over the past decade, husband and wife team, adam mccauley and cynthia wigginton have collaborated on a number of children’s book projects with adam handling the drawing and cynthia working on the design (titles include my friend chicken and the monsterologist). and when they’re not drawing and designing together, they play and write music for their band, bermuda triangle service. today we have a sneak peek into their san francisco home that they half-jokingly describe as modern jungle eclectic. basically it means they love having comfortable home where friends and family can come over and not be worried about putting their feet up. color is such a part of their lives in their daily work, that a neutral palette works great for their home, and makes for a flexible background for their ever-expanding art collection. it also works well to mix up heirloom and ikea pieces. and of course it wouldn’t be a modern jungle with out lots of plants, and pets are welcome too. {thanks so much adam and cynthia!} -anne
Living room [2 shots above] Split-rail loveseats from Modernica (as featured on Mad Men! Or perhaps they are using the Elizabeth Knoll originals? Mid-century modern coffee table from The Touch on Valencia Street. MCM desk and shelving passed down by Cynthia’s parents. Pillows: from the Ahwahnee Lodge in Yosemite, Chiasso, BB&B, Walgreens. Chalkboard silhouette art by Nathaniel Parsons. Pink silhouette painting and big sculpture slightly off frame by Adam McCauley. Persian rug passed down by Cynthia’s Nana Glass head for remotes from a thrift store in Oregon (it was meant to be used as a hat model). 1950’s globe found in a thrift in Oregon. Stuffed tortoise is a loaner from our neighbor to use as reference for a drawing for the Oakland Zoo’s ‘Walk In The Wild’ campaign. Bowl is from Creativity Explored.
Ikea Frosta stools/side tables, floor lamp, Expedit. Expedit artwork (from left to right): collaborative piece (Eric White, Jordin Isip, Isabel Samaras, Marcos Sorensen, Adam McCauley) Calef Brown (Post-It art), Gary Taxali (bunny man), Heath vases. Stripey vintage chair passed down by Cynthia’s Nana (looks sort of like Carrie Bradshaw’s in the SITC movie, right?). Pre-war Gretsch guitar (instruments tend to be strewn about on a regular basis).
We decided to earthquake retrofit our home last year. What an undertaking! Consequently, we also had to re-work the ground floor façade and paint. BM ‘Dried Parsley’ was the winning color. It is more yellow in the summer and more gray in the winter. For Halloween décor, Adam created this paper cut based on a design he created for Martha Stewart Living magazine. It appears in MSL’s 2009 Halloween Special Issue.
CLICK HERE for the rest of Adam and Cynthia’s sneak peek after the jump!
The big challenge here was to create a really functional space with not much room! We opted to install a floating Duravit Fogo cabinet and sink so that we could get a bit of storage without the bulk. The mirror is a built-in Robern cabinet. We installed Ginger sconces, Sonia Tecno Project robe hooks, tp holder, hand towel ring, and Dornbracht faucet. CB2 ‘soap dish’ (It’s the apostrophe dish), Ikea glass/vase.
After our recent retrofit, our downstairs space has been a bit in flux. We recently used it to host an open studio for ArtSpan’s San Francisco Open Studios program. I think we’ll continue to use it as a gallery space as well as a place to host guests. Notes (literally): We haven’t had time to get proper window coverings, so we’ve used Post-It Notes to our advantage! All art in the downstairs space is by Adam McCauley.
Built-in bookshelves by Bernie Jungle, recycled redwood table by Jeff Ruiz, American of Martinsville chairs passed down by Cynthia’s Mom, MCM thrifted lamp. The painting is by Adam’s father, Gardiner McCauley, who studied at UC Berkeley under Richard Diebenkorn and Elmer Bischoff. He participated in the Abstract Expressionist movement of the time and is still painting.
