Onsen — San Francisco, USA

A defunct car repair shop in San Francisco’s gritty Tenderloin neighbourhood is reborn as a Japanese-inspired bathhouse and restaurant. Husband-and-wife team Sunny Simmons and Caroline Smith have honoured the single-story building’s early 20th century bones by preserving its soaring ceilings and red bricks, while adding sloped skylights and metal beams.
Simmons, a craft builder, created custom shelving from redwood, rescued from construction sites, and Smith, an artist, hand-dyed indigo fabric panels and added sashiko stitching to hang on doorways. The result is zen reinterpreted in contemporary California style, with an eight-person hot pool, a three-tiered wood sauna, and a steam room decked out in white and black subway tiles. The wet area and the treatment rooms for massage and acupuncture are encased in original exposed bricks brimming with green plants.
‘I dreamed of recreating the ryokan experience from our travels in Japan,’ says Simmons. ‘But right here in the middle of the city.’ Even if you’re not planning on poaching and sweating, you should still drop by to admire the dining space while tucking into Onsen’s Japan-meets-California menu featuring seasonal vegetable skewers, grilled fish, and al dente rice porridge.
INFORMATION
Website
ADDRESS
466 Eddy Street
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
-
Step inside a Hollywood Hills home where European design meets Californian ease
LA studio Broad Project takes us inside its cinematic renovation of a 1960s Spanish Revival home in the Hollywood Hills
-
Wallpaper* checks in at Jnane Rumi: clarity, reflection and connection
In the quiet tranquillity of Marrakech’s Palmeraie, Jnane Rumi evokes a rich and colourful tapestry of Moroccan art, craftsmanship and design
-
Cindy Sherman in Menorca: ‘She's decades ahead of social media and the construction of identity for the camera’
‘Cindy Sherman: The Women’, its title a nod to an image-conscious 1930s Broadway hit, takes the American artist's carefully constructed, highly performative works to Hauser & Wirth Menorca
-
A local architect’s guide to Joshua Tree
Mirtilla Alliata di Montereale shares her favourite things to do to slow down, look closely, and discover Joshua Tree through a more intentional lens
-
Meet artist Michael McGregor, using hotel stationery as his canvas
Michael McGregor unveils an exclusive postcard set made with notepads from The Luxury Collection properties in Minneapolis, San Francisco and Savannah
-
Home is where Beethoven Market is – a joyful Italian restaurant in LA’s Mar Vista
In Mar Vista, a historic space is reborn as a modern-day gathering spot, an Italian-infused restaurant where rotisserie chicken, handmade pasta and tableside tiramisu welcome you like family
-
Aman New York unveils exclusive US Open-themed experience
Aman’s ‘Season of Champions’ pairs Grand Slam action with personalised recovery and performance treatments designed by Novak Djokovic and Maria Sharapova
-
Caribbean cool meets mid-century glamour at this new LA hotspot
From golden mirrored chambers to jerk-spiced tomahawk steaks, Lucia reimagines Afro-Caribbean dining and design
-
Classic New York restaurants for delicious food and inspired design
From Michelin-starred fine dining to reimagined retro diners, these are the most emblematic (and easy-on-the-eye) places to eat in the Big Apple
-
Inside Hotel Chelsea’s secret basement sushi restaurant
Teruko, a new Japanese restaurant and sushi bar in Hotel Chelsea, marks the final jewel in the hotel’s years-long transformation
-
Wallpaper* checks in at Fouquet’s New York: a lush, urban cocoon for the 21st century
Set in the heart of Tribeca, Fouquet’s New York balances French-inspired refinement and cosiness