# @dwellmagazine on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DKNB780Rkge
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/33973989-dwellmagazine-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/7739d22b5f.jpg
- **Posted:** 2025-05-28T16:15:41.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Dwell (@dwellmagazine) — https://gondola.cc/dwellmagazine

## Caption

Back in 2007, we got the chance to step inside the century-old Edwardian that architect David Baker renovated with his former partner, Jane. In celebration of our 25th anniversary this year, we’re resurfacing the story from our archive.
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“This is the fifth house I’ve designed for myself,” David told us, sounding not unhopeful that it might also be his last. A hybrid of Japanese simplicity and carefully crafted experiments, the building is a meeting place for many of his influences. When David bought the property with his former life partner, designer and artist Jane Martin, its potential was all but buried beneath discarded appliances and a patchwork of additions. Taking everything down to the studs, David and Jane kept the original layout, transforming a downstairs space into a design, painting, and sewing studio, while the former stables out back became a wood shop. The spaces inside are defined by comfortable, crafted arrangements of furniture designed by David, his friends, and his associates at davidbakerarchitects, along with pieces he grew up with. Three generations of Baker art—David’s paintings, his father’s sculptures, and work by his eldest daughter—mingle with work by local artists. Out back, the house is covered in a quilt of recycled shingling made up from remnants of projects by people such as Frank Gehry, Herzog & de Meuron, and others, all fabricated by the A. Zahner Company in Kansas City. “It’s very illustrious scrap!” Dvaid explained. “And at certain times of day they shoot these lovely rays of color onto the garden.” Outside and in, the architect’s personal mark is everywhere. “Designing for yourself gives you a rare chance to experiment without driving your clients crazy,” he explained. But when a modernist gets hold of a century-old house, there’s no telling how it will turn out. David’s layering of practical industrialism and personal details is one approach to embracing the present without enshrining or obliterating the past. #dwellarchives | June, 2008 | Photos by somepeoplecallmedave | Story by deborahdbishop | #moderndesign #modernarchitecture #interiordesign #interiorarchitecture #renovation

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## Tags

interiordesign, modernarchitecture, dwellarchives, renovation, moderndesign, interiorarchitecture

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