Making Waves

INSPIRED BY THE SURF AND TIES TO THEIR PAST, A FAMILY CARVES OUT A SWEET LIFE IN A COZY SAN FRANCISCO COTTAGE.

- Mike Irvine and Chantal Lamers

In 2014, Birgit and Raul Sfat were a year into the lease of a rental cottage in San Francisco’s Noe Valley when they learned of the owner’s plans to sell the property. Initially they scrambled to find a new place, but after a few solid weeks of apartment hunting in the city’s notoriously stretched market, they decided to circle back with the owner and ask if they could just purchase the house instead. He agreed. It was a phenomenal occurrence by San Francisco standards, especially considering the couple had only recently relocated from Munich and weren’t quite convinced they wanted to buy a home in the States.

Now homeowners, they turned their eyes toward making the cottage their own, and began fixing up the backyard. The 1,200-square-foot plot was more jungle than garden—it had been neglected for more than a decade. Yet among the weeds and sun-starved rose bushes were some diamonds in the rough, including a towering Australian tree fern and a Meyer lemon tree loaded with fruit. “There was so much charm, and we fell in love right away with the existing birch trees,” says Raul.

They envisioned a lush and peaceful space where they could keep a watchful eye over an adventurous duo—Milla and Charlie, their 9-year-old daughter and Labrador-mix pup. Birgit also wanted a pleasing view from her garden-adjacent basement studio, where she runs her curated European children’s clothing shop, Over the Ocean (overtheocean.com).