Palo Alto Remodel by Lindsay Chambers

all photos by Chris Stark

Ah, Palo Alto... the playground of the rich and famous. Rich and famous techies, that is. Surrounded by companies like Google, Apple and Facebook, this charming little city in Silicon Valley is known for having one of the priciest housing markets around. But, as it turns out, there was still some room for improvement when Lindsay Chambers dug into her latest project.

The 36-year-old interior designer, developer and Silicon Valley native just completed the remodel of this beauty at 721 Webster Street in downtown Palo Alto. The 1905 Queen Anne Victorian had been chopped up into four rental units before Chambers got her hands on it, and the "before" photos are just too sad to share.

Now, Chambers has restored the property back to its original purpose as a single-family home (just over 2,000 square feet) and back to its original splendor. You might expect Palo Alto's high-tech crowd to go for ultra-modern homes, but not so, says Chambers.

"Surprisingly, more Palo Alto home buyers prefer a traditional look to a modern one when it actually comes to purchasing a home, so that is what the client [a high-end developer] requested," Chambers told me over email. "I designed a relatively traditional home with some transitional and industrial elements to give it a fresh feel."

So, how do you think she did? I've never considered myself much of a traditionalist, but I happen to think the home is just gorgeous. I mean, that Moroccan tile in the bathroom? Swoon!