Into the woods
500-square-foot cottage for two? Key are a neutral base and stylish storage
When Ashley Redmond’s onetime dream house — a 2,000-square-foot Eichler in San Rafael — became nothing more than a place to land between frequent business trips, she knew it was time to move on. “I loved that house, but it just didn’t feel like home anymore,” she says.
Redmond, 35, is the former head of design and now an elite designer at the Bay Area online-design platform Decorist. She has created rooms for such celebrities as Jamie Chung of “Gotham” and Johnathon Schaech of “Ray Donovan,” Like many ambitious career women before her, she opted in her own home to go minimalist. Since traditional apartment living was never an option (“I find it too boxy and generic,” she says), Redmond, now the principal of her own eponymous design firm, combed Craigslist ads until she found the loveliest gem: A 500-square-foot “tree house” (for its bucolic views from every window) built into a woodsy Larkspur hillside, once part of a wealthy San Francisco family’s large Marin retreat.
So about one year ago, in this tiny cottage at the end of a steep and winding path through persimmon trees and redwood giants, the California native created a bohemian bachelorette pad — or so she thought. As it turns out, sometimes downsizing can create room for growth in other areas of life. The short-lived single girl’s aerie now functions just fine as a love nest for two (well, three, if you count the elderly Olive, Redmond’s beloved husky shepherd).
Luckily, Redmond’s boyfriend, Cyril Derreumaux — who moved in not long after his crew of four set the world record for the fastest row from Monterey to Honolulu in 39 days — is a minimalist by nature. “He has, like, one pair of jeans and only a few shirts,” says Redmond, a self-professed clothes horse. “Still, for our six-month anniversary, I gifted him some closet space.”
“Starting with a neutral base will also give you the most decor options.” Ashley Redmond