Agnes Bourne is an interior designer, house renovator, furniture designer, art collector, and avid traveler. Her San Francisco home, with its delightful-even disarming-style, is a happy meeting ground of all those interests.

Agnes Bourne believes houses are like people. They all have unique personalities and different styles. This interior designer also believes that houses must reflect and accommodate the personalities and life-styles of the people who live in them.

The best illustration of this philosophy is Agnes' own home. Her grown children characterize her style as "fifty percent Japanese, forty percent Italian, and ten percent New York taxi driver." Agnes doesn't agree with this description entirely. "The percentages are slightly off," she says.

Family assessments aside, Agnes' style can't really be pigeonholed. Her tastes are so diverse and her talents so varied, that definition doesn't come easily. It's enough to say that the look is highly personal.

When Agnes and her husband, Dr Jim Luebbers, first saw the house, they were nearly turned back by its exterior mosaic of peeling yellow paint on old shingles. Interior spaces, too, were dated and awkward.

"The house gave me a feeling".

Agnes and Jim knocked down two walls just to make a home for this life-size showstopping horse sculpture, right, designed by Montana artist Deborah Butterfield.

Artworks, such as those above, are more than decoration to Agnes.

"I must have art around me," she says "It is important to me, a real part of my life."

Agnes says, "I knew we could be happy here"

At every opportunity during the remodeling, spaces were opened up to light and view with new windows. Wood floors and other surfaces were carefully restored. Then the house was filled with an abashed mix of family heirlooms, found treasures, recycled objects, and artwork.

Although Agnes is seldom at the loss for renovation and decorating ideas, she never imposes style on a client. Similarly, all members of the family participated in the design process for their own home.

"Everyone got quizzed and quizzed on their feelings about the house and how they wanted to use it," she says. "There is no one perfect way of achieving something."

The plan that evolved was an open, easygoing environment. The kitchen, library, dining room, entryway, and living room all flow into each other, making entertaining easy.

The attic room is as comfortable for one as it is when entertaining 120 people, which the couple has done. While the dramatic boat sculpture rides the waves overhead, guests can gather around the piano for sing-along or take the built-in stage for impromptu performances. Shelving along one wall stores a wealth of stereo components. There's even a ceiling mounted projector and drop-down screen for showing film and videos. In quieter times, the attic room serves as the family computer center or a gateway with a view of San Francisco Bay.

Other rooms have enough flexibility to convert to guest quarters whenever the family's many out-of-town relatives and friends come to visit. When the house was finished, in face, Agnes mailed keys to many to assure them that they were welcome.

"We can sleep sixteen before anyone hits the floor." she says proudly.

Agnes' interests in art began at age 3, when she took crayons to the walls of her bedroom. An avid art lover ever since, she is not only a serious collector but a friend and patron of many of California's finest contemporary artists.

"My theory about art," she explains, "is that it must amuse and confuse you, jar you, and make you come back and look again and again."

A huge mural titled "House" is the focal point of the family dining room opposite. Painted by the Bay Area artist Squeak Carnwath, the mural Celebrates Agnes and Jim's wedding day, and all of the elements hold special meaning for the family. Ceiling spotlights are aimed at this and other works in the room.

Agnes also takes an uncommon approach to collecting art. She tries to get to know the artists before acquiring their pieces. "Knowing the artist takes the collector beyond simply being an observer," she says. "Because you know and understand the work, you become a participant in that work."

Through most of the house windows are treated with shutters to control light and privacy and to emphasize a cottage theme. In the upper-floor master bedroom, however, windows were left untreated and the furnishings kept simple so as not to detract from the spectacular views of San Francisco Bay. One window looks out on the Golden Gate Bridge, and another (not shown) takes in Alcatraz, the old prison island. Agnes designed a higher-than-usual bed, opposite, to take full advantage of the scenic opportunity.

On the window ledge below is a collection of souvenirs: a rock from Wyoming, a stone from Idaho, a miniature vase from Japan, and coral from Hawaii.

"They're little favorite things that just got there," Agnes says. "They give me a sense of place and remind me of places we have been together as a family.

Because it rated most important on the family's priority list, the kitchen, below, was given a prominent position at the front and center of the home. Coming up from the garage or down from the bedrooms, you walk directly into the kitchen.

"The kitchen is not only the heart of your home," says Agnes, "but the hub of our family life. We all love to cook, and we like to keep tabs on the comings and goings of others."

Puffy white clouds on sky-blue walls and ceiling keep foggy San Francisco days at bay. Red-stained ash cabinets and a mix of granite, wood, and steel surfaces also give the kitchen an original look.

Whatever room or piece of furniture Agnes decides to design next, you can bet it'll be like nothing she or anybody else has ever seen.

"I hate doing something twice," she says. "It's more fun to do something you haven't done before."