reflection,’ ” he recalled.
So he did. A single light within each of the chandelier’s mirroredgrids creates infinite reflections of itself – the epitome ofpenthouse sparkle for evening parties.
Asian wooden chests, Indian and Indonesian wall-hung textilesand a choice international collection of ceramics and potteryestablish other coordinating themes throughout the condo. Thereis also an antique grandfather clock from a French convent (whichrings twice each hour – once for prayers and once on the hour),a simple Shaker side table in the living room and a huge rectangularglass coffee table for art books and potted orchids. “Ourcollections are eclectic,” said Goodie, who somehow combineshis cosmopolitan collections into a soothing, serene unity.
The galley-shaped kitchen and adjoining laundry area underwentmajor renovation with the addition of white Corian counters, parquet-like flooring, all-new appliances and an illuminated dropped-gridceiling. Calm, clean white continues in the master bath, wheremirrors create an illusion of endless space and light. A newroom-size dressing, closet and personal storage area, with floor-to-ceilingcabinetry, connects the beige-carpeted bath with the master bedroom.
The Steinbergs have created a haven of ’90s comfort, styleand simplicity from a ’60s condo that happened to have the rightview and location.
Even for an architect, sometimes remodeling and transforming canbe just as much fun as building from scratch.
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