Charlot Malin — S.F. philanthropist focused on sustainable design
San Francisco real estate executive and arts patron Charlot Malin died Monday after a sudden illness. She was 48.
Mrs. Malin, who cut a fashionable figure on gala nights, was no mere society swan. She was chief operating officer and director of design for Troon Pacific Inc., an international development company that she ran with her husband, Gregory Malin, the chief executive officer. The firm focused on sustainable design in residential and commercial properties, master-planned communities, tech campuses and historic preservation.
Mrs. Malin, an interior designer, was Troon’s director of design. Her projects included homes and wineries in Napa and Sonoma, George Lucas’ Skywalker Ranch Sound Studios, and Robert Redford’s Sundance Resort in Utah, among others.
She was also a supporter of the arts. Since 1994, she was active with the San Francisco Opera and held leadership positions at the organization including Opera Ball co-chair and Opera Guild president from 2014 to 2016. According to the San Francisco Opera’s website, Mrs. Malin attended her first opera in Oslo at age 7, where her father’s aunt and cousin sang in “Aida.”
“She was an incredible champion of our Guild Education programs, striving to bring opera to the youth of today — which is, of course, the future for tomorrow,” Jane Mudge, current Guild chairwoman, said in a statement.
Mrs. Malin was also active at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art — as chairwoman of the Curators’ Circle, as an ex-officio trustee from 2012 to 2015, and in tapping her European connections to assist in a show of works by famed Norwegian expressionist Edvard Munch. The show, a collaboration between SFMOMA, the Munch Museum in Oslo and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, is scheduled to open in June.
“Her dedication to SFMOMA was passionate and impactful,” Neal Benezra, director of SFMOMA, said in a statement. “In addition to sharing her expertise and leadership, her relationships with cultural organizations in her homeland of Norway helped to support our upcoming exhibition on Edvard Munch.”
Mrs. Malin studied interior architecture in Arizona, France and San Francisco, where she met her future husband in 1992, but kept ties to her native country by holding board positions on the Norwegian-American Cultural Foundation and the Norway House Foundation. She also promoted the work of one of her favorite Norwegian fashion designers, Keyna Aranguren, by wearing her gowns to black-tie events.
In addition to architecture and the arts, she was active in women’s causes and led the West Coast effort of the Voss Foundation, which works to provide freshwater and sanitation across subSaharan Africa.
In addition to her husband, Mrs. Malin is survived by her twin sons, Benjamin and Sebastian; parents, Turid and Tore Diskerud of Arizona; and brother, Paal Diskerud of Norway.
A private memorial service is pending. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to the Charlot D. Malin San Francisco Opera Guild Education Fund, 301 Van Ness Ave, San Francisco, CA 94102, or at www. sfopera.com/charlot malinfund, or the Charlot D. Malin Commemorative Fund at www.voss foundation.org/charlot -d-malin-commemorative -fund.