The extensive rehabilitation work of a kitchen in a 1905 San Francisco home by San Rafael’s Plath & Company General Contractors was featured as Kitchen on the Month in the April issue of House Beautiful.

Plath & Company took more than a year to complete the job, which included the kitchen, family room, bathroom and master closet. The home was originally designed by Frank Van Trees and was the first built in Presidion Terrace.

The interior decorating executed by homeowner Susan Dossetter, was highlighted by her extensive antique collection and Parisian flea market acquisitions.

“This job was much more complicated than a mere renovation,” said company founder Steven Plath. “There was the teardown of the old kitchen and garage, the construction of a new two-story structure over the full basement addition. We specialize in historic renovations, so this kind of project was a joy for us to work on. It’s particularly gratifying that a respected publication like house Beautiful would recognize this work.”

Plath & Company has been recognized in many magazines and has been the recipient of numerous awards through the past decade. This Old House magazine named Plath & Company one of the 10 best contractors and builders in America in 2005.

Plath is a renaissance man, having been an actor, soldier, craftsman, sports car collector and humanitarian. His passion for restoring historic buildings prompted him to form Plat & Company.

Born in Menomonie, Wis., and raised in Kansas City, Mo, he earned his BS in mathematics from California State Polytechnic University in San Luis Obispo, trained as a combat engineer in the U.S. Army, then served as a first lieutenant and platoon leader in Vietnam for one year.

Returning sateside, he launched his retail career from 1970 to 1975 as a regional manager for Topps & Trowsers, a young men’s clothing chain in San Francisco that then had 100 locations.

Plath founded Plath & Company in 1975 and grew it to $20 million in annual revenue in 2004. The firm now has 60 employees.

As company president, San Anselmo resident Plath is the artistic visionary, with his head planted firmly in the past. His accomplishments include the extensive remodeling of more than 200 historically significant homes and his firm has restored five San Francisco historical landmark buildings, earning the California Preservation Foundation’s award in 1999 for the McMullen House (S.F. landmark No. 123) and in 2003 for Firehouse No. 2 (S.F landmark No. 143).

Plath was also elected to Remodeling magazine’s Big Fifty” national remodelers in 1992. He has served on the board of the Playhouse, a performing-arts facility, for eight years the last four as president. Plath is active in the Alliance of CEOs, a Bay Area small business organization.

Plath lives in San Anselmo with Suzan, his wife of 31 years. They have two sons, Jordan (26) and Julian (20). He can be found in local theater productions every now and then, as well as repairing vintage British sports cars.

The firm recently expanded with a new hire and in-house office promotion. Brandy Anderson joined the company as director of marketing. She has an MBA and BS in mass media communications from Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Okla. She was a marketing executive at Marion, Montgomery Inc., based in Houston, where she managed all advertising, marketing, web and public relations for various clientele.

Natalie Rastegar who joined the company in 2007 as a marketing and sales assistant has been promoted to executive assistant to Plath and Vice President Bill Ballas. With a BS degree in business administration and a minor in art, Rastegar worked in investor relations at Transamerica Corporation, where she developed a relationship with large institutional buyers and planned quarterly events for three years. She also served as a buyer and jewelry manager for Gallery Piazza in Sausalito. She currently resides in Greenbrae.