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	Photo: Lisa Sze

Like many of her neighbors in Piedmont, Melissa Feldman keeps Art in America and several other art magazines on the living room coffee table. The difference is that the magazines contain articles by Feldman, who is an art critic, independent curator and art advisor.

She shares her stucco house with her husband, Daniel Greenstein, who runs the University of California's library system, their two children and the family guinea pigs, Chocolate and Frisky.

Feldman describes their neighborhood as "the densely populated, more urban part of Piedmont," and that is precisely what attracted her. "You can walk to Lakeshore Avenue and to our son's school, which is why we like it here. I like to walk whenever possible, because I'm from New York, and I'm still getting used to the driving lifestyle."

Actually, the Feldman/Greenstein family moved to California from Washington, D.C., following a stint in London. "My husband lived in London for 20 years--I joined him for the last five." When the couple first came to the Bay Area, they rented for a year in Berkeley while they "figured out where we wanted to settle." For them, Piedmont's main draw was the public school system, but they "wanted to be in a part of Piedmont that felt less suburban."

Their 2,400-square-foot house was built in 1918. Feldman describes the exterior style as "unusual--like an Asian Craftsman--a minimalist Craftsman. It has some of that chunkiness, but very stripped down." Since moving in two years ago, the Feldman/Greensteins have made many changes. The most significant was to convert a "damp basement" into a playroom.

On the ground floor, the interior is airy, with lots of long sight lines. You can see through from the living room through the dining room and into the kitchen. The home also boasts many over-sized windows.

"My aesthetic is definitely spare," Feldman says. "I like a few things carefully placed with a lot of space between them." These "few things" include mid-century modern furniture (most notably, the iconic Saarinen womb chair in the living room) mixed with antique pieces, including a Victorian desk and an 18th-century French commode (Feldman's "best piece of furniture").

A work of art made from about two dozen upholstered velvet balls of various colors hangs on the wall above the Saarinen chair. It was a wedding present from Stephen Hepworth, an English artist/curator/ friend. The balls spell out "true love" in Braille. "You can play with the colors and change one ball for another, but the placement--and meaning--is kept intact," explains Feldman.

The Feldman/Greensteins found their house through a real estate agent. They were surprised when they did, because, as Feldman says, "We didn't think we could afford the kind of space we wanted in Piedmont, but we liked the look of this, and it had the right space, especially once we converted the basement to a playroom. I'm a believer in playrooms, removed from the kitchen, where I don't have to hear the TV or be part of that 'lived-in' look, with toys everywhere."

But there was more work to be done than converting the basement. "The house was very rundown when we bought it, and it was completely wallpapered, with different patterns in every room." Feldman kept the wallpaper in the study (formerly the breakfast room). There was an abundance of sheer, lacy curtains; now, however, there are only a few curtains, although Feldman is considering window treatments. As she has put the rest of her house together with lapidary skill and patience, this could take a while. But the results, as with the rest of the house, will be worth it.

The Feldman/Greensteins had help with their renovation. "Our contractor, Peter Kyle from Woodworks, hired an architect, Suzy Stadler, who is with Fuse Associates in Oakland. Together, they refinished the floors, removed all the wallpaper, except in the study; painted inside and out, and put in crown moldings where they were missing." Thanks to the new architectural plans, the "cramped little kitchen" was opened up to create a breakfast room, half-bath and laundry room. "We had to figure out where to put all these functions, and Suzy came up with a plan that involved moving the half-bath into what had been a coat closet. Then she figured out a place to put a coat closet between the kitchen and the breakfast nook." Stadler also figured out how to keep things uncluttered by installing an under-counter laundry area and "not overloading the kitchen with cabinetry. The cabinets are now more cleverly positioned in the ex-pantry."

Although Feldman does admit to keeping a file of interiors she admires, she does not use these clippings as models for her own interior. Her goal, she says, is to "mix even more" than the houses in the file. "But to be eclectic," she points out, "you have to be really careful about how you combine things. And when you move from house to house as we have, you have to deal with scale change."

High on Feldman's wish list are "an old, comfortable chair, a rug under the dining room table and a chandelier." She did find the perfect chandelier ("I don't want the usual Modernist thing," she says) with the help of Berkeley designer Jean Flynn, who has what Feldman describes as "beautiful taste"). But when the owners of that 1950s-'60s French chandelier were cleaning it, the chandelier fell from the ceiling and broke. So the hunt goes on. Flynn is also helping with the selection of the window treatment for the living room, "Jean's specialty."

Feldman describes the art in her house as "a combination of things given to me, things we bought over the years. We also have pieces from Daniel's grandparents' art collection that were acquired in the 1950s and '60s."

Do she and her husband see absolutely eye to eye when it comes to decor? "The only difference is that he likes wall colors other than white. As a result, we painted the bedrooms in different colors. But for me, I always like white or off-white wall color in terms of showing art and looking spacious. He takes my lead in terms of buying art, which really helps. Having divergent taste can be a stumbling block for couples who want to collect."

Clearly, except for wall color preferences, Feldman and Greenstein have very similar taste--minimalist taste that can be seen throughout their spare, but comfortable and very livable Piedmont home.