Where Christian Liaigre's style speaks to my intellect (see my
Sneak Preview I), classic California architecture and design speaks to my emotions. I've always had a weakness for the romantic appeal of red tile roofs, white stucco walls, and loggias and courtyards with splashing fountains and curtains billowing in the breeze.
Santa Barbara Living* has all of that and more. We just received a preview from our friends at Rizzoli (the book will be available in November), and TT is officially in love.
We're in love with the French, Italian and Spanish-inspired architecture, design and gardens presented on page after glossy page. We're in love with the mountain and ocean settings that rival the most beautiful landscapes anywhere, and are awash with the perfect golden California sunlight. Little wonder the area is inhabited by folks like John Saladino, Diandra Douglas, Rob Lowe and a few Hollywood movers and shakers. Many residences here are second homes and getaways for the rich and famous.
"In Santa Barbara, designers are always aware of the unique relationship of the interior to the exterior. The Spanish-style architecture that is favored opens naturally to embrace the garden, the courtyards, the view, the outdoors."*
Here's a sampling of the over 22 villas and estates presented in the book.
Please click on any image to enlarge.
El EliseoEl Eliseo, was built in 1919 by Reginald Johnson, and the design references a classic Palladian villa. Owner Virginia Hunter credits Johnson with inspired architecture and beautiful siting of the residence, since every morning she arises with a view of the ocean. It looks to me like the mountain views from the other side of the home would be rather spectacular, as well.
Las EncinitasThe rose garden at Las Encinitas in Montecito features an antique terra-cotta tiled path and a classic urn atop a column. Espaliered orange trees frame Portuguese tiles on the garden wall.
Interior designer Michael Smith and the owners of Las Encinitas traveled to Portugal for inspiration for the interior design. Smith chose a worldly collection of antiques and art to fill out the spaces. The blue wall tiles are classic Portuguese.
Believe it or not, in this guest room at Las Encinitas, Smith covered the walls and ceilings with bedspreads from Urban Outfitters! (I'm quite certain he stole the idea from me, after seeing the curtains and bed skirt in my master bedroom that I sewed up from Urban Outfitters' bedspreads!) The placement of the prints between the curtain rod and the window frame is quite unexpected. And that jolt of blue on the little side table adds a welcome dose of pizzazz to a mostly subdued color palette.
More blue tiles in a bath in a Las Encinitas guest suite.
Bianchi ResidenceHomeowner and interior designer Penny Bianchi’s rustic entry gate was created by Bruce Rapf using branches from a willow tree on the property. Rapf also designed the Bianchis’ water gardens.
The loggia, which overlooks the garden and the pond, is curtained with antique French monogrammed linen bed sheets. (Obviously Santa Barbara doesn't get the amount of rain we get here in Florida, where those bedsheet curtains would last, oh, maybe a couple of weeks.) Radiant heat was installed beneath the Saltillo floor tiles so that the space can be enjoyed year round. Ivy and Virginia creeper cover the walls, creating the ambiance of a woodland retreat.
The neoclassical stone mantel in Bianchi's living room was found in London. The leopard stool dates from the twenties, and paisley textiles used on the armchairs are 19th c Kashmiri shawls Bianchi purchased from a Paris flea market. She certainly is an advocate of the "more is more" style of decorating.
La QuintaWhat a grand walk down to this swimming pool! At the historic residence of Diandra de Morrell Douglas, Italianate landscapes were planted on an eight-acre hillside setting. Carlton Monroe Winslow, a Boston architect, built the house in 1922.
Diandra Douglas, ex-wife of the actor Michael Douglas, is reported to be a world-class equestrienne. Here she rides her Lusitano stallion.
A pair of perfect urns (Phoenician) grace the antique French limestone fireplace. Douglas relaxed the vibe of the living room with cotton duck slip-covered sofas and chairs, and seagrass rugs – but gave it a luxurious edge with gauffraged and silver-thread-embroidered velvet pillows and throws and a pair of gilded Italian chairs with silk velvet upholstery.
The stunning chandelier is from Spain, as are the antique monastery table and rustic chairs in Douglas' dining room.
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Christina Rottman Designs, who works with clients all over the Santa Barbara region says, “... the best interior design for these houses is never contrived but rather evolved and collected so that the overall expression is one of layered luxuries and comfort. There is at the same time the magic of an innate architecture and a very tangible sense of our modern, sophisticated life here.”
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Christina Rottman Interior Design
Don Nulty designed the Moorish-Andalusian farmhouse-style residence in 2002.
In an upstairs breezeway near the children’s bedrooms, Rottman created a gallery for family games and study. The Moroccan tile pattern carpet was designed by Rottman. Chairs are slipcovered in Rogers & Goffigon linen, and the glass lanterns were invented by Joseph Stoddard from antique French garden cloches. (What a great idea!) The curtains are cream colored linen from Rose Tarlow and terra-cotta linen twill with a Rogers & Goffigon paprika-colored velvet trim. The trim gives the curtains the effect of a wainscot.
Nulty designed the Moroccan arch for the doorway to the kitchen.
The Moorish-inspired wrought-iron bed in the master bedroom was designed by Rottman, and the plaster walls were hand-stenciled in a pale metallic pewter pattern. A gauffraged velvet bolster by Irish/French hand-crafted fine textiles artist Sabina Fay Braxton and a beaded pillow by Nancy Corzine add elegance to the white cotton bedlinens by Sferra.
Home of John SaladinoInterior designer John Saladino's secret garden is shaded by olive trees, and features a table made from a 900-year-old Chinese gristmill stone placed on a pedestal.
Saladino's modern living room is a symphony of blues. Two chairs of his own design are covered with a beautiful pale blue Fortuny fabric. Striped silk cushions, a quilted silk wall hanging, and turquoise pottery add more variations to the sophisticated color scheme. A pair of antique terra-cotta English lions conceal built-in wall speakers.
Home of Travis and Tracy ShannonThe Shannons set out to create their own version of Provence on seven acres near Santa Barbara. The home was built from scratch, working with the traditional materials of Provence for authenticity.
The Shannon's decor was inspired by their favorite provençal inn,
La Bastide de Moustier. The antique limestone fireplace in the living room was shipped from provence, along with vintage quilts, pillows, and Provençal pottery, linen-upholstered club chairs (monograms were added in Santa Barbara), and a pair of fauteuils covered in natural linen. The gorgeous lantern was found in an antiques shop in Cotignac.
Il BrolinoThe historic Montecito estate of Il Brolino, was built in 1923 by architect George Washington Smith. The eight acres of Italian Renaissance-inspired gardens, designed by Florence Yoch, require daily year-round care by four full-time gardeners — including the head gardener who has been maintaining the property for twenty-six years.
Las Tejas Reflecting pools, framed by sculptural agaves in urns.
Peter and Stephanie Sperling spent eight years restoring the once-neglected gardens of Las Tejas to closely match archival photos from the 1920s of the original plan by owner and landscape designer, Helen Thorpe. The Montecito landscape and the estate are responsibly managed with the environment in mind: it is free of pesticides, and beneficial insects, birds, and other fauna are actively encouraged.
In Santa Barbara Living, the exquisite photography of Lisa Romeiren perfectly captures the light and mood of Santa Barbara.
Oh, yes, I'm packing my bags ... would you care to join me?
..........................................................................................................................................................................In 1916, California architect Irving Gill wrote, “We should build our house simple, plain and substantial as a boulder, then leave the ornamentation to Nature, who will tone it with lichens, chisel it with storms, make it gracious and friendly with vines and flower shadows as she does the stone in the meadow.”*..........................................................................................................................................................................
*Santa Barbara Living, by Diane Dorrans Saeks and the Editors of Santa Barbara Magazine, Rizzoli New York, 2008. Principle photography by Lisa Romeiren. Available November. Preorder now.
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