Basile Studio Raises the Roof for San Diego’s Born & Raised

Last fall, San Diego celebrated the opening of Born & Raised, an Art Deco extravaganza helmed by CH Projects and twice Michelin-starred executive chef Jason McLeod and designed by Paul Basile and his Basile Studio. But the party was just getting started: this fall sees the opening a second-floor addition to the 1930s-era building, once a drug store and soda fountain in the Little Italy neighborhood.

Basile conceived a canted roof for the 2,700-square-foot garden rooftop. “It’s reminiscent of mid-century Palm Springs homes where manufactured shade is a must,” he says. Next, they reinterpreted the ground floor’s famed floral installations, “but in a simplified trellis-like fashion that we then combined with greenery to reiterate the space’s garden-like quality.”

It’s the perfect place for an ersatz garden party, particularly with a show-stopping bar and tap system. “It’s a series of different marbles,” he says, “and we commissioned the intricate pattern that we then individually water-jetted. The result is really spectacular.” As is the space itself.