The mortality of grandeur and the vanity of human wishes. -Bernard Maybeck

With Halloween around the corner, we think of its ancient origins as a time when the boundary between this world and the otherworld grew thin—when spirits could cross over, and the living might glimpse what lay beyond. San Francisco’s landmark Palace of Fine Arts designed by architect Bernard Maybeck has its own connection to another realm.

With this year’s San Francisco Fall Show theme, “Métallique Chic,” we immediately thought of Willem Racké, a master of gilded and metal finishes. The Dutch-born decorative painter is known for transforming interiors through the artful application of lustrous, layered finishes. For a formal dining room in a Hillsborough Georgian-style estate, Racké gilded the ceiling and glazed the millwork, creating a seamless dialogue with the rust-and-gold Fortuny-upholstered walls.

For our inaugural profile, we chose Alicia Cheung, founder and principal of  Alicia Cheung Design (ACD). Before launching her own firm in 2024, the Silicon Valley native honed her craft working for the brilliant designer Ken Fulk and later co-founded Studio Heimat with fellow Fulk alum Eva Bradley. Alicia combines her wealth of experience with a collaborative attitude, coordinating seamlessly with architects, builders, and artisans to bring each client’s vision to life.

20th-century visionary architect Frank Lloyd Wright imagined spaces not just for people but for their pets as well. In 1948, he brought this idea to life with the V. C. Morris Gift Shop in San Francisco. At 140 Maiden Lane, the shop’s two-story tan brick façade stood out with its single, mysterious opening. Wright called his asymmetrical Romanesque archway a “mousetrap.”