Our Team

Sean Quigley

Founder & Principal

  • Sean opened the retail store and gardening business, Paxton Gate, in 1992 which later evolved into two firms, one being RareField Design/Build while the store retained the original name. He is actively involved in the day-to-day operations of each company.

    Sean’s interest in gardening, construction as well as the natural world was instilled early in life while growing up in the rural Northern California town of Happy Valley, where he gardened with his mother and built with his father. Here his family raised its own food and livestock, built barns, and kids were free to roam through woods for fun, literally miles from home. And where a 6th grade Quigley built a fort that by 7th grade had received an upgrade that included a second floor along with an elevated deck supported by surrounding trees.

    In his teens and early twenties, Quigley worked as a cabinet maker and in various construction endeavors. Moving to San Francisco in 1989, he acquired a bachelor’s degree in small business and after graduating Magna cum Laud, spent the next 14 years working as a bartender. While doing time at a number of Mission haunts, including Dr. Bombay’s, Casa Nova and Kilowatt, his resolute nature allowed him to focus on building the Paxton Gate brand at it’s original, tiny location. Both the store and the design-build business were relocated to their current and more spacious Valencia Street digs in 1999.

    Alongside countless gardens, Sean has designed several retail spaces over the years and during those early years, the firm occasionally dabbled in interiors. In 2009 Quigley and team branched into restaurant and hospitality design when they designed and helped to build one of San Francisco’s most popular and critically acclaimed restaurants, Flour + Water. Since then, they’re portfolio has grown to include Handline, Central Kitchen (now Penny Roma), Les Marais Bakery, The Third Rail, and the offices of One Wealth Advisors, not to mention numerous interior remodels and home additions.

    Sean lives in the Mission District of San Francisco with his wife, daughter, two cats, and a garden overflowing with all manner of bromeliads, succulents, and other plants that he collects. He enjoys rock climbing, camping, and backpacking and virtually anything that gets him outdoors.

Michael Santi

Partner, Director of Design/Build

  • Michael Santi grew up in suburban Philadelphia spending as much time as possible outdoors, playing in the snow, the woods, building with dirt, and following stream courses as far as he could before dinner. In his teenage years, an all-encompassing love of skateboarding pulled him into the city, exposing him to art, culture, design, and community. For a time, he felt completely secure in his place and purpose--to skate and destroy. But as his cultural awareness and perspective broadened, he also began to feel the stark limits of the nihilism and provincialism that informed his identity and peer group. It was a difficult time which left him isolated in a crowd. And while his love of art and expression culminated in a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Emerson College in Boston, he still hadn't found his people nor his place. A yearning for both pushed him toward an open-ended road trip to "anywhere but here."

    He headed west, eventually settling in San Francisco where he found friendly, thoughtful people and the freedom to do and be anything amid stunning surroundings. For three years he sailed almost daily, maintaining the fleet and running the sailing school at Spinnaker Sailing. He volunteered in the Presidio Native Plant Nursery helping to collect and breed local species of Carex by watershed. He worked a harvest at White Rock Vineyards in Napa as a crush and cellar hand. In 2008, he pursued an opportunity with Sacred Space Gardens as a construction laborer.

    “A career in Landscape Design and Construction was the perfect synthesis of my need to be outside and my goal to become a respected craftsman in a storied, mindful pursuit.” After four years with Sacred Space, where he rose to the level of Construction Lead, Santi was ready for the next phase of his career.

    “I’d been aware of the work RareField was doing for a while. I was frankly in awe of the thoughtfulness of their designs, of the skill of their team, and of the combined thrust of their efforts as both modernists and craftspeople, construction workers and artists.” As a member of the team since 2012, Santi feels it is a great honor to work toward collective goals and to push the boundaries of ancient materials together.

    “It is a humbling experience to be accepted by your superiors and treated as a one of a team of equals, and a great privilege to be asked to do your work well.”

    Santi lives with his family in Oakland where they enjoy hiking, swimming and making art and music together.

Jasper Kasle-Muthig

Partner, Project Manager

  • Surrounded by design and construction at a young age, Jasper learned the foundations of the design-build process from his father who designed and built homes in Michigan and the Bay Area. Within the family business, Jasper received hands on experience in carpentry, woodwork, and the full scope of creating tailored home solutions for his clients.

    After several years, an opportunity to travel the world gave him a whole new perspective on life and art. With this life altering experience, Jasper decided to expand his skills in the artistic element of design and received his AS degree in Graphic Communications at City College of San Francisco and trained in welding.

    From that point on, Jasper began creating art, furniture and specialized lighting designs for clients and businesses integrating natural elements with his graphics arts. His creations utilize natural or repurposed materials such as reclaimed wood, metal, and personal items of the clients to create the desired emotional effect. He also continued to work on finished carpentry and metal work projects for custom homes and commercial spaces. Jasper joined Rarefield in 2017 inspired by the Rarefield culture and their vision to embrace all facets of design and to work with a team of highly skilled and openminded craftsmen and women.

    Jasper is still an avid traveler with his wife and family and enjoys learning from the natural world and exploration. When there is a spare moment, he often is exploring the Bay Area woods, creeks and all the microclimates this incredible region has to offer.

Penny McDowell

Partner, Lead Designer

  • Penny grew up 26 miles off the coast of Southern California on Catalina Island. The town of Avalon is one square mile, and the remaining 65 square miles of island are a nature preserve. Penny’s Dad would let her ride along on nature tours as they guided tourists throughout the interior of the island. This upbringing instilled in her a profound love for nature.

    Despite leaving the coast for the desert of Tempe, Arizona, her time studying Landscape Architecture enriched her understanding of design, drought tolerant landscapes, plant life and ecological restoration, while also leading her to meet her wife.

    Penny has been practicing landscape design/architecture since 2008, holds a Landscape Architecture License, and leads the ReScape Council in preserving and restoring the environment through professional practices. She lives in the Mission District of San Francisco, and enjoys camping, playing with her dog Kira, and supporting the LGBT+ community. Her parents still live on Catalina Island, where she visits often.

Our Crew

RareField has always been about elevating the trade and craft, and at the heart of that mission is our fantastic crew. Our designs are brought to life by craftspeople who understand not only the design intent, but have an eye for fine details, down to a level that simply can’t be drawn on paper.