Linda and her husband, Marshall, purchased the house in 2000 with plans to restore its structure and update its inner workings. The interior of Casa Golden Gate takes its cue from the eponymous bridge captured in the view from the property, which is painted a beautiful rusty reddish orange. Linda changed the once white walls of the interiors to oranges and apricots, believed to be healing colors. Central California’s near-Mediterranean climate and the colors from that region are favorites of Linda, who has traveled there extensively. She has filled her Golden Gate home with warm golds, reds, pinks, and salmons, punctuated with subtle greens and blues.

Linda is a design enthusiast who respects the existing architecture of a place and who relishes caring for a project’s site. The relationship between the structure and its site is important. Her practice is to connect indoors and outdoors in a transition that works seamlessly whenever possible. Other design professionals such as architects, landscape architects, and contractors help her to create the major structural changes in interior and exterior spaces that will reflect her goals of unity and harmony. Her emphasis is on the use of color for its enhancement of life.

The original beams in the living room and dining room had been covered when the ceiling was lowered to accommodate recessed lighting. Linda made plans to expose the beams and return them to their former pristine condition. The lintel in the entry way provides a strong and definite welcome into the house. A brick wall with an unusual arch containing a niche is a reminder of Spain and the protective function of niches to guard precious objects. The house is furnished in an eclectic manner, with many colors and touches of whimsy to elicit smiles from her guests. Linda believes that a room should glow, and the combination of colors she uses on walls, fabrics, rugs, and lampshades achieves a subtle glistening effect.

The furnishings in the home include antique Turkish Oushak rugs, antique French buffet and armoire, and an eighteenth-century French hand-carved and hand-painted bar that runs next to the dining table. A rustic Mexican table that seats fourteen is made of mesquite wood and painted many times over, giving it a playful and soulful patina. This table is a bit of a surprise as its presence among more formal European antiques could be considered out of place. However, Linda’s design sensibility keeps the room from taking itself too seriously. The chairs round the table are antiques from England, Italy, and France. Carved wooden angels that flank either side of the armoire at the end of the dining table are from a seventeenth-century church in France. The chandelier over the table is Venetian. Other furnishings include a seventeenth-century French table pictured behind the vintage red sofa. The baby grand piano, circa 1932, is played by Linda’s husband and occasional professionals who entertain during parties.

The original artwork includes paintings and sculpture from France, Spain, Italy, Germany, Russia, and the United States. There is a collection of antique Buddhas from Burma, Laos, and Tibet. There is also a sixteenth-century terra-cotta “farmer” figure from China standing at the end of the bar in the dining room. The terrace is filled with vintage tables and chairs with a few pieces of antique wicker. A pair of bronze statues of a woman holding a vessel that spills geraniums are from France, one each end of the terrace. At a recent party, Linda presented a collection of 150 glowing candles to guests as a welcome to her home, the Golden Gate. They all stayed well after midnight, a compliment to the house and the hosts as the foghorns in the bay sounded their sleepy messages.