THE PLANS

The nearly half-acre lot was home to three buildings, the earliest built circa 1930. All were renovated and a new garage was built, for a total of five bedrooms and four baths spread over 2,934 square feet of living space, woven together by a network of pathways and plantings.

SITE PLAN: The driveway leads to the new garage (1) and a central path (2) toward the fountain (3). To the left, the path winds past an informal basketball court, to the guesthouse (4), the outdoor spa (5), and the studio (6). To the right of the fountain, terraces and paths lead to the main house (7), fire-pit area (8), and kitchen garden (9)

FLOOR PLANS: In the 1,684-square-foot main house, four rooms became one kitchen-dining space, while a bedroom (lower left) replaced the living room for a total of three bedrooms and three baths. The 350square-foot studio is now a home theater and study.

House

Studio

the old ones. The Grossbards loved the ball shapes on the old crank handles, so all the working ones on the property were salvaged, then put to use in the main house. “We wanted these little artifacts to remain and be functional,” says Rubison, whose team managed to find matching doorknobs.

One side of the kitchen opens onto a massive Douglas fir pergola laced with bougainvillea and jasmine. “The pergola makes it feel more like an intimate interior room, even though you’re outdoors,” says Rubison of the open-air dining space. A built-in pizza oven and grill beckon in one corner, while further exploration reveals a kitchen garden, a fire pit with seating, and a spa tucked into the surrounding landscape. “We set out to create spaces that would inspire you to spend time outside,” Rubison adds.

Of the three buildings, the 900-square-foot garage-turned-guesthouse was in the worst shape. It had held a workshop and car bay, with maid’s quarters tacked on in the back in the mid-1940s. Since the main house no longer had a living room— people tend to congregate in the kitchen-dining area—the architects put one where the car bay once stood. Old oak wine-vat staves were bleached and applied to the vaulted ceiling; the sandstone floor extends under accordion doors onto a terrace facing the central gardens, creating a seamless transition between the two. The workshop was turned into a bunk room, connected to the renovated bedroom by a Jack-and-Jill bath. Cars now park in a new freestanding garage built in the same style, closer to the street.

The third and smallest structure on the property was the 350-square-foot studio, which hugs the rear of the lot and now features a small study for Pam and a home theater with tiered seating. (The candy drawer beneath the screen has turned out to be a favorite feature.) The vaulted ceiling is supported by original collar ties, which were repaired and duplicated to support Pam’s study ceiling, too.

Although all three structures were essentially sound, there were enough alterations to doors and windows to justify stripping the exteriors to the framing, allowing for new insulation, building wrap, and sand-finished stucco. On the roofs, existing S-style terra-cotta tiles were traded for more period-appropriate two-part barrel tiles. At the same time, the old HVAC system was replaced with heat-pump units and the partial basement under the main house was enlarged to accommodate a new mechanical room, a laundry, and a storage area, alleviating the need to intrude upon the living space above.

OPPOSITE: The primary bedroom remained in the same spot, but was fitted with new windows suited to the home’s style and age.

BELOW: The layout of the primary bath didn’t change, saving money. Walls were refinished in subway tile, and a freestanding tub was added atop a new cement-tile floor.

Santa Barbara County doesn’t get much rain, but last winter’s torrential storms proved how vulnerable the area could be to flooding, so Prahm’s team installed new site drainage throughout. “It turned into a fairly sizable civil engineering