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CEO Gwyn Lurie gwyn@montecitojournal.net
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Tim Buckley tim@montecitojournal.net SPRING | 2025
The Riv Founder & Editor Les Firestein les@montecitojournal.net
Heidi Clements, Christopher Matteo Connor, Joe Donnelly, Matt Haber, Blake Kasemeier, Tiana Molony, Beatrice Tolan
Montecito JOURNAL
is published by Montecito Journal Media Group, LLC. 1206 Coast Village Circle, Suite G, Santa Barbara, CA 93108 For distribution, advertising, or other inquiries: (805) 565-1860 www.montecitojournal.net
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Set within the exclusive, gated enclave of Montecito Shores, this sophisticated ground-floor residence seamlessly blends modern elegance with effortless coastal living. Spanning 2,068 sq. ft. (plus private outdoor areas), this beautifully renovated home offers a contemporary open floor plan with 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, and a serene indoor-outdoor flow. Floor-to-ceiling windows frame lush garden views, while two patios provide tranquil spaces for relaxation. A chef’s kitchen opens to a refined media room and library, with distinct dining and entertaining areas enhancing the home’s versatility. Luxurious features include custom rift oak cabinetry, a premium sound and lighting system, walk-in closets, in-unit laundry, and access to a spacious community entertainment patio. Montecito Shores residents enjoy resort-like amenities: a 24-hour guarded gate, a sparkling pool, tennis court, and greenbelt areas, oceanfront sitting areas, along with private access to Montecito’s iconic beaches. Perfectly situated, this residence is just moments from renowned Rosewood Miramar Beach Resort, the Coral Casino Beach Club, as well as the vibrant dining and shopping of Montecito’s Coast Village Road. Move-in now and be among the first to enjoy the proposed new neighborhood restaurants: Thomas Keller, Nobu, and Bouchon!
BUILDING
PEACE OF MIND
CONTENTS:
.62 THE FIRE WITHIN
Some very smart people have taken a whack at building fireproof. Thomas Edison. Frank Lloyd Wright. And, quite successfully, one of the great Montecito architects Barton Myers. Here’s a survey of almost everything you can do by a man whose middle name is fire, Les Firestein. Okay, almost his middle name. Kind of.
.78 CONTINUITY RISES FROM THE ASHES
Like Hiroshima’s skeletal Genbaku Dome, the Pacific Palisades’ Business Block stands as a scorched hymn to the community’s determined forward motion. Architect Finn Bradley comes home to propose a personally meaningful reframing of the ruin as a lovely public space—and monument to his hometown’s resilience.
.82 SAVING ALTADENA’S TILES
When the aptly named Eaton Fire consumed Altadena in an unstoppable inferno, some 6,000 homes were vaporized, their exposed chimneys bearing artisanal tiles that trace back to the plucky town’s origin story. Now a swarm of volunteers is racing to preserve this golden tether to the town’s past—and a throughline to Altadena’s tomorrow.
.92 INFLUENCERS OF SNARKITECTURE
Heidi Clements, herself a successful influencer, interviews a foursome of design influenciati racking up the likes with what can only be called “snarkitecture.” To wit, Kaitlin Hannig says, “the layout of this kitchen, unlike your dad’s mind, is open.” Things get wilder from there.
.100 SLEEPING WITH THE ENEMY
Feeling lonely in bed? Don’t worry, we never truly sleep alone. The Riv takes a deep dive into house dust. Where does it come from? And what the heck is it? And if you’re wondering if this article will help you get rid of dust, well, it just mite.
.110 FURNITURE IN THE KEY OF BEA
As an artform, upholstering furniture doesn’t always get the credit it deserves. Is it even a craft? Well it is now! The industry’s latest disruptor comes in the form of punk rock Santa Barbaran Joanna “Bea” Shultz who can, among other things, transform an everyday dumpster into a most elegant day bed. She’s also a spokespeep for Carhartt. What the heck??
.124 RESIDENTIAL SWEET
For decades, Giffin & Crane has been one of Montecito’s most relied upon home and commercial contracting services. Known for their professionalism, geniality, devotion to craft, philanthropy, and unusually tidy build sites, the G&C team has earned their reputation as legends in the field. They also give new meaning to the phrase “building community.”
What do sheep have to do with our recent fires? For one thing, as mountain lions fled the fires, it allowed bighorn sheep to come back strong. For another, designer sheep by the surrealist sculptors Les Lalanne are also resurgent and white hot on the auction block, frequently fetching more than a million bucks under the gavel. Why is that? A Riv rumination.
.158 SALLY GO LIGHTLY
Take a quick drive down to Ventura to take a peek at the colorful lobby entrance of the E.P. Foster Library. It’s one of the crown jewels of Sally Weber’s art career, but she’s still giving rays of light the starring role in her artistic creations.
.166 WINGS OF DESIGN
The story of Edmond Huot, marketing CCO, Canadian native, and airline livery designer. This “AvGeek” is never more in his element than when he’s avidly talking about airplanes. Lucky for him, he gets to design their exteriors.
.174 NS CERAMICS
For Nola Stucky, a BusEcon/Art History double major suggested a meticulously planned postgrad destiny. But it’s unlikely even she could have foreseen how kismet, mentorship, and (yes) accounting would combine to give her a colorful life in the world of ceramics she loves— and a chance to work with a unique and endangered artisanal community.
.178 FROM LABWORK TO ARTWORK
Born in Eastern Bloc Poland, local Montecitan Danuta Bennett took an unusual career path from scientist and PhD to established visual artist, demonstrating that art and science don’t merely overlap—they interweave.
.182 YARD TIMES
There’s nothing like an evening constitutional where you bask in your own meticulously ornamented lawn. We can thank our amazing landscape designers for these personal Edens. It’s just like the Bible says—what was it now?: “Blessed are the landscapers, for they shall trick out the earth”? (Or something like that?)
.188 INTO THE WOODS
In the pages of The Riv , there’s nothing we like to do more than to celebrate and showcase the historical beauty of Montecito’s architectural output. As it happens, so does Douglas Woods, whose new photo book from Rizzoli opens the doors to some of the area’s most exclusive creations.
CONTENTS:
.208 INTERIOR MAVENS
A selection of blue-chip interior designers, specialists, and craftmakers based out of Montecito and its cozy surrounds. No one does it better than this murderers’ row of expert artisans.
.222 HOUSE OF LAURIDS
How does Austrian craftsman Laurids Gallée come up with his singular designs? Maybe it’s an artisan’s secret. One thing’s for sure, his resin globule lamps really brighten up the room—and the room’s conversation.
.228 REAL ESTATES
A comprehensive listing of striking homes, sprawling estates, and even a few desirable vacation rentals available for anyone with a yen and the means for making a dream come true.
ON OUR COVER:
HOT PINK (very hot pink): Jaguar meets Barbiecore? Not exactly. In the Palisades Fire, a car was drenched in fire retardant at Mandeville Canyon, Los Angeles. REUTERS/Ringo Chiu
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Our Contributors
With the Los Angeles fires on our minds, we asked our contributors, “What’s one item you must have in your emergency go bag?”
Heidi Clements is a former TV writer turned social media creator: “Since most of my childhood memories are on actual film, the big box of photos proving I was a perfect child who loved summer camp are right by the door. But I live in a one-room guest house, so really everything I own is by the door.”
Christopher Matteo
Connor is a writer for the Montecito Journal and a filmmaker on the side: “Air filter dog masks for my pups, Chloe and Bailey. Safely escaping a catastrophe is one thing, but I’m not sure I could survive their admonishing looks if I failed to protect them from whatever postapocalyptic landscape we find ourselves in.”
Beatrice Tolan is a writer, painter, and animator who has done graphic design for the Montecito Journal: “I keep a bankbox of about 20 journals I’ve written over the past decade nearby in case I’ve got to split. I don’t want to forget how embarrassing growing up is.”
Blake Kasemeier tells stories on the internet about the transformative power of grief, fatherhood, and a well-timed sparkling water: “Grandpa’s old Gibson acoustic guitar survived the Vietnam War, the L.A. riots, and my parents’ divorce. If the fires come to my door, I know my best chance of making it out alive is strapping that thing to my back and making a run for it.”
Tiana Molony is a freelance writer with words in the Montecito Journal, Backpacker Magazine, and the Mountain Gazette: “After my chocolate Labrador, Chili, passed away last year, the vet stamped his paw print on paper and mailed it to me. I hung it on my fridge. It’s the first thing I’d grab because I’ll never be able to re-create it.”
Matt Haber lives in the Bay Area and has written for The New York Times, New York, and the Guardian: “I’d better grab the high-quality treats or my massive Shepherd-Husky will definitely not follow me out the door.”
Joe Donnelly is an awardwinning journalist, editor, and author. He teaches at Whittier College and is the editor-inchief of Red Canary Magazine: “I travel pretty lightly through life, but I’d probably try to grab a couple of my guitars, especially my Telecaster.”
Jeff Wing is a professional over-explainer whose reporting has explored the afterlife, civic sewage treatment, and Sean Kenney who played burned, mute Captain Pike on Star Trek : “Fleeing the house, I would snatch up McGuane’s novel Nobody’s Angel , an evergreen laugh-while-weeping lesson plan and eternal flame. Should someone later ask, ‘What did you rescue?!’ I’ll earnestly reply, ‘Um… a picture of you?’”
It's been said that "a man’s home is his castle (and defense against injury and violence)." It’s definitely a concept we explore in this issue. But the real question is… who wore it better?
The Fire Issue
The California fires are a design issue. The magnitude of fire disaster directly correlates to how we design our homes and our neighborhoods and the materials with which we choose to build.
It Had To Be the Fires
Sometimes at the Riv we have raucous debates about the cover. This issue there was never any doubt. Nor was there any shortage of images. Cars with their hubcaps melted. A garden gnome engulfed in flames. A hydrant devoid of water and actively on fire.
It is both a Riviera condition and a human condition that life migrates to where the land is lush (for cover) and where it’s fertile (for sustenance ). Many primates including us like to habitate where there are views and, when possible, a body of water. Views are nice because they just ARE, but why do views give us a good feeling? I’d argue it’s because vistas allow us to see what’s coming be it a storm or a ship… or a fire. We like bodies of water because, well, just about everything on this planet likes and needs “vitamin sea.” And typically our waterways also offer an alternate route for provisions, trade, reinforcements, rescue… or escape.
I guess I left out recreation, relaxation, and rest. Rivieri are some of the most beautiful and fascinating places on earth. But from an earth sciences perspective, many rivieri are still relatively young and can also be quite rambunctious. Look at Kona, for example. What gives Kona coffee its great taste is it’s harvested from steep slopes with nutrient rich volcanic soil recently erupted from deep inside the earth. The downside is a lot of Big Island’s volcanoes aren’t entirely dormant with major eruptions in 2018 and 2022.
Montecito, where this magazine is based, is situated amidst a young and active mountain range. All that newly exposed earth is part of the reason you can grow just about anything here and why we have so many of the world’s most beautiful gardens. The downside is not only are we still geologically active, but we’re also a top travel destination for atmospheric rivers. “When it rains it pours” is an understatement.
Still, we take our chances because it’s paradise and geologic time has a much different horizon than the
human lifespan—and maybe you get lucky. Or maybe you get really unlucky like the Montecito resident who lived through two debris flows at the same house but 60 years apart. (Don’t worry, that neighborhood has since become a debris basin.)
Our hearts are with our neighbors in Altadena and along the coast. We, Montecito, have definitely “been
www.portfolio.edelsonphotography.com
photo by Josh Edelson
When we first came across this photo, I was certain it was A.I. Sadly, it’s not. However, it is California’s fire problem encapsulated in a single image: The hydrant itself is not only empty but on fire.
there.” Thankfully we’ve also learned a lot in surmounting our disaster and we have many lessons to share. For one thing, we learned the cavalry is not coming—but that’s not just the bad news; it’s also the good news.
We learned there’s MUCH concerned citizens can do on their own (see our guide on page 62 ). In the wake of our 2017 fires and 2018 debris flow, Montecito unearthed (literally) multiple solutions and innovations, many of which you’ll read about in these pages. The architect (and former fighter pilot) Barton Myers, one of my faves, built himself a home deep in Toro Canyon using every fire repelling strategy he could imagine. And guess what? Barton’s home actually WAS the firebreak in the Thomas Fire. It’s good to know that “Build back better” can actually happen.
As always, the Riv is a variety show. The influencer Heidi Clements did a great piece interviewing other influencers about design (see “Snarkitecture”). “This kitchen layout is
unlike your dad’s mind because it’s open.” We also did a deep dive into the microbiology of dust. The Riv learned there’s probably more activity between your sheets than you care to imagine.
Please support the charities helping restore our towns after the fires. And, after you do that, enjoy the issue!
Les Firestein, Founder and Editor, The Riv
Charities: CaFireFoundation.org Direct Relief California Wildfire Response Savethetiles.org One805.org unitetolight.org
Wildfires are becoming more frequent and intense from coast to coast and all year round, not just during one or two seasons. As this issue went to press, New York’s governor declared a state of emergency as multiple brushfires broke out near the Hamptons.
(Photo by Andrew Theodorakis/Getty Images)
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OUR EXPERTISE
Big. Medium. Small. We bring the same conviction to every project we take. Sure the larger jobs are more complex and time consuming, but for those who have smaller jobs their dreams are just as important. Our experience on a big job may help on the next small job and vice a versa, you never know. So whether you need us to design systems and coordinate multiple subcontractors or to install a simple home entertainment system, put our 35 year experience to work for you.
THE QUESTION IS HOW CAN YOU “BE” THE MIDDLE HOUSE? FORTUNATELY, WE HAVE SOME ANSWERS.
3 FIREPROOF HOMES: A GUIDE TO WILDFIRE PREPAREDNESS AND RIVIERA RESILIENCE
MONTECITO
HAS MUCH TO SHARE ABOUT NATURE, BUT MAYBE MOST OF ALL ABOUT HUMAN NATURE
Unlike beavers who build their homes mostly out of kindling, humans have known for ages how to build fireproof shelter, but for some reason we rarely do. Moreover, one of the main forces acting against us seems to be… us
After a disaster, humans have a natural inclination to want to “move on,” which may even be an evolutionary adaptation. But this adaptation can also be a hindrance to both individual and collective memory—those not learning from history being doomed to repeat it. Then there are those of us who do learn from history but are still often more brave than smart. Not to mention the people who say, “What are the odds this will happen again?” These are all human failings. “Every lesson has tuition,” my grandmother used to say.
A bad human “hunch” is often aided and abetted by bad science, outdated science, or pseudo-science. Case in point: the local Montecito resident Curtis Skene who was involved in our first modern debris torrent in 1969 along Randall Road. FEMA experts said the flood that caused that torrent was a “500-year flood.” But the next flood came not in 500 years but more like 50. Skene, who thought his first Montecito debris flow was a “one off,” got caught in that one too.
“EVERY LESSON HAS TUITION,” MY GRANDMOTHER USED TO SAY.
In all likelihood the best geologists and hydrologists are mostly not working for FEMA. Geology valedictorians get paid more by petroleum concerns, tunnel builders, and fancy mineralogists. After his second run-in with a debris flow in Montecito, Curtis wasn’t about to get called out on strikes and instead organized his neighbors to sell their homes for fair market value to the County. For its part, Santa Barbara County would convert Randall Road from a neighborhood into a debris basin, which was pretty much what Nature was trying to tell Montecito it wanted all along. It’s all there in the geological record.
TRAILSCAPE, INC.
YOUR PERSONAL PATH TO SCENIC BEAUTY AND FIRE MITIGATION
“Ireceived a short video from a client that showed him fighting the fire with a garden hose, where it stalled at our trail about 30 feet from a propane tank. The accompanying message read, ‘Your trail saved our home.’” Randy Martin, an avid recreational outdoorsman who never met a trail he couldn’t bike, run, or ski, founded a company he called Trailscape, Inc
A professional trail contractor since 2008, Trailscape, Inc. has been etching paths where none existed, opening access to previously impenetrable tracts of privately held spaces. The company’s forged trails—designed and built by people who love and work with the natural milieu—look and feel as if they were present at the world’s formation. The trails also lend themselves to first responders seeking quicker access to the core of a property in the throes of an emergency. “Oftentimes our trails extend to the top of a hill or down to a creek in a switchback fashion, providing a 5% grade trail clear of brush for incoming fire crews, providing as well a secondary escape option for homeowners who might be trapped by the fire.”
THE PROBLEM WITH MAKING LIFE SAFETY DECISIONS FROM ALTERNATIVE FACTS, “INTERNET SCIENCE,” AND ARROGANCEBASED, SELF-GENERATED DELUSION-CONCLUSIONS
“Dunning-Kruger” is a sociological theorem, first propounded in 1999, that, in a nutshell, states why ignorant people often speak with such infuriating certitude (see, for example, “the Internet”). As the theorem goes, the ignorant are not aware of the universe of things they don’t know, therefore they think the answers to most of life’s riddles are obvious. Dunning-Kruger also states that wise and thoughtful people, conversely, are painfully aware of the universe of things they don’t know. Which is why they tend to speak with greater humility. Dunning-Kruger also explains why people with success in one field feel emboldened to speak out about anything. The comedian Bob Hope was one such person.
HOPE AGAINST HOPE
In 1969, one year after L.A.’s Canyon Fire (which burned 23,000 acres—roughly the same size as this year’s Palisades Fire) and the same year Curtis Skene was dealing with extreme flooding in Montecito, Bob Hope and his wife, Dolores, were working with the lauded modernist architect John Lautner developing their Palm Springs house. Lautner was a protégé of Frank Lloyd Wright and had designed many notable and fashion forward homes such as the Chemosphere (which starred in the movie Body Double), the Elrod House (which starred in the 007 film Diamonds Are Forever), and the Sheats-Goldstein Residence (which starred in Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle and The Big Lebowski). Indeed, Lautner created homes that were themselves movie stars and celebrities. And his preference was to build them fireproof.
Lautner's homes are themselves celebrities. Here's one of them with Sean Connery in Diamonds Are Forever. photo courtesy of mptvimages.com
FIREPROOF DOES NOT MEAN FOOLPROOF
Bob Hope and John Lautner were not only both famous, but famously did not get along. Lautner’s forward-looking design called for the Bob Hope house to be fireproof because, even then, we knew that commensurate with burgeoning population density, our fires were growing exponentially worse. At the time, L.A.’s 1968 Canyon Fire, which took the lives of eight firefighters, was barely in the rear-view mirror and practically still smoldering. With this in mind, Lautner’s design for the Hope house called for a clamshell-shaped roof to protect the struc-
ture, like a motorcycle helmet for the home, fabricated from incombustible concrete with rocks on the roof so the house would “disappear” into the Palm Springs moonscape. We’ve known how to build fire repellant structures for eons, but most people choose to roll the dice and save the money. Again, Bob Hope was one such person. Hope thought a roof of reinforced concrete was excessive and proclaimed that the uppermost roof would instead be fabricated from inexpensive plywood ($5 a sheet in 1968). Hope hoped (and convinced his wife) that plywood would be just fine. Yes, plywood. With its highly flammable and even explosive formaldehyde adhesives. Okay maybe it wasn’t the OceanGate submersible, but it wasn’t a good idea either.
photo by Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
UNFORTUNATELY HOPE IS NOT A PLAN
Since Bob Hope was an extremely successful performer, it stood to reason, in Bob Hope’s mind, that he also had an innate understanding of architecture, engineering, and, most importantly, combustion. The important thing to Dolores, meanwhile, was that the roof be—wait for it—pink It should come as no surprise that, being the funders of the project, the Hopes got their way… and Lautner walked.
THE ROOF! THE ROOF!
THE ROOF IS ON FIRE!
On July 24, 1973, Hope’s Palm Springs house caught fire when a welder’s blowtorch ignited the plywood roof that Bob Hope demanded. This delayed construction four or five years while Hope sued everyone he possibly could for such a calamity. He sued his business managers. He sued his own construction crew. He would have (and should have) sued himself. Finally in 1977, construction re-commenced. And with Lautner gone, Dolores indeed got her roof painted the same pink as the Beverly Hills Hotel. The Bob Hope project got taken over by Lautner’s partner in architecture Helena Arahuete, and Lautner eventually disavowed the residence completely.
Bob Hope said of his own home, “When the Martians come down, at least they’ll know where to go.”
Many years later and with all the main players deceased (2013), the house eventually sold only to be restored to Lautner’s original design by its new owner, the grocery magnate and architecture buff Ron Burkle. From Heaven, Lautner should have a good view of Burkle’s faithful restoration including his original roof design, which is no longer pink. Unless someone’s dumping Phos-Chek fire retardant on it right now.
Dolores Hope’s infamous pink roof—they went full Barbie-core long before it was fashionable.
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HARDENING A HOUSE
The tragedy of this moment in California wildfire history, as fingers get pointed in every direction, but especially at L.A.’s mayor and California’s governor, is that we’ve known how to build “fireproof” for quite some time. Although terms like “fireproof” always give me pause like Titanic’s “unsinkable.” That’s because everything has an ignition point including the Earth and the sun. Although the sun isn’t supposed to self-immolate for another seven billion years so it probably doesn’t need a GoFundMe just yet.
FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT’S 1907 FIREPROOF HOME—STILL VERY MUCH STANDING
No less an architect than Frank Lloyd Wright designed a fireproof home in 1907. Wright’s fireproofing was not some kind of secret formula. Like most homes referred to as fireproof, the core of Wright’s design was a concrete structure on a concrete foundation for the simple reason that concrete does not burn. As a dyed-in-the-wool
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Frank Lloyd Wright loved the fireproof nature of concrete and tried to popularize it—because, for some reason, the Roman Colosseum wasn’t enough.
utopian, Wright even published his designs in Ladies’ Home Journal so his fireproof designs could spread like, well, wildfire. And those designs would set an average citizen back all of 15 cents, or about five bucks in today’s dollars.
Many of Wright’s fireproof houses still stand today (including one in Glencoe, Illinois, recently added to the National Register of Historic Places) and the homes are definitely pretty, looking similar to other Usonian Frank Lloyd Wright homes. But for some reason Wright’s concrete homes never, ahem, caught fire and I mean that both literally and figuratively. Well, not just some reason. Concrete structures are harder to work on and generally more expensive. Although if you amortize them over their lifespans rather than yours, a concrete structure can turn out to be quite the bargain. Take the 2,000-year-old Roman Colosseum for example. It’s estimated that structure would cost $750 million to build in today’s dollars. But it makes $75 million dollars a year as a tourist destination—not a bad return. Also the average building in America lasts about 50 years. Think about that
THOMAS EDISON’S PATENTED FIREPROOF HOMES ARE ALSO STILL STANDING
Wright wasn’t the only one fascinated with building fireproof. One day a lightbulb went on over a scientist’s head and he decided that single pour concrete homes would be the answer to America’s housing woes (yes, the housing crisis has been with us
UNITE TO LIGHT SOLAR LAMPS LIGHT THE POST-CATASTROPHE DARKNESS
Those of us who take illumination for granted may be interested to learn there’s an organization whose key mission is to provide light where none exists. This is not a metaphor. And in the wake of a natural disaster, where piercing the darkness is key to moving quickly through uninterrupted triage, UNITE TO LIGHT chimes in with portable solar-powered lamps and batteries that can mean the difference between life and death. “Unite to Light provides solar light and power in the wake of disasters, aiding first responders and affected communities,” explains Megan Birney Rudert, Unite to Light’s president. When not saving lives, this Santa Barbara-based nonprofit organization is dedicated to changing them. Students in these regions without electricity extend their study hours, contributing to improved academic performance and literacy rates. In a global health setting, the Unite to Light mission illuminates the work of midwives and healthcare workers in remote areas. Rudert summarizes, “This work aligns with our broader mission to bring light to those in need, ensuring safety, connectivity, and resilience—whether in daily life or during crises—so people can survive, recover, and thrive.”
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FRONTLINE WILDFIRE DEFENSE
PREEMPTIVE AND AUTOMATED EARLY RESPONSE
“If only my home could contribute to saving itself in the event of a wildfire.” This is not as eccentric a wish as it sounds. Launched in 2017, FRONTLINE WILDFIRE DEFENSE has a suite of services and automated tech comprising an early wildfire response that preps your structure in the earliest phases of the disaster’s approach. Specifics? When a raging fire comes within 7 miles of your home or business, an automated wildfire sprinkler system sprays down the property with water and biodegradable, nontoxic firefighting foam. By the time the fire comes roaring in, your property has been effectively inoculated against it, preemptively made a non-combustible environment. These are not ideas on a drawing board. During the Palisades Fire in Los Angeles, Frontline Wildfire Defense successfully protected homes while neighboring properties were lost. “You’re able to start hydrating the materials on and around the home in advance of embers landing on them,” says Frontline’s founder and CEO Harry Statter. “It takes a lot of water to put out a fire, but very, very little water to prevent a fire.”
that long, shame on us). That man’s name was Thomas Edison and he’d invented that lightbulb over his head—so he had reason to feel confident he was on to something. In fact, all but one of the concrete homes Edison built in the early 1900s are still standing and inhabited. (The one Edison house that’s not standing was demolished to make way for a freeway.)
However, Edison’s motivation probably wasn’t quite as utopian as Wright’s. Edison wanted to create fast (one week to build!) inexpensive structures and become the Henry Ford of housing. Edison also happened to own an enterprise called
As a quick sidebar worth taking, Santa Barbara used to be a town of mostly wood clad structures… up until our 1925 earthquake. At that point local activists took it upon themselves to press Santa Barbara for an aesthetic reboot and cohesive architectural style. An architectural style white hot at the time was romantic “Spanish Revival” popularized by writers like Virginia Woolf and, locally, promoted by Santa Barbara activist-volunteers like Major Maximilian Fleischmann, the newspaper publisher Thomas Storke, and all of it spearheaded by Pearl Chase. A useful guide to emulating Spanish style in exquisite detail, often used by Santa Barbara’s architects, was a gorgeous architectural tome called Architectural Details of Spain and the Mediterranean by Richard Requa. That book was published by… the Portland Cement Company
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Helping with Fire Safety Checklist
⭐ Harden Your Home – Create a 5-foot plant-free 'Zone 0' defensible space, install ember-resistant 1/8 vents, and upgrade to noncombustible roofs (tile, asphalt shingle, slate).
⭐ Protect Your Property – Trim trees away from the roof, clean gutters regularly, and install auto gas shut-offs.
⭐ Enhance Emergency Preparedness – Add water flow and burglar alarms, ensure garage doors operate without electricity.
⭐ Build a Firewise Community – Collaborate with neighbors to strengthen wildfire resilience and safety.
⭐ Stay Informed & Prepared – Sign up for SB County alerts readysbc.org . Source: I’m happy to work with you and the experts at the SB Fire Safe Council for personalized insights.
COASTAL VALLEYS ROOFING CO.
CLASS A FIRE RESISTANCE FOR YOUR HOME’S MOST VULNERABLE FEATURE
When hot embers land on the metal roof of your home, that metal may conduct the heat to the roof’s combustible underlayer, though the metal roof itself remains intact. This is where COASTAL VALLEYS ROOFING CO. comes in. Established in 2018, Coastal Valleys Roofing Co. is a fully licensed and insured roofing company serving the Santa Ynez Valley and Santa Barbara County. With over 35 years of experience in both residential and commercial roofing, they install the latest in roofing systems to strengthen the fire resistance of your structure’s most exposed and vulnerable component. “Metal gets hot enough to ignite the roofing underneath it,” says Rick Payne, owner of Coastal Valleys Roofing. “We install Polystick XFR underlayment, which provides superior fire and ember resistance, under your metal roof, giving it a Class A fire rating. We only offer Class A fire rated materials. Everything we offer is all high fire rated.” Coastal Valleys’ asphalt shingle roofs, along with synthetic shake and synthetic slate roofing systems, are similarly fortified from beneath with a product called Solarhide, which acts as an energy efficient barrier that significantly reduces radiant heat transfer and meets Class A requirements.
WWW.COASTALVALLEYSROOFING.COM
the Portland Cement Company, which I only just learned was originally called the “Edison Portland Cement Company.” So let’s just say there was an element of self-interest involved as well.
In 2023, 7% of new single-family homes were concrete framed, while 93% were wood. Why haven’t Edison’s and Wright’s—or anyone’s—fireproof concrete homes proliferated as California’s fires have only become larger and more frequent? For one thing, concrete framed homes are more expensive. And building the forms into which the concrete is poured requires more precision and therefore more skilled labor. Also, unlike “stick built” 2x6 framing, concrete walls require much planning and forethought—and are nowhere near as easy to adjust after-the-fact as hollow
Edison’s “single-pour” concrete house prototype (above). And still standing today in Indiana.
LINDSEY FIRESENSE
HIGH-TECH
FIRE DETECTION
Montecito and all of Santa Barbara County are highly susceptible to devastating wildfires. Residents are always on edge, watching for brush fires. Now, LINDSEY FIRESENSE’s FIREBird system can do that work—detecting wildfires on the smallest scale within moments, at any time of day or night. Combining a high-tech suite of wildfire-specific thermal sensors, optical imaging, and advanced computer algorithms, the FIREBird system can detect even small fires, typically within two minutes of ignition. This detection of fire from a distance provides people in the fire’s path early warning of the unfolding emergency.
“We’ve all heard about these cameras on the mountaintops,” says Tim Dunfee of Lindsey FireSense, “as well as the Alert California system and detection-from-a-distance satellite systems. The whole idea behind the FIREBird product is not to replace any of those systems but to complement them by deploying sensors along strategic rights-of-way that are known ignition risks, such as power lines or areas where homes border nature, when fast detection is critical.” Lindsey FireSense continues to innovate in the field of wildfire detection, enhancing community safety and resilience through early warning of active wildfire threats.
WWW.LINDSEY-FIRESENSE.COM
Giving new meaning to the phrase ‘Hot Wheels,’ melted
FIRE POOL HYDRANT SYSTEMS
CONVERTING POOLS INTO EMERGENCY FIRE HYDRANTS
In the event of a fire where embers are blowing every which way and city hydrant systems are depleted or overworked—as happened in the Palisades Fire—recasting your swimming pool as an off-the-grid emergency source of hosing water can be an effective last line of defense for protecting your home.
Based in La Verne, California, FIRE POOL HYDRANT SYSTEMS specializes in this specific wildfire defense system that allows homeowners to pump water directly from their pool systems to drench vulnerable structures, hillsides, vegetation, and even livestock before the firefighters arrive. It’s simple enough for a single person to operate in the event of an emergency, but three times more effective than using a normal garden hose.
“There’s no engine to start, or any kind of maintenance that needs to be done on it,” says Brad Jamison, inventor and owner of Fire Pool Hydrant Systems. “And when it’s installed, it’s clear and easy to distinguish with the red valves, while also out of the way for the pool maintenance folks. It’s all really easy to set up and get going.”
If you’re fortunate enough to have a pool in your backyard, you likely have a home worth protecting. Converting pools into accessible fire hydrants is an empowering step homeowners can take towards safeguarding their properties against the threat of wildfires. Instructions and training are included. WWW.FIREPOOLUSA.COM
hubcaps were a common sight. REUTERS/Ringo Chiu
“THE QUANDARY OF FIGHTING FIRE IN 21ST-CENTURY CALIFORNIA IS THAT OUR SYSTEMS CAN ONLY BE AS GOOD AS THE PEOPLE AND AGENCIES WHOSE JOBS ARE TO MAINTAIN THEM. AS OF THIS WRITING, THERE ARE 1,350 BROKEN FIRE HYDRANTS IN L.A. YOU SHOULD LET YOUR ELECTEDS KNOW HOW YOU FEEL ABOUT THAT.”
wood framed walls. So what’s the answer?
There are lots of things one can do to “harden” not just our homes, but whole neighborhoods against fire and other cyclical forces of nature (see our Guide To Hardening Your Home in the following pages). The short documentary “Design For Disaster” put out by the Los Angeles Fire Department in 1961 after the Bel Air Fire burned down 500+ homes (including those of Dennis Hopper, Burt Lancaster, and Richard Nixon among others) talks about the importance of using fire repelling building materials. Wood shingle roofs, since outlawed, were a huge contributory factor to the Bel Air Fire. The L.A.F.D. film also emphasized the importance of clearing brush or at the very least coating it with a protective layer (like Citrotech), having more than one route out of a disaster (trailscapeinc.com), and of course the importance of a robust water infrastructure including ready reservoirs and functioning fire hydrants. (firepoolusa.com for when those municipality fire hydrants aren’t working). A bespoke wildfire early warning system couldn’t hurt either (lindsey-firesense.com).
PURIFIED ENVIRONMENTS
CLEANSING THE AIR OF ASH, MOLD, AND MORE
“Whether we’re talking about ash dioxins in a structural fire, or microbial contamination due to water damage, we can actually identify and define the prevalence, quantification, and source of these contaminants.”
Skip Jankoski is president and owner of PURIFIED ENVIRONMENTS, whose services include mold remediation, air purification, and water damage restoration—all elements of an interior, postfire ecosystem. Purified Environments brings over 30 years of healthcare industry experience and patented technology to the mission of decontamination and continuous purification of living spaces.
Specializing in advanced indoor air quality management, Purified Environments’ certified professionals include NORMI-certified (National Organization of Remediators and Microbial Inspectors) mold inspectors and remediation specialists. Accredited by the Better Business Bureau, Purified Environments’ science-based commitment has been transforming indoor living spaces into sources of wellness rather than illness, positioning them as industry leaders in the realm of indoor air quality management.
AND THEN FINALLY… SOMEONE GOT IT RIGHT—RIGHT HERE IN SANTA BARBARA
One visionary who saw the future and took our fire threat seriously is the vaunted local architect (and former Top Gun fighter pilot) Barton Myers. Barton worked with Louis I. Kahn, but is also very much his own thing and has been obsessed with building “firesafe” for at least seven of his nine decades.
I always thought Barton’s personal Toro Canyon residence was iconic, breathtaking, and innovative on a level with Wright’s Fallingwater. It definitely needs its own postage stamp. I didn’t even realize that Myers developed the
LOVE YOUR LIFE HEALTH SOLUTIONS
SCRUBBING POST-FIRE AIR WITH NASA TECH
“We just partnered with the Santa Barbara South Coast Firefighters Foundation and raised $8,000 for purification technologies,” says indoor air quality specialist Emiliano Campobello of LOVE YOUR LIFE HEALTH SOLUTIONS. “They’re going to the Boys and Girls Club of Pasadena in the wake of the fires.” The purification technologies in question aren’t the kind you just grab off the store shelf. Originally developed by NASA with the University of Wisconsin Aeronautics Division for the International Space Station, these purification technologies get rid of airborne contaminants like viruses, bacteria, and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) by bonding with naturally-occurring hydroxyls and oxidizing them into harmless byproducts. In other words, potentially dangerous floating particulate matter gets sanitized.
After a fire, rectifying the surrounding air quality is a big challenge, but these purifiers make a big difference. Says Campobello, “I’m all about detoxifying your life.”
WWW.LOVEYOURLIFEHEALTH.COM
home with fire resilience in mind. Myers did so because it was his crowning achievement, his own personal residence, and he was acutely aware he was building in a high fire zone. Among other features of the stunning home are giant “reflecting pools” covering every square inch of roof—a mostly non-mechanical system for shielding the residence from flaming embers. It’s also just good having enormous reservoirs of water on hand in case the Fire Department can’t get to you. Or if they can but have no supply.
As I see it, the real revelation of the Barton Myers house was instead of banking on one innovation as did Edison and Wright, the Myers house is an assemblage of every good fire innovation available at the time of construction. Instead of looking for one magic bullet that wouldn’t burn (asbestos, anyone?) Myers looked at every pertinent innovation. The same way cars got safer thanks to bumpers,
Myers’ fire-safe architecture considers the entire area, not just the house, as well as the many forces acting against it.
Barton and Vickie Myers in their Toro Canyon home.
airbags, seatbelts, crumple zones, and ABS brakes, Myers’ home took advantage of large double-glazed rolling shutters (like from a fire station) with high temperature glass, no eaves to catch embers, defensible space, and steel structural members. (In the Bob Hope fire, the steel frame did fine because of its relatively high ignition point. It was Hope’s plywood that burned.)
SO HOW’D THE MYERS HOUSE DO IN OUR MOST RECENT FIRE?
W hen the Thomas Fire scorched through Toro Canyon at the end of 2017, Barton’s home turned out to be literally the firebreak that protected the Montecito back country from the Thomas Fire. It was the Maginot Line for Montecito. Which just goes to show. Your home can not only protect you and itself, but be an asset to the larger community. It’s something to think about.
CITROTECH
THE FIRE PREVENTION SPRITZ
Mighty Fire Breaker’s CITROTECH fire inhibitor reduces the risk of property loss from wildfires, but without the chemical toxins that can cause harm to human health, animals, or the environment. In practice, CitroTech is spray-applied to vulnerable structures, vegetation, trees, and any other combustible materials in the path of the fire. When dried, CitroTech liquid fire inhibitor takes the form of a thin, transparent coating on treated surfaces, and helps suppress both ignition and fire advance while conserving significant amounts of water.
CitroTech is in full compliance with California Proposition 65, ensuring it is non-toxic and non-hazardous. Significantly, the spray uses 90% less water than current firefighting methods. As a bonus on new construction, CitroTech can be sprayed on interior lumber to make the home structure Class A in fire resistance with zero VOCs. MFB can even add a mold inhibitor to the fire formula to reduce the risk of fire and mold on wood.
MIGHTYFIREBREAKER.COM
photo by WIDSTRAND PHOTOGRAPHY
THE BUSINESS BLOCK BUILDING IS DOWN, BUT NOT OUT
STORY BY JEFF WING
THE PALISADES FIRE SETS THE STAGE FOR THE REBIRTH OF A COMMUNITY ICON
Finn Bradley spent a halcyon youth in the Pacific Palisades. “When I grew up there,” says Bradley, “it was a place where on the weekends you’d say bye to your mom in the morning and just run around the streets all day with your friends. All your friends were your neighbors.”
Late on the morning of January 7 this year, flames were spotted on the outskirts of town, and in the seeming blink of an eye, a firestorm tore through Pacific Palisades, Topanga, and Malibu. In the end, some 37 square miles had been torched with a ferocity and alacrity that saw people abandoning their cars and fleeing on foot. The fires took a dozen lives and destroyed 6,837 structures.
One notable shell left standing in Bradley’s ravaged childhood idyll is the Palisades’ storied Business Block Building. Dating to 1924, the Clifton Nourse-designed building became a beloved local landmark over the decades, its Pink-With-Green-Awnings Jazz Age complex dodging an overeager developer’s wrecking ball in ’82 thanks to an army of pugnacious locals. Soon enough a developer would rekindle the community’s ire when he had the Business Block Building painted eggshell white to complement the Palisades Village shopping complex across Sunset Boulevard. Just a little too late, the Business Block Building was officially declared a City of Los Angeles Historic Cultural Monument in ’84.
Building a Resilient Home
The devastating wildfires in Los Angeles have left a profound impact on our communities. Yet, from this tragedy arises an opportunity to rebuild stronger and smarter. GKV Architects, renowned for its innovative architectural design, has partnered with RSG 3-D, a leader in disaster-resilient building systems, to introduce a transformative reconstruction methodology. This collaboration merges GKV's architectural expertise with RSG 3-D's cutting-edge technology, creating homes that are both beautiful and exceptionally resilient.
At the core of this initiative is a commitment to preserving the unique character of these cherished neighborhoods while inco rporating next-generation safety features. Rather than adopting a one-size-fits-all approach, the team is working closely with community members to ensure that their rebuilt home honors the area's architectural heritage while offering unmatched protection against future disasters. The goal extends beyond simply replacing what was lost it is about instilling a renewed sense of securityand confidence in homeowners by creating residences that stand strong against future challenges while maintaining the warm, welcoming essence t hat defines these communities.
The Strength of Structural Concrete Insulated Panels (SCIP) :
Key Benefits of SCIP Technology:
At the heart of the design effort are Structural Concrete Insulated Panels (SCIP) a revolutionary building system known for its durability, sustainability, resilience, and energy efficiency. This innovative construction method integrates stainless steel mesh, EPS insulation, and concrete, forming structures that withstand even the harshest environmental conditions.
- Disaster Resilience: Homes built with SCIP have demonstrated exceptional durability against wildfires, earthquakes, and hurricanes
- Energy Efficiency: The high-performance insulation of SCIP reduces energy consumptionand maintains indoor temperatures
- Sustainability: This eco-friendly construction method minimizes environmental impact throughout the building’s lifecycle.
- Design Flexibility: The versatility of the panel system allows for a wide range of architectural designs and applications.
Rebuilding wildfire-resilient communities requires a thoughtful, multi-faceted approach. GKV Architects is committed to informing, inspiring, and contributing to a broader movement toward resilient and sustainable building practices helping communities worldwide prepare for and withstand nature’s challenges of the future.
As Fate would have it, Finn Bradley is now with New York-based GKV Architects, a full-service architecture and interior architecture design firm. That is to say, this former Palisades tyke is all grown up and professionally positioned to have a hand in a monumental resurrection of a hometown icon. The Business Block’s insides were vaporized by fire, but her perimeter walls still stand, their Spanish revival arches lending the shell the mild vibe of an austere Roman ruin. Bradley’s mind is abuzz with ideas.
“I can see putting in an amphitheater and other gathering spaces for people,” says Bradley, “I can imagine a farmers market and weekend art shows where people sell their work. The remaining building has this almost coliseum-type façade, and I can imagine wrapping this in a beautiful green space and cafés. I think it has a lot of possibility.”
Bradley is also drawing creative octane from a gifted and generous friend. “Rob Jernigan is a known and respected architect in the Palisades, and he’s always been a mentor of mine. I said, ‘Rob, I have this concept, and would love for you to back me on it…’”
This is the story of a kid who grew up to become an architect, then came home to have a hand in his cherished Palisades’ next chapter, preserving a page or two from the storyline he grew up with. The theme is renewal.
“Everything happens for a weird reason,” Bradley says. “New lives need to come out of new beautiful things, new forms, new possibilities.”
OPERATION: SAVE THE TILES
AFTER THE EATON FIRE, ALTADENA RESIDENTS RACE
STORY BY JEFF WING
TO RESCUE THE HISTORIC TILES THAT SURVIVED THE DEVASTATION
“The National Guard presence was absolute,” says Altadena resident Eric Garland. “Even if you could demonstrate that you were a property owner or a resident, they weren’t letting anybody in or out. And so we would go every morning in the dark and approach the barricade and we would say, ‘Will you just go look and tell me if my house is there?’”
In the early evening of January 7, 2025, residents of Altadena reported seeing flames in the lower reaches of the San Gabriel mountain range that both rises above and gently embraces the town’s northern outskirts. Shortly thereafter, driven by hurricane-force Santa Ana winds, the hastily christened Eaton Fire descended the slopes and roared through the town—an unstoppable, high velocity tsunami of flame. The conflagration took 24 days to completely contain, and by then had taken 17 lives and
some 9,000 structures, 6,000 of them homes.
“Holliston Avenue is just gone, gone, gone,” says Garland, “and everything above it.”
Well, almost everything is gone, gone, gone. When Garland and his daughter, Lucy, were finally allowed in to see what they could of their fire-decimated city, what remained, practically unscathed, was a sparse forest of brick chimneys, standing like indomitable sentries amid a flat sea of ash.
Adorning many of those fireplace chimneys were a collection of decorative tiles produced by a legendary local tilemaker.
Ernest Allan Batchelder (January 22, 1875 – August 6, 1957) moved from New Hampshire to Pasadena with his art teacher credentials and a plan to become an educator. In short order he found himself directing the art
PHOTOS BY NICK AGRO
department at Throop Polytechnic Institute, forerunner of the California Institute of Technology.
When Batchelder built a kiln on his property overlooking the Arroyo Seco section of Altadena in 1909, he began what would become a renowned foray into hand-made artisanal tiles. Thanks to the artist’s unique coloring process, the illustrated tiles have a recognizable patina of color made warmer by the artwork’s deep surface topography.
Batchelder’s tiles became immediately popular and proliferated all over the U.S. in commercial and residential properties, particularly in the apartment lobbies of NYC. But Altadena is the proud galactic center of Batchelder’s homegrown tile artistry.
“The shocking thing—I’m sure you’ve seen it—is how there’s no volume left. It’s not a huge, huge pile of
rubble like an earthquake. The houses just evaporate,” says Garland.
The undefeated chimneys with their historical tiles standing among the devastation caught Lucy’s attention. Says Garland, “Lucy said, ‘You know, dad, it’s the only thing left. Everything else burned.’ And I said, ‘Lucy, I think it’s the only thing left of any of these homes in Altadena.’ And she said, ‘Well, that’s good, because one day they’ll rebuild, and they’ll have this material for their new homes that is a throughline.’”
Understandably, longtime Altadena residents (a nearly redundant phrase) have always cherished the century-old, locally-produced Batchelder tilework in their homes. In the context of Altadena’s recent devastation, Batchelder tiles have an almost talismanic power to recall what once was, prompting the preternaturally empathetic Lucy to
wonder aloud: “Who’s going to save the fireplaces?” And so it was that Eric Garland decided to gather a small group to remove and preserve the Batchelder tiles from the standing fire surrounds.
“On Friday evening I sent a note to a small neighborhood group saying, ‘Hey, we’re going to the Aldi parking lot on North Lake and we’ll be there at 10, and anyone who wants to look for tile, join us.’” The post went somewhat viral, and a not-so-mini mob of some 50 resident-volunteers gathered for the cause.
Cliff Douglas was already on the case. A mason by trade, Douglas had descended on the scene with his wife, Janet, and daughters Devon and Darcy in tow to see what could be done about preserving the historic Batchelder tiles. Meanwhile, across town the Army Corps of Engineers was making their incremental way across the Altadena
moonscape, bulldozing debris and regrading lots with earth-moving equipment. Time is of the essence—the Army Corps won’t be waiting around for tile rescuers.
As Douglas’ mission intersected with Garland’s, they joined forces and created the Save the Tiles organization. Now the race is on. How many tiles can be saved for Altadena’s next epoch? The group launched a Save the Tiles GoFundMe campaign to scale and accelerate the conservation project.
“Every dollar is going to return some number of tiles to a future home in Altadena,” Garland says. “Hey, my kids are going to be lucky enough to be around in 50 years. Maybe they’ll be sitting by one of those fireplaces and say, ‘We did that.’”
“THE SHOCKING THING—I’M SURE YOU’VE SEEN IT—IS HOW THERE’S NO VOLUME LEFT. IT’S NOT A HUGE, HUGE PILE OF RUBBLE LIKE AN EARTHQUAKE. THE HOUSES JUST EVAPORATE,” SAYS GARLAND.
photo by Meg Pinsonneault
Under The Influence
The Sassiest Architecture Critics Are Serving Hard
Truths on Instagram
Influencers are turning their gaze on your home. Armed with Zillow and Google, a small new wave of rogue realtors, interior designers, architects, and just good old fashioned lookie-loo house junkies are bringing snark, slams, honest commentary, and hundreds of viral moments to social media. Strangely and perhaps counterintuitively, these verified Instastars are also proving that a little radical honesty can be great for pushing real estate. Who’d’ve thunk?
Since it takes one to know one and I happen to be an influencer—@welcometoheidi—The Riv asked me if I would interview four Instagram home decor all-stars.
ou can usually find Kaitlin in a squatted position, speaking into a tiny microphone, uttering deadpan insults to potential home buyers all over Salt Lake City. “This closet is even massive enough for your accumulated baggage.” Or: “If this house doesn’t save your marriage nothing will.” Or: “The kitchen island has tons of seating for your guests to stage your intervention.” Kaitlin Hannig is perhaps the ruler of the new real talk realtors, the queen of sardonic commentary, slinging insta-slams to potential buyers like a professional stand-up comic and, in the process, putting the real in real estate.
KH: I’m pretty new to real estate. My grandma was a real estate agent and she always had her shit together. So, when I went through a nasty divorce and burned down my entire life, I thought maybe real estate would be fun to do. The social media part was just me trying to stand out from the crowd.
HC: What was the line that launched you?
KH: My favorite line is, “This home has so many bathrooms you’ll always be able to poop the way you’ll die. Alone.” I didn’t think it would go viral, or get me new clients. I was just looking to change up my content creation.
HC: So, you have found new clients from this?
KH: Many. Everything is coming through Instagram now. My clients are coming to me because they have already vetted me on social media. They’ve already heard me say, “This high-end refrigerator is a perfect place for you to store your hot dogs and Mountain Dew.” So we’re all in on it. I have had clients say meeting me feels like meeting a celebrity. Which is hilarious because it’s all very underproduced. That said, I knew that leaning into my intuition has been key and pivotal in this phase of my life.
HC: Do you get recognized?
KH: Yes, but I’ve also had some humbling experiences. I was at the gym and this guy was eyeing me and then he approached me with such intention I assumed he recognized me, but he just wanted to know when I was getting off the piece of equipment I was using.
HC: What current trend do you love?
KH: The use of ambient lighting.
HC: How do you see people living in the future? Should we sign up now for our uniformed pods?
KH: I actually think home design is shifting towards more personal spaces and making better use of that space. We don’t all need an eat-in kitchen and a dining room.
HC: Can you give me a classic Realtor Kaitlin Instagram review of her own life.
KH: Just another disillusioned millennial laughing at our communal scars as we are warmed by the dumpster fire that we didn’t start.
“Every day I wake up and thank the lord that I wasn’t rich in the early 2000s or else I’d be suffering from Tuscan Kitchen Syndrome and the cure is a 100,000 dollar makeover.”
– Samir Mezrahi
an called Jennifer Garner’s home “the dream house of a little girl who reminds the teacher that they didn’t collect the homework” and ponders if people who style homes know how actual humans live. Dan Rosen isn’t the first person to make fun of a celebrity home, but he may be the first person to have celebrities actually request he trash their aesthetics on his page. (The latest is Emma Roberts.) Dan was born and raised in New York City to immigrant parents. He and his four brothers grew up sharing one bedroom while his parents lived in
the living room. It forced him to seek out other people’s spaces. He didn’t always want to go to the party, but he wanted to see where the party was and if his friend’s parents’ six-story townhouse had a jacuzzi on the roof. It did.
HC: Why celebrity home skewering?
DMR: During the pandemic we were all so obsessed with posting our homes and a lot of the celebrity homes were so lacking in imagination. I think the references I used when I posted about them naturally contextualized it and brought in a lot of people who maybe didn’t realize they cared about design. That was my audience. But then I realized people in the design community were really responding to my posts. There’s not a lot of criticism in the design world, and there’s such a revolving door between the magazines, and the publications, and the brands, that a lot of people can’t speak their minds, and because I was outside of it, I was actually saying things that weren’t said. I thought I was doing comedy, but in a way, I was doing criticism.
HC: I enjoyed your Yolanda Hadid home review. Very spicy.
DMR: It looks like the home of every villain in the
“It’s not just about personal taste, it’s about disrespect for the architectural context of a house. Especially a significant house.”
– Kelley Wagner
TV show Yellowstone. I guess she missed L.A. so much that she wanted to recreate the Shinola store in Venice—Hermès throw pillows in case you forgot how insanely rich they are. She may have all the money in the world, but she still chose to make her closet look like an outlet mall J. Crew.
HC: Have you had any negative feedback?
DMR: I made fun of Chris Brown’s floor. Which is truly horrific. It looked like a bowling ball, you know something you’d have at like a laser tag arena. And I said, “I wouldn’t say it’s the worst crime he’s done, but you know…” And so, he commented, “Why don’t you come over and we’ll see what crimes we can do.”
HC: What design trend do you hate?
DMR: Stop organizing your books by color. The point of a book is not to be aesthetic. And stop buying massive statement pieces of furniture. We get it. You have money.
HC: What design trend do you love?
DMR: I think there is an increased awareness of design and more people actually designing a home that reflects their own tastes and not this incredibly impersonal purchased aesthetic. I want people to be weirder.
HC: And is this how you see people living in the future? More authentically?
DMR: Yes, I see people actually designing homes that reflect their own tastes and interests and not trying to just copy and paste whatever they view as aspirational.
HC: And how would you review your own home?
DMR: That wallpaper doesn’t make your shitty onebedroom look like it’s a Wes Anderson movie. It’s like putting truffles on a McRib.
NAME: KELLEY WAGNER
PROFESSION: INTERIOR DESIGNER & VINTAGE HOME ENTHUSIAST
HANDLE:
@KELLEY_WAGNER
Kelley Wagner grew up in Southern California, so her love and respect for mid-century post and beam is in her DNA. It’s a deep respect that makes her a somewhat kinder, gentler home influencer. An interior designer with a penchant for historic homes, Kelley’s viral posts, “You Ruined It,” take aim at what she calls cruel and unusual punishment to a perfect home. It’s a social media presence that wouldn’t exist if Kelley hadn’t been dealing with the birth of her extremely premature twins at 24 weeks. Suddenly this stay-at-home mom needed a side hustle.
KW: I started posting about vintage and historic homes and people started to reach out and ask if I would offer design services, which was my background, so talking about homes started generating work for me. I get to connect with other people who, first of all, like historic and vintage homes like I do, but second of all, want to preserve those features in their homes.
HC: How did you hone your extensive historical home knowledge?
KW: Mostly on the job. I worked for one builder for many years as a designer. But it was also fueled by my parents’ hobby of driving us around to look at L.A. houses and seeing some really unusual stuff from the car window as a kid.
HC: I can see the disappointment in your eyes when you talk about how a home has been ruined.
KW: It’s not all just about personal taste, it’s about disrespect for the architectural context of a house. Especially a significant house.
HC: And your posts have created new business for you?
KW: Yes, and working virtually. Almost all my projects are outside the Philly metro area where I currently live.
HC: What’s a design trend that gives you the ick?
KW: I can make a case for anything.
HC: What about barn doors.
KW: In certain situations, but generally I prefer them in a barn. Some people will say, “I can’t have stainless steel appliances because of those little kid fingerprints, and I wish someone would design a comfortable sink height for my husband who is 6’8”. There’s so many contextual pieces you
have to put together, but I don’t do any work that’s trend-based, so I feel like I could almost make an argument in favor of any trend, even one that on paper I, you know, shudder at the thought of. I feel like I could somehow make it work. I don’t like to walk into people’s houses and say, “That’s terrible. We have to gut all of this.”
HC: How do you think we’ll be living in the future?
KW: I love talking about projections of the future especially like 1960s retrofuturism because I think that when we’re talking about this, we’re always talking about an idealized version of the present. We’re thinking about the problems we have right now like sustainability, so in my mind we tackle those problems in the future. I hope that we try to maintain a lot of historic properties, because in my view, that is a more sustainable way of living rather than gutting everything every time somebody new moves into a property.
HC: Favorite post?
KW: Documenting some of the homes we lost in the L.A. fires recently. Being able to show people the homes that you might not necessarily be able to find on Google.
That’s the most important thing I’ve done. Making old houses cool.
HC: What about Montecito and Santa Barbara?
KW: I’m in love with the area because of how much original Spanish revival architecture is there. I’m a huge fan of James Osborne Craig and Mary McLaughlin Craig and all of the amazing architects in the area upholding that tradition. Tom Meaney is an architect I associate with the heart of what makes Santa Barbara so special. His work focuses heavily on exploring the revival styles associated with Spanish architecture. He specs stuff like adobe construction, hacienda architecture, etc. One of my favorite projects by him is in Ennisbrook, which is an actual replication of an 1800s hacienda. I just think his work is so specific to the Central Coast and general Santa Barbara area.
EHC: And why Spanish revival?
KW: Could be from growing up in the 805, but honestly, I think it’s from the house in the 1961 Parent Trap. I loved that house.
NAME: SAMIR MEZRAHI
PROFESSION: REAL ESTATE
TV PRODUCER HANDLES: @SAMIR @ZILLOWGONEWILD @KALESALAD
very day, over five million people watch Samir Mezrahi deliver a deadpan review of celebrity homes with monotone musings like, “Every day I wake up and thank the lord that I wasn’t rich in the early 2000s, or else I’d be suffering from Tuscan Kitchen Syndrome and the cure is a 100,000 dollar makeover.” From his Home Hater series to his Celebrity Home Shopping segments, Samir is crushing the algorithms—and now the airwaves—with producing duties on Zillow Gone Wild, the HGTV show that just got picked up for its second season. Samir is not a realtor, or an agent, he’s just a fan of space and design. Unless that space happens to be Floyd Mayweather’s 100,000-dollar-a-month New York City rental.
HC: Where did it all begin?
SM: It was during the pandemic. People were bored and browsing Zillow became such a thing. I think I just had really good timing. People are really interested to see how the rich live and I frame it under the idea that you never know what’s going on inside someone’s home. There’s a curiosity to see how famous people furnish and decorate, so it’s like a little window into someone’s personality. The most common comment is always “money doesn’t buy taste.”
HC: Do you need permission to take pot shots at these homes?
SM: I reach out to agents before sharing. Most of my posts are user submitted, but I also call agents who realize even a mixed review will get a lot of attention to their homes. And now we’re getting to shoot inside the homes ourselves, which is really exciting.
HC: I guess it’s like that Oscar Wilde quote that the only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about.
SM: I just went last week to this home in Boca which was so much fun. It’s this 25-milliondollar home and every room has a theme and it looks like chaos in pictures, but the photos just don’t do it justice, so it was cool getting to see it in person. I also went to see a house in Gilbert, Arizona. It was 20 million dollars and had the biggest jacuzzi pool you’ve ever seen, a 6,000-square-foot barn with a batting cage, a putting green with a floor that had a hydraulic lift so you could change the hill sizes. It had a dance studio, top-of-the-line gaming system, a wellness center with a hot and cold plunge, a yoga room, a covered basketball court with a score board, bleachers, and a go-kart track with a shooting range underneath.
HC: Who’s a designer you love?
SM: There’s a guy named Christopher Peacock, who makes the best kitchens, really nice, very high-end kitchens that when they come across your feed, you’re like, wow, I want this one.
HC: Is there a design feature you hate?
SM: Whoever is manufacturing grey vinyl plank flooring. We could probably put an end to those.
HC: What’s a favorite spot you’ve toured for the show Zillow Gone Wild?
SM: The Whale House in Mission Canyon, in your town, Santa Barbara. It was built maybe in the late ‘70s. There’s something like a million shingles around it. When you walk in, you’re in the whale. Like, it’s a blowhole. And the interior, like, all the walls are round; there’s no straight walls. And then the backyard is, like, the belly of the whale.
It’s really cool. I got to spend a week there during the first season of the show, so I got to see it in person. It was so great. I think Montecito and Santa Barbara are the nicest, calmest, and still most underrated places in the United States.
HC: What’s one house you really want to get into?
SM: There’s this island house in South Florida that’s $250 million. It probably has 10,000 square feet of grey vinyl plank floors, but I’d still move in tomorrow.
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IF THESE SHEETS COULD TALK, THEY’D PROBABLY SAY, "EWWW.”
THE UNIVERSE UNDER YOUR BED
BY BLAKE KASEMEIER
“DUST BUNNIES” SOUND CUTE BUT THERE’S LIKELY MORE GOING ON UNDER YOUR MATTRESS THAN ON TOP OF IT
Dust Bunny may be an adorable nickname for those fluff balls living beneath your bed, but there’s nothing cute about the toxic stew you’ll find inside the average pile of house dust. More than mere dirt, there can be 45 potentially harmful chemicals in dust. And the ingredients that won’t kill you are simply… gross.
SWEEPING DUST UNDER THE RUG IS NO LONGER AN OPTION, BUT THANKFULLY THERE ARE NEW SOLUTIONS.
Other than hair and dead skin, the building blocks of household dust are sloughed off particles from various items decomposing in our homes. Not just us, but the vinyl floors we walk on, the flame-retardant textiles we sit on, and a host of household products we think we’re cleaning with, but may be filled with toxins. According to a study by the Milken Institute of Public Health, dust bunnies could cause respiratory issues, allergy complications, weight gain, cardiovascular problems, and yes, even cancer.
For those of us in Southern California, the Los Angeles fires have added an even deadlier layer of atomized toxic bits to our oxygen from smoke and even aerosolized asbestos. Actress Fran Drescher said she entered her fire-damaged home in a hazmat suit.
THE BIBLE SAYS MAN WAS CREATED WHEN GOD BREATHED LIFE INTO DUST. NO WONDER WE’RE SO TOXIC.
Household dust is a fairly complicated witches’ brew. It’s mostly dead human skin cells, pet dander, dust mites (both alive and dead), dust mite poop, dead insect parts, soil, pollen, tiny plastic particles, clothing, carpet, and furniture fibers. And of course hair of all kinds.
The dust structure, these mini and not-so-mini tumbleweeds, act like a sponge to trap the potentially deadly chemicals used in many consumer products. An irony is that our relentless pursuit of cleanliness and hygiene may actually be giving some of us a jump start on cancer. Making our homes spotless and stain free with PFAS or “forever chemicals” (in a lot of cleaning products) is leading to slower paced brain development in children, increased rates of thyroid cancer, and liver and kidney damage (says the Milken Institute).
“THE WAR AGAINST DUST MAY FEEL LIKE AN UPHILL BATTLE, BUT THANKS TO A NEW WAVE OF AIR SCRUBBERS, OZONE MACHINES, AND MORE, IT’S ONE YOU CAN WIN.”
Adding insult to injury—dust has a very long memory; decades, in fact. So that mid-century home you’re renovating may be hanging on to “legacy pollutants” that have been banned for 50 years like, say, DDT. But wait, it gets worse. How could it possibly get worse? Combine all the stuff that’s disintegrating in your home, with all the stuff that refuses to break down. Now combine that toxic bisque with all the “forever on” electronics in your home like your router and whatever you’re charging, constantly heating all those toxins. Now add to that the fact that today’s homes are built so airtight the air stays trapped in the home without the benefit of recirculation. If you’re not creeped out yet here are some of the chemicals the Milken Institute of Public Health study found in the average dusty home:
Highly fluorinated chemicals such as PFOA and PFOS used to make non-stick cookware, cell phones, moisture proof pizza boxes, and stain-resistant products. These chemicals are high on the harm scale and have been linked to numerous health problems of the immune, digestive, and endocrine systems.
DECOMPOSING FLAME RETARDANT
THAT GETS
ADDED
TO COUCHES, CARPETS, AND OTHER FABRICS IN THE HOME.
To me, however, the tiny star of the horror movie that lives under your bed is most definitely the dust mite feeding off your dead flesh as you slumber, depositing bug excreta onto your pillow that you subsequently inhale. These microscopic creatures largely feed on dead flakes of human skin, of which we shed about a gram every day. (Necessary, but at the same time, gross.) The dust mite is an allergy’s best friend and a main contributor to asthma thanks to us inadvertently ingesting dust mite fecal matter and dead bodies. Super gross. Thankfully, dust mites are 200,000 times smaller than the amount of skin we shed daily, and the good news is you were already done using that skin anyway. Perhaps like the Garra rufa, the nibble fish used for those pricey flesh-eating pedicures the GOOP set seems to love, dust mites will one day become a player in the beauty industry and replace that snail mucin face mask my wife swears by. It could happen.
“OUR OWN RELENTLESS PURSUIT OF CLEANLINESS
Ridding your home of deadly dust is a multi-front war, but the good news is there are new strategies and a whole new industry developing to keep your home a healthier place. To those who say we’re living in a time of late-stage capitalism, I say ha. Check out all these ways to optimize your IAQ (Indoor Air Quality):
#1 In vest in an air purifier with a HEPA filter. Used properly, these devices are said to remove at least 99.97 percent of dust, pollen, mold, bacteria, and most tiny airborne particles.
#2 Get a cool mist evaporative humidifier. Why? Basically, airborne water clings to particulate matter, weighing it down, and drops it to the ground where at least you’re not breathing it. Then you can manage it with a Dyson, or better yet, a Roomba while you’re safely out of the toxic dump you call home.
#3 Regularly change your home’s HVAC filters and consider adding an air scrubber. Air scrubbers remove VOCs, surface contaminants, pet dander, odors, and dust.
#4 Switch to nontoxic household cleaners. Brands like Seventh Generation, Ecos, Mrs. Meyer’s, and Grove Collaborative are just a few at the forefront of the zero poison game.
#5 Clean your air ducts. Over time your ducts accumulate a variety of harmful contaminants. Over 70% of indoor air quality issues can be traced back to dirty or contaminated HVAC systems.
#6 Get dust mite-proof bedding. You can now buy sheets, mattress protectors, pillows, and blankets that keep those creepy critters out from under your covers. It’s interesting to note that the natural predators of dust mites are silverfish, other mites, and something called “pseudoscorpions” which are classified as “beneficial arachnids.” To which I say no thank you to turning the area under my bed into a mixed martial arts dust mite Thunderdome. I’ll take a Turiya mite repellent organic latex pillow by Coyuchi instead.
#7 If all else fails, hire a professional home cleaner or detoxifier guaranteed to give you a full clean sweep. Companies like Servpro, Happy Clean, and the classic Stanley Steemer can be a one-stop solution to help you rest easier at night and during the day.
Understanding that the monster under your bed, couch, behind the armoire, and definitely at the back of your closet is a flesh-eating bunny that likes to hop around your entire home may make you want to sleep in a hermetically sealed bubble, but these fairly simple solutions will keep that dust to a minimum and out of your lungs.
TUFT LOVE
STORY BY HEIDI CLEMENTS
IF YOU’VE NEVER SEEN THE WORDS “REVOLUTION” AND “UPHOLSTERY” IN THE SAME SENTENCE, IT’S BECAUSE THIS IS YOUR FIRST EXPOSURE TO BEA SHULTZ.
In 1965, Tom Wolfe wrote an essay, “The Kandy Kolored Tangerine Flake Streamline Baby.” That essay was important because Wolfe, already considered an elite writer, turned his lens on Low Rider culture and posited that hot rod customizers, particularly in the San Fernando Valley and Ventura, were actually producing high art—their medium just happened to be the automobile. At the time this was a revolutionary concept. I always loved that essay, moreover the thinking behind it: that great art can be found in untraditional mediums done by untraditional artists.
“ONE DAY THIS DUMPSTER IS GOING TO BE IN THE TATE GALLERY.”
Thirty-six-year-old upholsterer Joanna “Bea” Shultz vibrates with enthusiasm when she talks about the one-woman art show she’s creating called “Dalliances with Appliances.” The dumpster is one of nine pieces Bea will use to answer the question I came to ask: Can the cast-off crap of late-stage capitalism be elevated to high art? And even better, art you can sit on?
And not just within the gilded frames and crackled canvases in The Metropolitan and the Uffizi.
Cut to 60 years later and just a stone’s throw from Ventura, the ball of energy and passion known as Joanna “Bea” Shultz is carrying on the chop shop revolution albeit in a different medium—she’s a Janis Joplin with bolts of fine fabrics and a blowtorch. It’s hard to imagine a punk rock upholsterer until you meet her in the flesh, but that’s exactly what Bea is.
When the similarly rock’n’roll writer and influencer Heidi Clements introduced me to “Bea,” I was instantly smitten and I knew Heidi would be the perfect person to write this piece. – LAF.
I first connected with Bea in the way that all good modern friendships start—in the DM’s of my Instagram. “Hey girl. You should come check out my shop next time you’re killing time in downtown SB. I think I’ll blow your mind with what I have up my sleeve.” Anyone who knows me knows that a surefire way to get me out of bed is to tell me you’re going to blow my mind—so one day while out searching for the perfect chopped salad, I took Bea up on her offer.
De La Guerra Plaza in Santa Barbara is not where you expect to meet a rock star of furniture. Unlike Paris or New York or North Carolina, Santa Barbara does not have a furni-
ture “district” and it’s not the sort of place where the design fabulous are known to promenade. But it’s in there where you’ll find Bea’s Furnishings, a scrappy little studio filled with busted chairs hanging from the ceiling and bins filled with leather remnants. It looks like a set piece from a Wes Anderson movie—The Grand Upholstery Hotel.
I can already see the dumpster Bea has repurposed into a beautiful channel back couch. It is the focal point of her studio and makes me think it’s one of the great artistic alchemies of all time. Is she the modern-day Marcel Duchamp turning a urinal upside down and calling it a fountain? Is Bea giving birth
Photo by Kim Reierson
Heidi Clements goes for a ride on Bea’s loveseat, built for the nuclear apocalypse.
by
Photo
Lena Britt
to the next Dada movement? It feels appropriate to elevate a dumpster to art in these modern tumultuous times. The dirty bin is a perfect metaphor for how many feel. The stunning fabric— the lipstick on the pig.
As I ponder this, Bea rolls up in her 1969 Chevy 10 pickup sporting her trademark Carhartt overalls (she’s a spokesperson). She greets me with a “Hey sis” and a giant bear hug. It’s immediately clear that every new friend is an old friend to Bea. Like a really good stage actress her voice booms to the balcony and while we’re a long way from Broadway, I have no doubt I will one day see her name in lights. She is an openly happy person. I want to know what she’s on. Sadly, it’s not for sale because you can’t bottle Bea. Aargh.
Tucked in one corner of the studio is a 1950s pink O’Keefe and Merritt stove. It will become a settee. Another piece from her show. It will join the bouclé chair she tufted inside a vintage Whirlpool dryer, the old Zenith TV she’s covering in a stunning velvet vintage stripe, and of course the original dumpster couch she expertly tufted in Carhartt fabric. When you see these pieces in the flesh, you’ll understand why Carhartt is a sponsor. If artists Elmgreen & Dragset can design a fake Prada storefront and plop it near Marfa, Texas, then a gallery show featuring a 250-pound refrigerator featuring an Eero Aarnio-type ball chair should be a breeze. Yes, that will also make the exhibit.
“You will remember that. And you’ll remember it in 10 years. That one time you saw that one weird trash sofa, you know?”
“BEA HAS BECOME A SORT OF JOAN OF ARC OF UPHOLSTERY, TAKING AN UNDERAPPRECIATED CRAFT AND LEADING US TO A VICTORY OVER THE MUNDANE GALLERY SHOW. ”
Photo by Kim Reierson
UPHOLSTERER BEA SHULTZ IS A WIZARD WITH FABRIC AND CAN EVEN GIVE A DUMPSTER REGAL VIBES.
Photo by Lena Britt
“I’m making art that will provoke a feeling,” says Bea. “I’m not gonna mince words. I want to be in the Tate Modern. I want to be in the Guggenheim. I want to make things that people see. I am an artist and my media is furniture.” Other fans and repeat customers of Bea include the ultra-luxe Campovans. She’s made many pieces for Rick Caruso. If you’ve put your feet up on the thousands of cushions Bea has created for the Rosewood Miramar, consider yourself touched by Bea. “The Rosewood has been a game-changer and an absolute blessing in my life.”
So where did all this magical mayhem come from?
It’s been over a decade since Bea began her foray into biscuit tufting and recessed base apron seats. She first secured a B.S. in interior design from San Francisco State University, but it wasn’t enough. “I knew I
“BET YOU CAN’T DO THAT ON YOUR SETTEE.”
Photo by Kim Reierson
Photo by Lena Britt
didn’t want to be an interior designer because it’s a lot of working on the computer which wasn’t for me, but it was a great education. I got to learn architectural drafting so I knew I wanted to work with my hands. I did some exploration of woodworking. Cool, lovely, but not for me. Honestly, I want nothing to do with a f***ing table saw.” She quickly found a job as a shop girl in an extremely chaotic and disorganized upholstery spot. While it wasn’t an ideal setting, the experience ignited her curiosity in fabricating furniture. “I was so interested I couldn’t sleep. I was literally in love with something I didn’t even know how to do.”
In 2013, Bea moved to High Point, North Carolina, the furniture manufacturing capital of this country. “There was a technical community college that had upholstery. It was a dream. I learned Sewing 101 and Sewing 102. The first thing you did was learn how to make your own tool bag and belt.” It was supposed to be a two- or three-year course, but the ravenous Bea blew through the curriculum in just one year and decided she needed some on-the-job experience. “Just because you know how the chair goes doesn’t mean you’re actually good at making one. You need to do thousands of chairs before you’re actually good. So I was like, I’m just gonna get a job at a factory here, so I worked for Stickley for a year and a half.” Yes, the revered Stickley furniture company, mother of all Mission craftsmanship; the premier voice of the Arts & Crafts era created in the 1900s by the iconic Gustav Stickley.
“I T REALLY BLEW MY EGO BECAUSE I GUARANTEE YOU WHOEVER DID MAKE THE PROGRAM WASN’T AN ACTUAL UPHOLSTERER. SO I WAS LIKE, ‘F*** RISD, I GUESS I’M JUST GONNA HAVE TO START MY OWN FRICKIN’ BUSINESS.’”
Photo by Lena Britt
Yet even with her hands full of quality apprenticeship, Bea felt she needed to kiss the design ring. She wanted approval from the top.
“At this point the year is 2017 and I said, I’m going to apply to the Rhode Island School of Design, because they have a two-year program; it’s $150,000 in furniture design.” RISD, as it’s known around the world, was founded in 1877 in Providence, Rhode Island, and famously spawned the Talking Heads. The school churned through some huge names in design and amassed a 33,000-person alumni. Bea would not be one of them. “RISD got back to me to let me know that, quote, ‘I wasn’t a qualified applicant.’”
It was a crushing blow. One that I can tell still lives rent free in the corner of Bea’s brain. I ask how she managed to pick herself back up.
“It really blew my ego because I guarantee you whoever did make the program wasn’t an actual upholsterer. So I was like, ‘F*** RISD, I guess I’m just gonna have to start my own frickin’ business.’”
Her website proclaims: “Founded upon the pillars of expertise, passion, and enthusiasm.”
Seven years later, Bea Furnishings is a tiny bustling storefront incongruous to her neighborhood but it’s a culture clash that works—like a beat-down dumpster exalted with a rare Louis Quatorze toile. If you want to see her show pieces before they head to a gallery—or if you’re just looking for an expertly crafted and tufted ottoman or couch—pay a visit to her studio. She can fill anything with a little foam, turn it into art and she’ll fill you with sunshine while she’s doing it. Bea is a lesson for all of us not to follow someone else’s list of how to achieve happiness and fulfill your own dreams. You just have to BEA-lieve in you.
“I now know that I have to be my biggest cheerleader and know that I’m going to make it,” says Bea. “I’m going to look back on these times and remember how special I feel because I know I am an artist and my medium is furniture.”
Photo by Kim Reierson
DESIGNATED A PUBLIC SQUARE IN 1853, DE LA GUERRA PLAZA IS ONE OF THE LAST FOUR SPANISH FORTS IN CALIFORNIA—THE PERFECT SPOT FOR BEA SHULTZ TO FIGHT THE WAR OF ART VERSUS COMMERCE AND LIVE HER VINTAGE DREAM-FILLED LIFE.
A Coastal Sanctuary of Style,Taste & Art
Step into the European allure of La Arcada Plaza. Venture beyond the ordinary, into a landscape of 21 unique boutiques and culinary indulgences.
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Experience La Tavola Fine Linens
Lucky Puppy • Salon U • The Barber Shop • The Crafter’s Library • Urban Optics
Santa Barbara Courthouse Distillery & Event Center
Immerse Gallery 113 • Waterhouse Gallery
How Old-World Builders GIFFIN & CRANE Went High-Tech
Story by LES FIRESTEIN
In an industry where construction firms often operate from dusty job site trailers, Giffin & Crane’s successors have created something different: a sophisticated operation that feels more like a tech startup’s headquarters than a builder’s office. But don’t let the polished exterior fool you— Eric Carlstedt and Derek Shue are hands-on builders who came up through the trades, learning their craft the hard way before taking over one of Santa Barbara’s most vaunted building concerns in 2018.
The timing of their succession wasn’t exactly ideal. Within months, they were dealing with the aftermath of devastating mudslides that wiped out 10% of Montecito’s housing stock. Then came COVID. But rather than retreat, Derek and Eric doubled down on systems and processes that have made them the go-to builders for some of the area’s most ambitious projects. Their client list includes Lotusland and other landmark properties which are in fact foundational to Santa Barbara’s architectural heritage.
What sets Giffin & Crane 2.0 apart isn’t just the quality of their work—it’s their obsessive attention to documentation, their embrace of technology, and their understanding that in the rarefied air of ultra-high-end construction, being a builder means being part therapist, part risk manager, and a full-time curator of craft. They’re preserving traditional building techniques while dragging the construction industry, sometimes kicking and screaming, into the 21st century.
Q: You took over the company in 2018. How did that transition come about?
Eric: It was Geoff and Bruce’s baby. I think they saw in us a future for the company, that these guys care about the company and can steward it for the next 30 years. We didn’t have some grand plans to reinvent the wheel or do something that was a stark change. It was simply to build on their successes.
Derek: Geoff Crane and Bruce Giffin had given Eric and myself a lot of involvement in how the company was run in the years proceeding. So there was no big reinvention of the wheel. They had come to a time in their lives when they were ready to hand things over. The transition to us took a few years, starting around 2016.
That seems like an interesting time to take over— right before the mudslides and the pandemic.
Derek: When the debris flow happened, so many people were uninsured or underinsured. There was just so much confusion about what to do. A lot of people were coming back after talking to the County or their insurers saying they had no coverage or couldn’t rebuild. Then by the time people were gaining certainty about their options, COVID happened. I remember Eric and I on phone calls at 10:30 at night the Wednesday before shutdown, wondering if we could even be open tomorrow.
Eric: Yeah, navigating all that stuff was something where I think our resources and who we’re able to work with really helped. Prior to mudslides we had worked
“My relationship with Giffin & Crane spans decades. Bruce and Geoff were mentors to me. They put me in a circle of the best craftsmen, the people in Santa Barbara that just don’t exist in other parts of the world. Go somewhere else and you just won’t have the same results that you do here. Knowing people at that level and respecting every person’s contribution is one of the takeaways from working with Giffin & Crane.”
–
Britt Jewett, STUDIO 7
“I’ve had several collaborations with Giffin & Crane and they’ve all been so wonderful. They’re extremely professional, but they’re also so much fun to work with. They’re great facilitators on behalf of the client, but also on behalf of the team at large. They’re willing to take risks to do whatever it takes to bring a vision forward and I think that’s one of the greatest things about working with them. In this business, it’s nice to work with people who are open-minded and capable. The people at Giffin & Crane are both.”
– Christina Rottman, CHRISTINA ROTTMAN DESIGNS
closely with clients and their insurance companies after the Tea and Jesusita fires. By the time the tragedies in January 2018 occurred, we were well versed in how to work with insurance companies, get them what they needed, and help our clients get back to a sense of normalcy as quickly as possible. Even simple things like knowing if you’re looking down a hallway and this section of floor is toast and that section’s fine—that’s all well and good, but they need to pay to replace the whole thing because it’s all got to be congruent.
I see you guys have a lot of projects on the boards. How do you manage 50 projects simultaneously?
Derek: All projects vary in shape and size. Some could be helping past clients with maintenance while on another site we could be working on five or six structures, or even 10 structures, on one estate. Or we might have a client where we’re doing projects for three different properties at once—a kitchen remodel here, a new build there, replacing a pool pump somewhere else.
Eric: One property may have multiple projects occurring on it and we track each one of those projects separately. The years have taught us that tracking work on this granular level allows us to better know every detail of the project while it is active, fully utilize the historical data for estimating future projects, and most importantly, provides the client with up to date financial information throughout the build.
What’s your approach to dealing with insurance companies after disasters?
Derek: It’s about knowing your rights; California has specific laws to protect consumers. I had a book about California insurance law dog-eared every which way, in order to learn more about what people were or weren’t allowed to ask for. Most insurance companies would send adjusters from outside of our area that were not familiar with what it really costs to build in our communities.
“I worked with Giffin & Crane on a project out in Hope Ranch where we had to collaborate on hauling in a fairly robust olive tree. It involved some coordination for getting a crane in to lift it up and get it into its place. There were some fairly difficult site constraints, but the process of manipulating that crane ended up being one of the easiest installations for what would otherwise have been a very challenging scenario.”
– Amy Blakemore, GREENS LANDSCAPE DESIGN INC.
“ We started working with Giffin & Crane in 2003 and it’s been great ever since, from top to bottom. The people in the office helping us out with contracts and paperwork, the estimators, the project managers—they’re all top-notch and they typically have great clients.”
– Jerry DeHoog, TRIM WORKS
You both came up through the trades. How did that shape your approach?
Derek: I’ve been in the trades since I was 14, but have been running around job sites since I was able to walk. My dad was a builder where I grew up on the Monterey Peninsula and he made me work in every different trade possible, for all of his friends, trying to steer me out of wanting to go into construction—it’s hard work, feast or famine, and hard on your body. But I absolutely love
the feeling of walking away at the end of the day, or end of a project, and having the pride to say, “We built that!,” by putting together teams of people, each with unique skill sets, to create some of the finest homes that are in our community.
Eric: To make money as a kid I started out with a lawn mower as many do. Between baseball seasons, I had stints doing asphalt and railroad work in my teens, spent a few years as maintenance worker for the City of Portland, and soon started to gravitate towards construction and architecture. I met my wife
“They put their heart into their work. We’re working on a George Washington Smith-designed house right now and the project manager has this shrine to the architect in the corner of his on-site office. Just to honor the history. They’re working to painstakingly maintain the integrity of the original intent. It’s the perfect match and everyone’s 100% on board with doing their utmost to see that this home is getting the respect it deserves.”
– Darren Franks, DARREN FRANKS & ASSOCIATES
at the University of Oregon and started coming down here on breaks to work for her dad, Geoff Crane. Construction fed an innate desire to create, and things really grew from there—I’ve spent my adult life and then some with Giffin & Crane!
How do you maintain quality across so many projects?
Eric: We have an operations team working under Chris Renelli, our VP of ops. They track what we call the vitals—contracts, schedules, budgets. Then we have teams in the field running individual projects. We work to create teams based on the size of the project and ensure that there’s somebody at the helm of each one that’s accountable for its success. The principals participate in multiple projects, providing support for the team, participating in weekly meetings, and being a communications resource for the client.
Derek: This comes back to the exceptional people that are a part of our team, from laborers,
“One of the reasons I started in the steel door and window business was Bruce Giffin. I was working on structural and ornamental iron projects for Giffin and Crane when one day, Bruce gave me a book about small business that inspired me to focus on one area of expertise. I chose doors and windows because I knew there was a better way to make them than what was available in the area. Bruce didn’t just inspire me, though—he also hired me for new projects when we were just starting out 20 years ago, and he still does to this day. Giffin and Crane has always been great to work for, and I can’t think of a more professional home builder.”
– Eric Maulhardt, MIRAMAR Mfg
THROUGH APRIL 21, 2025
“Giffin
& Crane really knows how to take care of its clients. They anticipate potential issues and handle them thoughtfully, ensuring the entire process runs seamlessly.”
– Elizabeth Vallino, ELIZABETH VALLINO INTERIORS
“[Principal and partner] Derek Shue is just one of the most intelligent and experienced builders that I’ve ever worked with. When I need an answer about something that’s technical, or difficult, he can be very astute. It’s like he’s wearing X-ray goggles and he can see the layers under the building and he can think through the challenges and the sequence of steps that has to be done in order to help me help our clients.”
– Dan Weber, ANACAPA ARCHITECTURE
superintendents, and project managers, to our trade partners in carpentry, electrical, plumbing, mechanical, etc. Every person on each of our sites contributes to making sure our homes are built well, built safe, and built to the highest level of care and quality. I am personally walking through our projects on a weekly, or even daily at times, basis to check in with our teams to make sure everyone has all the tools they need for each individual role. And with the support of our team in our office, financial controls make sure the money keeps moving to all of our vendors in order to keep on schedule.
You seem to embrace technology more than many builders I’ve seen.
Derek: We’ve used Procore as our construction management software for over a decade now. Every day our teams enter their notes on the project for that day, log their photos, who was on site, decisions made… everything that used to go into a PM’s notebook. We’re then able to pull up this information at any point in the future and reference it. It’s also the hub for project drawings and documents that, when used correctly, is an incredible tool for keeping all parties on a project accountable.
“When we bought Starbuck Minikin, we were stepping into big shoes and we needed to maintain the business. One of the very first conversations I had was with Geoff Crane about a new project. It was a short conversation, but I could tell from the tone and confidence in his voice that a large project could help stabilize us. It was very successful. And I knew Geoff and I would be allies in business. I knew we would have a long career working together.”
– Nate Modisette, STARBUCK MINIKIN
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“Giffin & Crane has always been one of our top clients. They work on great projects, and we truly enjoy collaborating on their custom homes. Their team has always been responsive and easy to work with. They are great communicators, which—like in most relationships—is very important. They make it easy to discuss project details, review plans, and troubleshoot when needed. From start to finish, they are a pleasure to work with.”
– Chad Sanchez, INSULATE SB
Eric: Technology can be a tool to make ourselves better and, through trial and error, we’ve developed a discerning eye for what can really move us forward versus what can’t. Technology can be an amazing thing, but you’re only going to get out what you put into it. A great example was how the 3D camera has been a game changer; it’s used to document everything behind the walls before we insulate them. This helps us know what’s behind those finished
walls during cabinet installation weeks later or remodels years down the road. That camera literally replaced walking around with a scale, taking pictures, and then publishing a hardbound book—the amount of time that went into that, oh my gosh.
What makes Montecito different from other highend markets?
Derek: It’s understated. There is always a sense of community in this area. I think the unique feel here is because people who can live anywhere in the world choose to make this place their home.
What’s your philosophy about maintaining these relationships long-term?
Derek: One of our mottos is we want to be your builder for life. We stand behind our work, we support the homes we build and our clients who live within them. We do this by being open and transparent about every detail in our projects. We don’t want to hide anything, whether that’s good news or bad news. We’re building people’s homes—this is their sanctuary, and everyone has a different idea of what sanctuary means to them. I would love, a hundred years from now, for people to talk about us having been the builders of these homes like people talk today about George Washington Smith or Reginald Johnson.
“Blackbird has worked with Giffin & Crane on custom residential and independent school projects. Both of our firms strive for memorable and poetic outcomes that arise from thoughtful, highly organized collaborations. We appreciate working with Giffin & Crane because they are amazing craftspeople and supremely professional. It’s a great match.”
– Ken Radtkey, BLACKBIRD ARCHITECTS
“We do a lot of work with Giffin & Crane in Montecito. They take the time to understand and appreciate the shop drawings, the millwork, and everything that comes along with the construction process, which generally is not the sexy or fun stuff. It’s just nice to have that real sense of ownership for the craftsmanship. They’re the go-to because they make the clients happy, which inadvertently will make the clients happy with their designers and it’ll be a positive experience for all.”
– Tamara Kaye-Honey, HOUSE OF HONEY
“I got introduced to Giffin & Crane many, many years ago through a client. It was my first time working with them and they’ve always been one of my favorite contractors. The team is amazing. They’re organized. They’re reliable. They’re great communicators. They’re efficient. They know up front how much the job will cost.”
– Bee Klein, BIRGIT KLEIN INTERIORS
How do you keep craft alive in an age of prefab everything?
Eric: We work with uniquely talented people from around the country and around the world to create these projects, to bring in elements that become part of these homes in this community. I just spent a month in Japan studying their traditional carpentry. If you really want to understand perfection and craft, that’s where you go. Sashimono is the Japanese art of building furniture and even whole houses with no nails, just fitting everything together
perfectly. Some of those houses have lasted hundreds of years. It was a good reminder of what we’re capable of as people if you allow it to happen, give the time and energy to let it happen. A human being can create amazing things.
Derek: And we’re also big believers in the Japanese philosophy of kaizen, which means “always be improving.” We’re proud of what our founders did and we’re proud of where we’ve taken it. But we’re by no means resting on our laurels.
GIFFIN & CRANE PORTFOLIO
Ahomeowner should be so fortunate to live in a house built by the Giffin & Crane team, but it’s just as much of a privilege to build in tandem with any of their beloved artisan vendor collaborators. The architects, designers, installers, crafters, and homebuilding experts of the Santa Barbara and Montecito area are some of the best in the country, and they congregate here to work on the most interesting and lasting projects. You won’t get this level of concentrated mastery anywhere else. Bask in the abundance of virtuoso home creators.
TAMARA KAYE-HONEY, HOUSE OF HONEY: Interior Design
“For
me, creating experiences has always been a sense of escapism and theatrics, sort of the unexpected. I’ve just been doing it ever since I was a child. I’m not trying to be provocative, these are the design choices that come naturally. I get very excited and passionate about working with clients, creating these moments, and looking at how they’re going to live in these artful moments.
“We want our house to speak volumes about us. I like to use the word ‘unexpected.’ I like having spaces that unfold where you give a little wink because we didn’t know we were going with this and it becomes this whole galaxy of wow.
“I don’t like to take myself too seriously. It’s supposed to be fun to design. Your home is your oasis. So, let’s do something that feels true to you and the people that you enjoy living in it with.”
www.houseofhoney.com
ERIC MAULHARDT, MIRAMAR MFG, INC.: Steel Window & Door Manufacturer
“Every steel door and window we produce is made by hand, and we also make custom hardware here at our shop. Just about everything is made here, except the glass. People choose steel doors and windows primarily for the narrow sight lines, and our frames are only one inch wide. Wood frames are typically 4 to 5 inches wide, so you end up with less glass. Additionally, steel frames require less maintenance than wood, and they can last well past 100 years without restoration.
“Steel lends itself well to almost every architectural style, but especially Spanish Revival, which dominates the local design. The Santa Barbara and Montecito areas have been popular for steel doors and windows for more than a century and are featured in many George Washington Smith homes from the 1920s, which still have their original steel doors and windows. The beauty of Santa Barbara architecture has spread across the country, and we now see steel doors and windows in highend residences in almost every state.”
www.miramarmfg.com
NATE MODISETTE,
STARBUCK MINIKIN: Cabinets / Millwork
“Fine cabinetry and millwork provides an elegant solution for space management. Some individuals are audiophiles with extensive record collections; others revere their books and want them to be visible and readily available. How people choose to house their cherished items can be very personal. We see it on large estates as well as in small, intimate homes. Every cabinet and built-in we create is highly intentional in its design.
“The service we offer is rapidly diminishing within our industry, and we are investing to keep it alive. We are committed to training apprentices and providing a venue where experienced craftsmen can sustain the art. Handmade cabinetry has a special quality that machine-produced cabinetry can’t emulate. Handcrafted goods have a certain feel and essence that help define the character of a person’s home.
“We’re honored to be stewards of this 90-year Santa Barbara legacy.”
www.starbuckminikin.com
ELIZABETH VALLINO, ELIZABETH VALLINO INTERIORS: Interior Design
“We are fortunate to work on many architecturally significant buildings, whether modern or historical. Our job is to understand the building’s character and the client’s vision. By blending these two elements, we find the best way forward. It’s also important to leave room for spontaneity. A home should be a living space that evolves with its owner.”
www.elizabethvallinointeriors.com
CHRISTINA ROTTMAN,
CHRISTINA ROTTMAN DESIGNS: Interior Design
“I’ve
noticed clients are more willing to go bolder on a guest house or a smaller, jewel-box-type space like a powder room. They typically feel they can be bold and take risks in auxiliary spaces versus a primary space. I feel grateful and fortunate that our clients trust me to direct them and, therefore, give us a good amount of creative liberty on our projects. Once it’s determined that our aesthetic is aligned, it naturally allows and paves the way with ample grace and flexibility for where we are going.”
“Conversely, leaning towards neutral palettes as a backdrop in larger public areas is really nice and flexible because it allows furnishings to become a bigger part of the texture and color of the given space. Being in California—in Santa Barbara, especially—there’s a huge indoor/outdoor lifestyle statement going on. So, when we are working directly with color, we always account for the incredible beauty and color palette of nature, specifically greens, blues, and natural earthy tones. These are always part of the equation.”
www.christinarottmandesigns.com
CHAD SANCHEZ, INSULATE SB: Insulation
“Alot
of the homes we work on are custom homes, so the framing may not be standard. We figure out the correct products to use based on the project and plans, which could range from spray foam insulation to fiberglass insulation. It could alter depending on whether the home has flat ceilings or vaulted ceilings. Different framing depths can call for various types of products and applications. That’s the niche part of our business that we excel at, as every project is unique. This is the part of construction that we really enjoy being a part of.
“Insulate your home the correct way, and you will save money and wear and tear on your heating and cooling equipment—not to mention utility bills, by not running your mechanical systems as often. With the experience that we have working on custom homes, we can really help solve several issues related to which products to use and where to use them, assisting in energy efficiency for every home.”
www.insulatesb.com
DARREN FRANKS, DARREN FRANKS & ASSOCIATES: Decorative Finishes Atelier
BRITT JEWETT,
STUDIO
7: Architecture
“Our job is to enhance the architecture and to complement the interior design. When you have a plaster finish, the walls give a little bit of depth and the environment feels richer.
“People want more than just paint on the walls. They sometimes want their walls to feel like they have weight, especially in California. You want the walls to look as if they can hold up that beautiful dome ceiling.
“For one project, the interior designer wanted a storefront façade to look like oxidized copper, but blue. Typically, oxidized copper turns green, but she wanted it blue. So, we developed a custom painted finish to emulate the real material and made it happen. What’s funny is that a picture of that façade has been in hundreds of magazines around the world, and not once does it ever say that it’s a painted finish. They all say it’s copper.”
www.dfafinishes.com
“Every client should feel like they’ve authored the outcome of their own project. So, I draw across the table and engage personally with them in the design process. It takes intense investment. When you get to the end and everything works together with effortless resolve, that is the reward.
“My practice is more of a passion than a business. I live with the projects and personalities. A lot gets done in the minutes before I fall asleep—it’s a very productive time. I visualize volume, proportion, and scale—the details that make a place memorable. I do numbers in my head, think about how a space will feel, and how my clients will feel in it. It brings me joy.”
www.s7architecture.com
DAN WEBER, ANACAPA ARCHITECTURE
“We want people to look at our work and sense that the environment feels right. As a designer, it’s my job to tap into the opportunities that a place has to offer. That includes the view, the wind, getting the right level of sun and shade exposure, and how those climactic conditions affect the livability of your home. How is the home capturing the environment and connecting to the environment in just the right way?
“I place value in being honest with the materials we use. Wood is wood, so we would never use fake wood. It’s even better if it weathers over time. And concrete is concrete; it’s not supposed to be precious. It’s supposed to be rough and rugged. And steel… I love rust on steel!”
www.anacapaarchitecture.com
KEN RADTKEY, BLACKBIRD ARCHITECTS: Architecture
“Our work focuses on the connection of project to place, where each home is designed as a building merging with the landscape. The coastal California experience is about being part of a beautiful and temperate environment. While there is a large premium on ocean views, we have found that mountain views can be equally dramatic.
“We pride ourselves on being good listeners and on connecting a client with their desires. A person’s home is their castle, and we work collaboratively with each client to uniquely design and support how they want to live.
“Blackbird is technically adept in the pursuit of poetic outcomes. We are actually named after a Wallace Stevens poem. I was drawn to the elegant, haiku-like stanzas that impart vast meaning in the fewest words. That philosophy guides all our work—achieving the most by the simplest means.”
www.bbird.com
JERRY DEHOOG, TRIM WORKS: Interior Finish Carpentry
“We get to do the stuff people love most; the things that make people go, ‘Wow!’: Finish carpentry, doors, windows, crown, casing, baseboard, paneling, false beams… Nothing structural; it’s all aesthetic. We really enjoy what we do and we love going into these homes. They’re basically a blank canvas to showcase what we can do for our clients.
“We always make sure we’re using the most up-to-date technology as it comes out. A lot of times we rely upon lasers to level things out. We can plane walls in, make sure they’re true, flat, and plumb top to bottom. We also have very specific templates to ensure a perfect installation of door hardware and lighting. Every process is thought out to be as efficient as possible. The crew and I always strive for the best outcome for our clients.
“Our passion is all about the quality, not the quantity.”
AMY BLAKEMORE, GREENS
LANDSCAPE DESIGN, INC.: Landscape Design
“Landscape design has aesthetic purposes, but also includes practical needs. Drainage is a huge factor, and fire precautions need to be considered. This is the not-so-sexy stuff which is just as important as creating beautiful space.
“Mulch should be reapplied every few years. It’s great for the soil. It helps keep the moisture in and keeps the weeds down, but people just don’t think about doing that regularly. I think some of the gardeners are better about it, but a lot of homeowners just don’t consider it a priority. It’s one of those not-sexy ways to spend your money, like drainage. But it’s absolutely necessary for the health of the garden.
“It’s like car tires. Nobody ever wants to spend money on tires, but you need them to drive your car. It’s the same with reapplying mulch. Exactly the same.”
www.greenslandscapedesigninc.com
BEE KLEIN, BIRGIT KLEIN: Interior Design
“Some designers have a certain aesthetic, but we’re not one of them. Every space has its own style and expectations. We have a lot of repeat clients and even the homes we design for them are always different because there could be a house in the Bahamas, one in Jackson Hole, one in Montecito—it could be a yacht—and they’ll all be different even though the client is the same.
“I love adding textures and layering, but I also like to design spaces and make sure they have purpose. For me, if you design a room just for design’s sake, but you never spend time in there, then there’s something wrong with that room. We like figuring out how to lay everything out to make the space attractive not just for the eyes, but for activities and living.”
www.birgitklein.com
MONTECITO OFFICE
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IN HOME DÉCOR, THE DESIGNER SHEEP IS THE GOAT BY
SHEEP ARE HAVING A MOMENT— especially here in California. Bighorns are back in the Palisades and Malibu since their apex predator the Puma concolor, aka the mountain lion, aka cougar, had to relocate from the fires just like everyone else. Here in Montecito, especially since the Thomas Fire in 2017, there’s been an influx of sheep brought in to graze wide expanses of grass to keep it low and tight so it’s less of a combustion hazard. And of course, goats and sheep just look nice and enhance our bucolic burg-meets-the-Riviera vibes.
A Google search of shepherd documentaries quickly brings up a score of recent offerings. I think there might’ve even been two new ones unveiled at last month’s Santa Barbara International Film Festival. I’ve been known to occasionally graze, so hopefully someone will make a Netflix doc about me. So what’s up with our current obsession with goats and sheep and shepherding? We know the Lord is our shepherd, so there’s that. Any job good enough for the Lord is good enough for me. I shalt not want.
Photo by Andreas Gebert
HIGHLY-SKILLED DECORATIVE ARTISANS
SCHOOLED IN TRADITIONAL TECHNIQUES & MODERN INNOVATIONS
BUT THERE’S MORE TO OUR CURRENT GOAT/SHEEP obsession than just farm-to-table one-upmanship. Perhaps sheep and shepherding fall into that same category as historical beards and ancient grains. Primitive things that harken back to an earlier time when life was simpler and it rained locusts and frogs instead of EMF’s and VOC’s. You remember, the good old days when the entire earth flooded and a guy named Noah had to build an ark. (Why was it called an ark when it was in fact a boat? But this is a question for another day.)
WOOLLY BULLY
OF ALL THE ODD SHEEP AND GOAT SHITE, the most crazy (and most relevant to this publication) are the Lalanne sheep—interior design’s version of a supermodel. Don’t act like you don’t know what I’m talking about. These objets are those oh-so-intentionally incongruous sheep. Their natural habitat is any gorgeous home in le sixième arrondissement, or in Gstaad, or on Padaro. In one of those domiciles that’s been designed within an inch of its life. The kind that has muted colors like a thought bubble by Jenni Kayne. With not a mohair on a Hermès throw out of place. Magically none of the lamps have cords. And then you spot it, standing all alone—a solitary sheep sculpture in the corner. You feel uncomfortable not knowing what it is so you pretend you’re in on the joke, like, of course you have your own sheep sculpture in the corner of your third home as well, like, don’t we all?
WHAT YOU’RE LOOKING AT IS A LALANNE SHEEP, an experiment by 20th century avant-garde artists and marrieds Francois-Xavier and Claude Lalanne, who created whimsical sheep sculptures for the 1965 Salon de la Jeune Peinture (Young Painter’s Living Room exhibition), an exhibit response to a lack of gallery space for young sculptors. The Lalannes’ idea was that sculpture belongs as much in your living room as in the Louvre. The sheep were an instant design hit and have exponentially gained in value over time—authentic ones fetch half a million euros at auction.
For now, only the luckiest and deepest of pockets can have a legit Lalanne, but the good news is their popularity has spawned many faux flocks. A knockoff herd can cost anywhere from 350 dollars per sheep to ten thousand. But much like those Walmart Birkin bags, you might not see much return on that investment and a knockoff Lalanne definitely won’t grant you membership into the design illuminati.
Because Lalanne sheep are more than just design bitcoin. They’ve found their way into famous tastemakers’ homes like Yves Saint Laurent’s and Kris Jenner’s and Chrissy Teigen’s and design icon Peter Marino’s—whom I feel will one day be an iconic design object himself like Karl Lagerfeld. But this too is a story for another day.
A MILLION-DOLLAR MUTTON
OWNING ONE OF THESE FANCY, FLUFFY LALANNE accoutrements is the ultimate status symbol. A million-dollar mutton that’s harder to herd than a Birkin. They’re the secret handshake of the cognoscenti. Like a club for the décor illuminati—when you know someone else who has one—the sheep is your all-access badge and you get to share the secret sheep handshake. Which I could tell you but then I’d have to kill ewe.
For those unfamiliar with Les Lalanne, you can always see some of their most famous work at Santa Monica’s 3rd Street Promenade. Those topiary dinosaur fountains are by Les Lalanne.
A LIGHT IN THE FOYER
BY MATT HABER
IN 1999, SALLY WEBER TURNED A VENTURA LIBRARY ENTRANCE HALL INTO AN ARTISTIC ANOMALY. SHE CONTINUES TO REACH FOR INFINITY.
Just before Sally Weber’s Matrix installation was scheduled to be unveiled in 1999, it was almost destroyed. A wall of colorful, intricately patterned glass, illuminated by sunlight, with text embedded throughout, it was commissioned by the city to be incorporated into the entrance of the E.P. Foster Library in Ventura, a portal that bathes the viewer in brilliant hues. The panels feature a mix of patterns that evoke everything from the weaves of Persian carpets, Navajo tapestries, Islamic ornamentation, King Solomon’s knot pattern, and the circuitry of a oncestate-of-the-art Pentium microchip. Befitting its library location, hidden throughout the work are quotations from writers like Rumi, Pablo Neruda, Langston Hughes, and others that speak to the idea of quests. (“We are travelers from birth,” proclaims Bruce Chatwin in one.)
“A library serves two functions,” Weber explains. “It’s a place where you look for something and it’s a place where you find something. It’s about quest.”
While the crew was still installing the work—twelve 12’ x 18’ glass panels printed in Arizona like enormous Cibachrome photographs—they covered the library’s facade in plywood, which would prove providential.
Courtesy of Sally Weber
“Some kids came through and tagged every window in town,” recalls Weber, who was in Germany at the time working on another project. “If they hadn’t had wood over them, it would’ve been ruined. The curious thing about public art is that once it’s in the public, the public thinks it owns it.” Weber’s dismay is still palpable a quarter of a century later. “Hence, they can destroy it.”
Matrix survived, but worse than being tagged by kids, it just became part of the regular scenery, blending in with the rest of Ventura’s backdrop.
But thanks to Kelly Coty, a Ventura-based interior designer, Matrix has been given renewed prominence. In November 2024, the work was the subject of a 25th anniversary celebration that called attention to Weber and honored her contribution to the city.
Coty, who moved to the Ventura area from Nashville four years ago, said she couldn’t believe her eyes when she first spotted Weber’s work. “I kept saying to people, Did you see the library doors?” Coty says, fairly gushing. “How does nobody know about this?”
Deputizing herself, Coty set out to make sure Matrix wouldn’t be a beautiful, overlooked piece of public art. She spearheaded Hidden in Plain Sight, an event co-sponsored with the County of Ventura Library that featured a presentation by Weber (who’d moved away from the city in 2001) and a limited edition collection of Matrix-inspired prints and apparel.
“People should know who she is,” Coty says. “Sally is such a great artist—she saw into the future.”
In January, I met with Weber at her studio in Oakland, where she and Craig Newswanger, her husband and frequent collaborator, moved during the pandemic. Located in an industrial stretch dotted with warehouses and auto body shops, Weber’s and Newswanger’s live/work space manages to be both airy and homey. The workshop, which once housed a sailing mast builder, has vaulted ceilings and lots of sun: It’s perfect for two artists whose work is all about light and space.
Photo by Halley Richardson
Courtesy of Sally Weber
“I KEPT SAYING TO PEOPLE, DID YOU SEE THE LIBRARY DOORS?” COTY SAYS, FAIRLY GUSHING. “HOW DOES NOBODY KNOW ABOUT THIS?”
Weber, who studied at MIT, came up in holography, a highly technical art form involving lasers and optics. Several of her pieces hang in the studio and have a glowing, dreamy there-but-not-there aspect. These works are focused light in space. Visually, they create a solid form for the viewer made of light alone as a three-dimensional presence.
The artist is quick to point out that holography—which had a moment of popularity in the 1980s and 1990s—is frequently mistaken for holograms like the ones imagined in Star Wars (“Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi,” the ghostly rendering of Princess Leia says) or visual stunts like the video projections that helped Tupac perform “live” at Coachella in 2012, 16 years after his death. “People think of holography as what’s projected in immersive environments with video,” Weber says. “I had to start calling it ‘optical holography’ because it became too confusing.”
For Weber, holography is another way to explore light, a powerful yet ineffable part of her art for decades. Light was a key component of Lightscape, an environmental artwork she installed at MIT in 1982; it’s also at the heart of Entangled Attraction, a whirling, mesmerizing piece designed to evoke fireflies dancing that she and Newswanger created under the name Resonance Studio and installed in San Francisco’s Exploratorium in 2023. Light also (if you’ll excuse the pun) illuminates Matrix, even 25 years on.
“What’s so magical about working with light is you’re working with the stuff that
Photo by Josh Franzos
Courtesy of Sally Weber
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BY ZACHARY BERNSTEIN
EDMOND HUOT HAS FIRST-CLASS VISIONS FOR AIR TRAVEL DESIGN
Edmond Huot noticed a trend, a scourge—mainly of budget airline carriers who would make the bold design choice to present their brand of air travel as an experience that’s quirky or fun. This sentiment doesn’t sit well with Huot.
“I want that plane to roll up and I want people to think that it’s part of the Four Seasons private fleet,” says Huot. “I want it to look sexy.”
Courtesy of Edmond Huot
As chief creative officer of Forward Studio, a New Yorkbased ad and branding agency, Huot’s impassioned opinions on airplane aesthetics are put to good use: With the discerning consent of his clients, he designs the airplane livery himself. You can see his work flying in and out of Santa Barbara Airport.
Huot, a self-proclaimed “avgeek” (that’s “aviation geek” for all you non-avgeeks), grew up on an animal farm in a rural patch outside of Winnipeg, Manitoba, the kind of little plot of land in the middle of nowhere that begets irritable boredom in a child with stars in their eyes. “I would watch my dad castrate bulls,” says Huot, shrugging.
In some ways, he could empathize with those bulls. “It was painful,” says Huot, “I was bored, frustrated that I couldn’t go into the city and hang out at the 7-11, I didn’t have cable TV— all these things were upsetting to me. But out of frustration I would grab the model airplane I’d built and I would wander around with that plane in my hand and lose myself in my own imagination. Brand design and any of those sorts of skill sets I picked up were born out of this imagination that I cultivated as a kid on the farm with my model airplane.”
In his early 20s, he met his future business partner, Peter Clark. The two bonded over a mutual fascination with commercial flight. Clark dissuaded Huot from pursuing a career in architecture and they schemed instead to start an advertising company together. The business grew comfortably out of Winnipeg and they would bring their talents to New York in 2006, continuing to work as business partners today.
The job of an airplane livery designer is one of those niche roles in society that fly under the radar of most young aspirational dreamers, taking a back seat to the less ambiguous dreams of becoming an astronaut or a movie star. It’s one of those improbable roles, like cereal box copywriter, or electronic greeting card jingle composer, that evokes curiosity and even envy (my own; I want those jobs on my CV history). Airplane livery design is an unusual gig, but someone has to make sure our planes look sexy. Edmond Huot is that someone.
Huot never earned a degree in graphic design, but what he lacks in formal education he makes up for in an unabashed love for and detailed understanding of planes.
Courtesy of Forward Studio
Photo by Rob McKinney
His advertising mindset comes in handy too, and this seems more important when it comes to navigating the business and winning the trust of his clients. He speaks with comforting authority on the general preference for a white fuselage: “A dark-colored fuselage creates a certain heat friction which slows the plane down and makes it more expensive.” And on the aspirational aspects of commercial flight he sounds not unlike a philosophy professor: “Liveries have the opportunity to instill other emotions that speak to nostalgia, the future, and the romance of travel. Can there be clever applications that speak to the airline’s brand? Those are deeper drivers I believe need to be paid attention to.”
While speaking with Huot, I can’t help but feel reminded of Dieter Dengler, the subject of the Werner Herzog documentary Little Dieter Needs to Fly, about a German-born U.S. Navy pilot who survived six months of torture in a P.O.W. camp during the Vietnam War. In the film, Dengler describes the catalyst for his determination to fly planes— watching Allied jets lay waste to his home village during World War II:
“It was like a vision for me,” says Dengler in the film, “It was like an almighty being… something very difficult to describe. But I knew from that moment on that I wanted to be a pilot.”
Huot’s life story is obviously very different from Dengler’s, but their laser-focused enthusiasm for aviation is nearly identical. And while Dengler probably never referred to himself as an avgeek, it was his passion for planes that dictated the trajectory of his entire life.
Not every kid from rural Canada makes their mark on the world from a New York City high-rise office. But Huot has a leg up; he’s a savant of details. If there’s something about airplanes worth thinking about, he’s thought about it a thousand times. It pays to be obsessed.
Photos by Alfredo Maldonado
THE NS CERAMIC DYNAMIC
STORY BY JEFF WING
PHOTOS BY KIM REIERSON
SANTA BARBARA’S OWN TILE VIRTUOSO
NOLA STUCKY LAYS IT ALL DOWN
“Historically, glaze chemists have kept their recipes close to their heart.” Nola Stucky, CEO and owner of NS Ceramic, is enthusiastically holding court on a topic whose intricate cultural and artisanal gravity captured her some 40 years ago.
To those who think “tile” is merely a flooring category, or the blandly functional material that provides shower stall reverb when you’re belting out “I Want to Know What Love Is,” Nola would like to have a word. “The glaze chemists in medieval Italy—famous for those incredible blues and the greens that they produced—if they found out that one of the people that worked in their factory had taken info to another factory up north? They absolutely went after them.”
Those were the glory days of both ceramic mastery and expertise at sprinting in sandals. The full story of ceramic artisanship dates to about 29,000 years ago and the earliest known ceramic art object is a 4 1/2” tall female figurine now known as the Venus of Dolní Věstonice. From the medieval hot pursuit of corporate spies to the high temperature linkage of covalent electrons, ceramics have been a fascinating and essential part of the frenetic human pageant for nearly 30 centuries.
“You’ve seen ebbs and flows,” Nola says of the industry through time. “You have the Renaissance surge, and that quieted down. You have the Ottoman Empire and that went down. Then you have the 1920s and the depression. And then you get World War II, after which it got a little bit more commercialized…”
The modern ceramic tile space is a wild and delicious fine art continuum of colors and textures you have to see—and feel—to believe. On that front, NS Ceramic’s showroom is a dazzling museum in its own right, and Nola its meticulous (and frankly delightful) curator. To be clear, NS Ceramic self-identifies as “…a premier tile source for architects, interior designers, building contractors, and homeowners.” It is a place to buy tile, yes, but with the ambience and scholarly in-house expertise of an art gallery. Nola is an enthusiastic Pandora’s Box of ceramic history, technique, and conservation. She also has deep roots in the area.
“My grandmother was born in 1877 in Goleta, and then my father was born in Santa Barbara. My father’s side were the Shepards who arrived in the 1800s—my grandfather and his brother—and they bought land in Montecito, which they sold, and then bought land in Carpinteria. That land included what is today Shepard Mesa, along with other acreage in the Carpinteria Valley.” The Shepard family also built the Stanley Park Lodge and its resort companion, the celebrated Shepard’s Inn. Nola’s love of local history, and knowledge of its design elements, is part of her family heraldry.
Stucky standing before one of her own panel designs
“WHEN I FIRST WALKED INTO DESIGN STUDIO, I THOUGHT, ‘THIS ISN’T REALLY A MUSEUM, BUT IT COULD BE.’”
Danuta’s Artistic Alchemy
Story by: Christopher Matteo Connor
The Eastern European Origins of a Science-Minded Artist
Photo by Kim Reierson
Cyclotella indistincta is the Latin name of the diatom Danuta Bennett helped discover as part of a team of scientists. Even during this period of her life, before she became a painter, she had an appreciation for the artistic beauty found in nature.
Some people get to discover a new species of algae, and other people become established visual artists. But when the stars align just right, as they did for Bennett, you get to do both.
Danuta grew up in Poland—then the Polish People’s Republic under communist rule. For Bennett, her memories of Poland have just as much to do with the drab weather as they do with a general sense of hopelessness.
“I was doing all sorts of creative things just to feel inspired,” says Bennett. “Even the clothes were pretty gray. I remember my father got this orange parachute from weather balloons. I made clothes from that just to be different.”
Bennett showed promise as an artist in her teenage years and even sold some paintings, including the moodily titled Swamps of the Soul (teenagers can be so dramatic), but her parents tried to sway her elsewhere.
“I wanted to go to art school,” says Bennett, “but, you know, a pressure from family was like, ‘I don’t know about this, it’s not the right time.’ They meant art school isn’t the best place under communist rule. Artistic freedom was limited and propaganda was in style.”
Young Danuta eventually gave in and pursued science, studying biology and paleolimnology—reconstructing past ecosystems through the analysis of microfossils.
Reconstructing Climate and Life Itself
As the wife of a Peace Corps volunteer, Bennett left Poland in the late ‘90s to study, work, and live in the U.S., first in Virginia before circuitously making her way to California and Montecito. In the midst of publishing science journals and researching, her inclination towards art was always lurking beneath the surface.
“I remember being in the field with other scientists and researchers, being amazed by nature. I asked, ‘Do you see the light through the trees?’ And they would respond, ‘Uh-huh…’ Even if I was in the middle of doing my research, I always saw the beauty of what I was studying.”
Danuta doesn’t view science and art as opposing forces. “Science and art are basically two sides of the same coin,” she
Fig. 1-5, Plate 13, Bibliotheca Diatomologica, Vol. 61, Diatoms of the United States 1. www.borntraeger-cramer.de/9783443570521
says. “They both attempt to make sense of life. Science looks at the physical world, where art looks at emotional or psychological patterns. They’re both looking for answers.”
Taking a cue from her own educational background, Bennett’s artwork often features people being transformed by the natural world: A woman melds and morphs into tree branches; a body becomes a vast ocean; bodies become landscapes; landscapes become bodies. There’s an organic and psychological undercurrent to it all.
The psychological aspects became more pronounced following an interest in the relationship between psyche and art. She found the perfect outlet to express these sentiments while illustrating two volumes of James L. Broderick’s History of Psychology Through Symbols.
“It’s all about the importance that images and art have in our culture, personal development, and everything else,” says Bennett.
An Artist in the Arcady Estate
These days a resident artist of the Illuminations Gallery in Santa Barbara, Bennett paints in her home studio on Montecito’s Arcady Estate, where the warm and vibrant colors reflect the creative energy of the land. The historic estate has long been a haven for artists, naturalists, musicians, and philosophers—its legacy of inspiration flowing as freely today for Bennett as it did for others in the past.
In her earlier drawing series Memory Palaces, Bennett intertwines cities and monuments from her Polish past with landscapes of the Santa Barbara area.
“I didn’t realize how others experience my art until I opened my studio during the Annual Santa Barbara Studio Tour,” she says. “I remember somebody came and looked at my art and said, ‘Is it possible that your paintings are monochromatic because you grew up in that kind of environment?’ And I think there’s some truth to that. Although, more colors are starting to emerge in my recent art. I’m surrendering to color.”
So, who is Danuta Bennett? A scientist? An artist? Both? Does it matter?
“Today I call myself an artist,” says Bennett, “When I introduce myself as an artist, I often get, ‘What do you really do for a living?’ People often see art as being peripheral. As a woman scientist, I would have a certain gravity and respect. I would get, ‘Wow, that’s amazing.’ But as an artist, it’s like, ‘Oh, yeah, that’s nice.’ But having grown up in Poland during times of change, I understand how profoundly art can influence both individual survival and the resilience of an entire culture.”
danutabennett.com
Photo by Kim Reierson
Courtesy of Danuta Bennett
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SPLENDOR OF THE GRASS
STORY BY TIANA MOLONY | PHOTOS BY KIM REIERSON
STROLLING THROUGH A LAWN OF BEAUTY WITH CLEARVIEW LANDSCAPING’S CHRIS HULME
In Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, you can find Lynnewood Hall, a Gilded Age mansion built in 1899 and abandoned—though it’s currently in restoration mode—after its intended residents perished on the Titanic. The estate was once hailed by its original owner’s grandson, Peter A.B. Widener II, as “the last of the American Versailles.”
But it wouldn’t have earned such a distinction without its once impressive feat of horticultural artistry designed by French architect Jacques Gréber: a meticulously crafted garden maze, a bubbling fountain, and shrubbery pruned with mathematical precision. For this mansion and any modern home, the importance of architecture and landscaping is inextricable.
Failing to create a harmonious landscape is akin to baking a masterpiece cake and then neglecting to adorn it with icing—it may taste about the same, but it doesn’t look as good.
Try as you might, you can’t escape your yard. From your kitchen window, the dead lemon trees haunt you, and so does that portion of lawn where you once imagined a pool. Maybe you can live with it, but it’s not what you really want. Says Chris Hulme, owner of Clearview Landscaping, “If you’re looking at something every day, you don’t want to hate it.”
This is precisely the mindset of a homeowner who enlisted Clearview Landscaping’s help over a year ago. They decided it was finally time to do something about their less-than-ideal backyard, which paled in comparison to their beautiful Hope Ranch residence. Nothing was inherently wrong with what they had before, but it no longer suited their needs.
I’m told they envisioned a space the whole family could enjoy together while also maintaining elements of the previous backyard, like the beloved avocado trees and the fountain the family built together. That’s where Clearview comes in. “We want to be able to connect with the heart and soul of the potential of a property,” Hulme says as we saunter around the place.
At the base of the two-acre property, there’s a bocce ball court and a putting green. As we follow the winding path to the main house, we pass a diverse floral bed—Marine Blue Sage, Island Pink Yarrow, and Snow Flurry Lilacs among the flower varieties. Next to the house, there’s that ethereal, fluffy grass—Native Mow Free. It’s the kind that makes you feel like you’re in Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax. Everything about this project was meticulously planned, down to The Lorax grass, which is low maintenance and, as Hulme mentions, “Makes the HOA and the waterways people really happy.”
At the start of any landscape project, the backyard is “kind of like a blank canvas,” Hulme says. Not every work of art has to be as sublime as the gardens of Versailles to lend meaning, but that doesn’t mean it can’t come close.
Ultimately, the landscape should reflect the homeowner. And if that homeowner wants a golden fountain with Apollo on his chariot, then so be it. But if it’s a timeless, laid-back design they desire, say, an outdoor barbeque with a pizza oven, that’s fine too. “For somebody who is retiring in this house, somebody who’s gonna pass this house on to their kids and grandkids someday,” Hulme says. “They’re leaving a legacy behind.”
Sometimes, it’s the small changes that have a lasting impact on our daily lives. One of my most beloved morning rituals is enjoying my morning coffee on my deck, which was a dirt patch a few months ago. Without that simple wooden deck, I’m not sure I would feel compelled to pull out a chair every morning and sip. If it weren’t for that deck, shamefully, I’d probably be inside doom-scrolling on TikTok—not watching in reverie as the world wakes up.
DOUGLAS WOODS SPOTLIGHTS THE SPLENDOR OF THE
AMERICAN RIVIERA
There are enough books on the homes and landscapes of the so-called American Riviera to crowd coffee tables from here to the French Riviera. There is a reason for so much documentation: with its awestriking natural beauty, its cloistered, one-of-a-kind geography, and the buzzy prominence of its denizens, Santa Barbara has been the apple of our eyes and the object of our acquisitiveness dating back to Spanish explorers’ first contact in 1542. Over time, and especially in the 100 years since it was leveled by a massive earthquake, the region has turned into, arguably, the most coveted real estate in the world. Though close at hand, for most of us the American Riviera is almost impossible to attain and equally hard not to gawk at.
What makes Douglas Woods’ addition to the canon such a delightful anomaly, though, is that it neither gawks, ogles, or puts the region on a pedestal that can too often feel fetishized in other titles. Here, at last, is Santa Barbara on a human scale, even with all that God-given and manmade splendor to look at. Somehow, Santa Barbara: At Home in Paradise, with its attention to both the intricate details and the breathtaking vistas, manages to be grand and intimate at the same time.
SOMETHING TO SEE HERE
STORY BY JOE DONNELLY
PHOTOS BY MATT WALLA
Sure, there is a chapter called “Great Estates,” but there is so much more. Including a charming chapter on Monterey colonials and early rancheros and other less-notorious architectural idioms peeking out amidst the clichéd Spanish revivalism—a cliché Woods manages to entirely upend, especially in revisiting the legacy of George Washington Smith. It’s worth it for just that.
You might come for the pictures, shot with fresh insights by Matt Walla, but you’ll stay for the context—the “historicism” as Woods puts it, of the region’s refined architecture and aesthetics. Historicism is an apt lens. Sort of like an inverted bifocal, it can provide a clearer view of the close at hand through the perspective of the further away. And this is a region with a lot of history. It has perhaps,
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the most past. After all, here is where the oldest civilization in what we now call the United States prospered between the Channel Islands and the coast for thousands of years before Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo made Europe’s first fateful contact with the West. Eras ensued: the Missions, the Mexican, the Californio and then, a new country.
The dust of all that history has settled most concentratedly on the span of coastline running north and west from Ojai through Santa Barbara, its buildings and landscapes
telling a story. In this book, Woods stays highly attuned to that story, putting together a document that serves both posterity and pleasure, and which does a terrific job of explaining how the region’s architects, builders, and residents, past and present, have created something singular out of this mixed bag. This book encourages us to do something more than gaze at the American Riviera. It’s given me a fresher and deeper appreciation for the homes, the architecture, and the region.
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If you’d known Woods back in the day, which I did not (though, full disclosure, we have been friends for years), you’d possibly find this erudite and exquisite offering something of a surprise. You see, Woods was once known as an integral participant in the early days of Los Angeles punk rock, a movement he credits with throwing him a life preserver when his adolescence started going awry. Punk is where he first focused his desire to curate, document, and preserve important artifacts that help tell our stories. In the case of punk, stories shared by many of his (and my) friends and colleagues. Along with the online repository Kill Your Idols, Woods helped publish Fucked Up + Photocopied: Instant Art of the Punk Rock Movement and its follow-up Punk is Dead, Punk is Everything. Much of the Kill Your Idols collection is on loan to the Punk Rock Museum in Las Vegas.
Like most of us, though, Woods contains multitudes, and even though he is a rock-solid drummer, his interest in movements and cultural history, especially their aesthetic expressions, couldn’t be contained by punk rock alone. Woods’ eye for the details of movement and the stories they tell in theory and practice is one of the things that sets this book apart from other such documentations of the Riviera. Really, though, this is not surprising. Woods has been sharpening his eye and gathering the knowledge on display in At Home in Paradise for years. His collaborations with Rizzoli, including The California Casa with M. Brian Tichenor (who contributes an essay here) and Classic Homes of Los Angeles with D.J. Waldie, span a decade and a half. Before that, Woods managed Hennessey + Ingalls Art + Architecture Books. He has been the librarian and archivist for The California Club since 2006.
In other words, with At Home in Paradise , we are in the hands of a reliable narrator, not a blithe booster. We see the American Riviera not as something other and out of reach, but as a place with a heritage that still has something
to tell us, even if we can’t help but gaze in astonishment at times. Like all good writers, Woods closes the distance, puts us there and reminds us of why we came.
Or, as Woods put it so eloquently, “I do believe that there is virtue in beauty, that it elevates and inspires. The Central Coast is the perfect stage to demonstrate this, but it also illustrates the dichotomy of our existence.”
Q: You lived in Santa Barbara recently and worked there on various projects over the years. I noticed your former residence made the cut. Was spending concentrated periods of time in the region the root of your interest in doing this book, or did doing this book spur your interest in spending more time here?
A: The tumult during the lockdowns in Los Angeles during COVID prompted my then-wife and I to move our family to Santa Barbara so that we could be in a healthier environment. We always loved Santa Barbara, and between the built and the natural environments, we found plenty to explore. I’m a curious person, especially when it comes to cultural history, and my wife knew I needed a new book project. So, between her and my long-
time editor at Rizzoli, Douglas Curran, the threads were connected, and I was on my way. I am grateful because it lit a flame under me to get out into the town and meet people and see what stones I could turn over.
The theme of the American Riviera, which you delineate roughly as spanning Ojai and Ventura up to Santa Barbara, as being an earthly paradise suffers from no lack of coverage in books. It would almost seem to be an exhausted subject. What did you see as lacking in that milieu, or, more specifically, want to document for posterity?
The focus of my last two major books (Classic Homes of Los Angeles, and The California Casa) has been on celebrating historicism through the lens of architecture, and particularly residential architecture, because that allows me to tell stories about real people and families who invested great effort to establish themselves and define their neighborhoods and beyond. I approached this book in that vein.
The thing that may have been lacking is that there is a tourist vision of the region, but so many interesting things
have been built here that you won’t see in guidebooks. My hope is that this book is appreciated for its eclecticism and as a counter to the narrative that Santa Barbara is purely a Spanish Revival fantasy. The homes represented here don’t feign historicism; they are, or were, actual homes that have soul. The fact that the public can now visit a few of them doesn’t change that.
We also include some more recent builds. I feel that it is important to celebrate the work of architects and designers who continue to work with the same level of passion that continues to enrich the architectural heritage of the region.
At Home in Paradise is such a clever title. It intimates that there are two aspects to this paradise, the natural and the built one your book does such a great job of documenting. I imagine this intersection was part of
the inspiration for doing the book as well as one of its strongest motifs.
The more I got into it, I realized I was being a little cheeky. Yes, architecture and landscape, and what better place to celebrate anything you want to build amongst anything that grows? It is a paradise, but again , Mother Nature will always be in charge, so how are we ever really at home? More specifically, the topography does not allow for expansion. The mountains literally meet the sea. This creates a corral where only so much can happen at a time. Eventually reinvention must occur. Hopefully, we learn a little each time we have to rebuild .
I do believe that there is virtue in beauty, that it elevates and inspires. The Central Coast is the perfect stage to demonstrate this, but it also illustrates the dichotomy of our existence.
Your home is much more than the physical structure in which you live. Your home is also your community: It is the stores where you shop, the restaurants where you dine, in the schools that educate your children, and in the places you worship. All these places and more are collec vely part of your “home”. We live in an extraordinarily beau ful place to call home. But in the blink of an eye, our homes could be gone. Our community could be gone.
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Your Guide Pick up a copy today.
A house may have style, but a home has soul; a patina that really can only be sensed, not measured. That doesn’t mean it has to be old. A similar effect can be achieved when a new home is designed by someone channeling an old soul, someone who has roots steeped in appreciation for the historical context for which they are working. Working with old materials and talented craftspeople makes the difference.
Your collaborator, photographer Matt Walla, also made great choices in how he treated the subjects. There is a real warmth to the work and it’s not fetishistic. I imagine this also has to do with the soul of the places you chose. Was this something you guys talked about?
Matt is a quality artist, patient and amiable. All I can add is that we are grateful to the homeowners for allowing him to chase the sun (and critters) at many hours of the day to get it right. Matt and I talked about homing in on details— iron, glass, tile, woodwork. We spoke about capturing light and space to put the viewer in the actual moment.
The “Gardens in Paradise” and “Other Idioms” chapters were a couple of my favorites. Why did you decide it was important to include these?
Most important for me in these moments is to turn things over to those who live it. Brian Tichenor embodies the roots, understanding, and appreciation for this very specific place. Where the hills and the native oaks meet the sea is the quintessential spot of old California. As he puts it in the companion essay for “Gardens in Paradise”: “The long history of gardens in this region is characterized by a deep connection to the natural beauties of the place, and to the nearly limitless breadth of plants that thrive in its coastal plain and hillsides: this yields what we see in these pages—a heritage of devoted garden making, inflected with curiosity and refinement—an American Riviera indeed.”
The book also feels like it has a lowkey subtext of giving George Washington Smith his due. Am I just reading too much into things, or was that one of your goals?
George Washington Smith, not unlike Addison
Mizner in Palm Beach, elevated and defined a specific American regional style. Both employed workshops of artisans—ironmongers, tile makers, painters and reproductionists. His imprint on Santa Barbara is indelible. I had to carve out a special place for him.
The McKee House was one of my favorites, probably because it’s both grand, elegant, and understated all at once. Is that the epitome, or the aspiration, for what the American Riviera should strive for and strive to maintain?
Before the highway, and the train, this was likely the most idyllic beachfront plot. Beautiful, understated home, with landscape and pond later added by Eric Nagelmann. The hilltops were more desirable in the 1920s for the prominence, and the views were sweeping. As the trees matured, many of those homes became enveloped. This remains an unchanged gem with a view that has remained intact.
What’s your favorite, and why?
The Dieterich estate is remarkable. It is Addison Mizner’s last, and according to him, his greatest work. No other comparable estate of his will be found outside of Palm Beach. Bellosguardo is an absolute must-see as well.
INTERIOR MAVENS
Douglas Woods’ book is another great testament to the magnificence of Santa Barbara and Montecito architecture, but we all know it’s not just the outside that makes a beautiful home; it’s what’s on the inside that counts. These are many of the local artisan interior designers presently fashioning the looks and styles of our special slice of the Riviera, the Interior Mavens…
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– Michael Maciocia AIA, Creative Director/Partner
www.houserupert.com
“Spending 15 years in Europe and traveling extensively has shaped my approach to design. One moment, you’re in a sleek, modern space; the next, a grand hall that has stood beautifully for centuries. What always captivates me is the feeling a space evokes—the sense of care and intention behind it, whether it’s a hotel lobby, a restaurant, or a beautiful home. Great design isn’t just about aesthetics; it’s about atmosphere. I love blending the old with the new, mixing wood and metal to add depth and texture. That contrast creates an organic warmth that makes a space feel both cultivated and timeless.”
Founded by Bailee Roberts, HOUSE RUPERT is renowned for creating residential and boutique commercial interiors that embody quiet luxury. With a blend of European sensibility and Californian cool, House Rupert emphasizes beauty, functionality, and sustainability.
MARGARITA BRAVO
www.margaritabravo.com
Based out of Denver with offices in Montecito, Miami, Aspen, and Barcelona, MARGARITA BRAVO creates timeless, refined spaces pulling together form and function into personalized works of art. A former engineer, Margarita Bravo and her sister Maria also design their own in-house Sorella furniture collection—bespoke, hand-made pieces for the home.
“I like to get into my clients’ shoes so every time I’m working on a project I transport myself and think about how they’re going to live there or work in the spaces, or entertain. Right now, but also in the long run. It’s like I’m designing my own house again and again and again. It’s fun because I get the chance to design a new house in so many different ways. I choose the patterns, I choose the wallpaper. At the end, I want to see the client’s face light up and feel like they got exactly what they wanted. I bring my knowledge and creativity, but I’m giving a space to them to love for many years.”
MARC NORMAND GELINAS is renowned for his inviting designs that showcase his expertise in decor, color, scale, and architecture. He aims to create spaces that reflect each client’s personality while ensuring comfort and functionality. He lives in Santa Barbara, California.
“Great design should not follow trends and I don’t think anyone should be looking at trends to determine how to decorate their house. Interior design should be considered a long-term investment and my most satisfied clients have adhered to that sentiment. If a home has the classic principals of space and decor, it won’t go out of style.”
EAST VALLEY DESIGN STRATEGIES
www.stephstudio44.com
Stephanie Kaster, located in the Upper Village, has been a Montecito-based architectural interior designer for 29 years. She strongly believes in getting to know her clients personally and helping them develop concepts and strategies for new projects.
“While I was an architecture student, I was asked to design an exclusive Kentucky Derby party where I met the oil tycoon Nelson Bunker Hunt. Happy to meet a young architect, he gave me some profound advice: ‘You be the diplomat in design and construction and when you run your practice, there will be a lot of people at odds, a lot of challenges, but you be the conductor of the symphony. Bring everyone together harmoniously and you will be the better for it.’ I’ve always strived to communicate and work with my design collaborators and clients to make things as smooth and harmonious as possible. My passion is working with craftspeople, artists, and artisans, bringing their skills to life through my designs.”
LAUREN GOLDMAN, LORO
loro.design
L“We love adding a layer of texture to soften the space. Sometimes you can’t even put your finger on it. Why is it so inviting? Whether it’s a tile, or a stone, or a light fixture, we always look for ways to add that extra dimension.”
ORO is a full-service, multifaceted architecture and design firm that specializes in bespoke spaces for the modern family. LORO offers master planning, 3D modeling design, and zoning/jurisdiction guidance, crafting custom goal-oriented roadmaps for its clients.
MARK KIRKHART & MARK SHIELDS, DESIGNARC
www.designarc.net
“We don’t have what you would call a signature look. We’re the arbiters. We take all of our clients’ ideas and congeal them into something that they never even knew was possible. Our work should be a response to their taste and to how they live or how they work.”
– Mark Kirkhar t
Responsible for projects from the Hotel Californian to the Santa Barbara Bowl, DESIGNARC is one of the touchstone architecture and design companies of the Santa Barbara area. Rather than embrace any one style, the DesignARC team is made of true artists who can develop any style bespoke to the needs of their clients and collaborators.
“We don’t add and add and add and add to projects. We try to subtract. And the subtraction is what keeps them simple and possibly more interesting and certainly easier to build.”
– Mark Shields
CHRISTINE CRAIG, DESIGNOLOGY STUDIO
www.designologystudio.com
“We strive to enhance our clients’ living and surroundings. Since nearly everyone in Santa Barbara and Montecito travels, we like to channel influences from their adventures.
Places or trips that have a special place in their heart. Maybe they went to an amazing restaurant in Italy and now they want a full Italian chef’s kitchen, or they want an outdoor space straight out of the French Riviera. That’s what we like to do: make that dream happen.”
– Christine Craig
Specializing in creating personalized interiors for homes and commercial spaces, DESIGNOLOGY STUDIO is the epitome of laid-back luxury. With 20 years of experience and clients nationwide, Designology puts a focus on thoughtful and functional spaces that are meant to be lived in, not just looked at.
www.abdesignstudioinc.com
The award-winning interior design team at AB DESIGN STUDIO is recognized for its precision, innovation, and commitment to creating impactful spaces. With a tailored, clientfocused approach, the studio integrates materiality, texture, color, and form to deliver functional and visually sophisticated environments.
“Great design goes beyond the obvious. Whether it’s reimagining a kitchen or selecting the perfect flooring textures, my job is to push boundaries and help clients discover what truly brings them joy. Some come with a clear vision, while others need a little guidance—‘What if we tried this? Have you considered that?’ That’s where expertise transforms ideas into something extraordinary. This isn’t just a job for me—it’s my passion. It’s what I love.”
SARAH WALKER DESIGN STUDIO
sarahwalkerds.com
Founded in 1997, SARAH WALKER DESIGN STUDIO is a full-service interior design firm specializing in largescale, high-end residential remodels for clients in Santa Barbara and Los Angeles. With a deep passion for art, vintage furniture, and collectibles, Sarah enjoys helping clients build and integrate their collections in a meaningful way.
“I like to designate a thematic narrative to each project early on so that everyone’s on the same page: The architect, the lighting designer, the client… There was one project where the narrative was ‘Manhattan meets the ranch.’ What does that mean exactly? Well, it turned out to be this sophisticated contemporary building that was minimalist, but also earthy and organic. There was a purposeful juxtaposition between the rugged and the refined. Doing that keeps the process focused. My favorite kind of projects are those where I just get so involved that I can’t think about anything else.”
HARRISON DESIGN
harrisondesign.com
With six offices nationwide, including a mainstay in Santa Barbara, HARRISON DESIGN is a full-service operation for architecture, interior design, and landscape design. Known for their awardwinning designs and passion for historical preservation, the robust team of design talent works to create comfortable spaces for the discerning client.
“We have a deep knowledge of Santa Barbara and Montecito’s rich architectural history, as well as the evolution of modern Santa Barbara style. This perspective and understanding allow us to create timeless, thoughtful, and well-rounded interiors that are not only appropriate for the area but also feel natural and tailored to our clients.”
“Because we are accustomed to working closely with our architectural team, we understand the important relationship between a home’s exterior and interior, allowing us to provide a uniquely holistic approach to our projects. We know what it takes to bring the entire vision together harmoniously.”
– Jamie Hallows
– Barbara Lowenthal
“One project was three levels—very modern—and it had curved, cement walls. I had to figure out how to furnish it against the curved walls and make it feel like a home. I ended up creating some bespoke custom furniture to match: a credenza and chairs that had to be designed to fit into the space. There’s nothing out there on the market like them. I probably do roughly 90% custom furniture design. It’s easier than hoping to find that one right-fitting piece that might not even exist!”
Since 2001, KEEPING INTERIORS has established a prominent presence within the Santa Barbara community–built on a reputation of expert design and intimate industry knowledge. While transforming spaces from seedling ideas to masterful designs, they embody a blend of both the architecture of a space and the personality of their clients.
– Samantha Keeping
FURNITURE FROM A FEVER DREAM
With Wood and Resin,
Austrian Artist LAURIDS
GALLÉE
Transports
Chromatic Anomalies
From an Alternate Dimension to Ours
BEATRICE TOLAN
Photo by Anwyn Howarth
PhotobyMathijsLabadie
If Laurids Gallée’s works were shrunk to fit inside a dollhouse, I might want to pass one of his smooth resin pieces between my fingers, discovering its hidden ridges before allowing its light—an LED strip snaked into its body—to illuminate its inner workings in colorful beams.
In its soft glow I’d place Gallée’s illustrated wooden furniture that is seemingly sent from an alternate, geometric dimension, blurring the line of what is considered furniture or fine art. The dolls might think of my arrangement as a group show, but this is only a testament to Gallée’s vast artistic capabilities. His practice is divided into two distinct categories: his resin work, often illuminated; and his wooden, laser-cut furniture pieces. Their unifying principle is a commitment to experimentation.
“Experimentation is everything in my studio,” the 36-yearold Austrian artist living in Rotterdam, Netherlands, says. “This is the only thing I’m interested in. The few people that work with me need to be as excited about the process of experimentation.”
His work could pass through as many as two to seven sets of hands depending on its scale and complexity. He works in close collaboration with his studio assistants and his best friend, who owns the production studio where Gallée discovered his fascination with resin.
Photo by Mathijs Labadie
Iask Gallée if anything found in nature inspires Gallée’s organically-shaped creations. He takes a contemplative moment, and concludes: “I like the man-made.”
His inspiration starts at art history, studying sculptors who work with “pure form,” and ends with channeling that muse through the synthetic, man-made medium of resin. His process is “very much driven by the material properties” of resin. Whether he’s creating a hard-edge hanging fixture or a petit blobject, it’s the endless combinations of brilliant colors, surface finishes, and light refractions that make resin Gallée’s current medium of choice.
It is often unclear what the practical function of Gallée’s resin works are, an entirely intentional act. Though he started out in design, Gallée’s affections now lie in the ambiguity of fine art. “I’m super open to interpretation. I don’t feel like I want to put it into a category. I don’t need to label it.”
It’s the endless combinations of brilliant colors, surface finishes, and light refractions that make resin Gallée’s current medium of choice.
My first reaction to his resin designs, aside from the intrusive thought of absorbing them into my mouth like a Jolly Rancher, was imagining one in the beach’s sand; a colorful, fluorescent hum tumbled by the elements and offered back as an aged artifact, like sea glass. Gallée’s ability to evoke the effects of natural forces through months of delicate planning, sawing, sanding, and gluing is proof of his diligent craftsmanship. Not everyone can whittle as an ocean does.
And then there’s the woodworks, iterated upon since attending the Design Academy Eindhoven, a university roughly an hour southeast from Rotterdam where “the teachers don’t judge what you do, but your process.” Gallée transmuted years of what he humbly calls “toying around” with Adobe Illustrator into lasercutting illustrations onto wood, introducing digital masking and gradient techniques to the analog world of woodworking. After studying the trippy graphics adorned on his wood pieces, I tell Gallée they remind me of recalling a dream; you might remember individual symbols or events, but how they connect is a mystery.
Courtesy of Studio Laurids Gallée
There’s a dialogue between the drawings,” says Gallée, “but you really have to look in order to find them. I like the idea of putting together imagery where you begin to imagine your own story because it’s not as concrete.” Thus far, only some “graphic design nerds” have spotted the references hidden in his pictorial pieces.
Recently, tattoo artists have held his attention. “What they’re doing is related to what I’m doing: I’m putting ink into the wood and they’re doing the same with skin.” Tattoo
iconography asks the question, “How did this develop—a traditional tattoo form of language?” Similar to a tattoo artist, Gallée sends illustrations etched on a one-of-a-kind body out to the world, very rarely reproducing the same piece twice. His choices are calculated. Says Gallée, “In these times where we’re so overloaded with imagery, how can you find something that people have not seen yet?”
In the three years since running his private studio, Gallée has earned the recognition of design companies and
prestigious publications, winning ELLE Decoration’s 2024 Young Design Talent of the Year Award (pleasantly, “young” has been rebranded as anyone under 40).
As his work gains international attention, Gallée rejoices at the opportunity to extend his influence to the United States. While he has only visited us once—a decade ago in New York City—Gallée is smitten at the prospect of visiting California, noting that our long history of creative output means “there must definitely be something magical about the place.”
Gallée hopes his commission-focused pursuits will forward his dream to produce on a larger scale. He hopes to add to the German tradition of gesamtkonzept, the practice of one artist outfitting an entire room with their creations, from the furniture to the architecture to the silverware.
Perhaps someday soon, it won’t just be furniture and light fixtures created by Gallée, but the dollhouse itself.
I like the idea of putting together imagery where you begin to imagine your own story because it’s not as concrete.
– LAURIDS GALLÉE
Photo by Titia Hahne
Photo by Peter Döring
REAL ESTATES
PREMIER OCEAN VIEW
Perched on coveted Woodley Road, this exceptional home offers the best ocean, coastline, and mountain views in Montecito. Sunlit interiors, seamless indoor-outdoor flow, and serene privacy create the ultimate retreat – just moments from the best of Santa Barbara.
HISTORIC 1920S ESTATE
Historic 1920s Montecito estate with ocean and mountain views, gated entry, lush gardens, a main residence with 6 bedrooms, a guest house, pool, tennis court, gym, and wine cellar. Renovated in 2016, blending timeless charm with modern luxury.
1084 Golf Road, Montecito
$33,500,000
Eric Haskell and Amanda Lee (805) 570-7243
The Agency
DRE#: 01866805 & 01986728
356 Woodley Road, Montecito
$34,500,000
Robert Kemp (805) 259-6318
Compass DRE#: 01246412
Timeless elegance meets modern luxury: George Washington Smith’s masterpiece in Montecito
2925 Sycamore Canyon Rd, Montecito
$28,500,000
Cristal Clarke (805) 886-9378
Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices
DRE#: 00968247
G.W. SMITH’S MONTECITO MASTERPIECE
REAL ESTATES
This European-inspired retreat is moments from Padaro Lane Beach, Montecito, and the Santa Barbara Polo Fields. Home to perfectly framed ocean, island, and mountain views, this private estate is complemented by acres of hobby vineyards, orchard, and state-of-the-art equestrian infrastructure.
338 Toro Canyon Road
$23,500,000
Marsha Kotlyar Estate Group (805) 565-4014
Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices DRE#: 01426886
Perched atop a knoll amid lush coastal landscapes, this 4-bed & 6-bath Traditional New England estate exudes timeless elegance. Designed by renowned architect Peter Becker, it showcases bespoke craftsmanship, Jefferson-inspired oval windows, and a soaring 14-foot cathedral ceiling.
2820 Torito Road, Montecito
$12,750,000
Gary Goldberg (805) 455-8910
Coastal Properties DRE#: 01172139
Endlessocean views pair beautifully with effortless coastal elegance to create the ultimate Montecito estate! Light-filled interiors balance refinement and comfort with scale and intimacy. Located near both the Upper and Lower Villages, this home is what you’ve been waiting for!
976 Hot Springs Road, Montecito
$16,500,000
Riskin Partners Estate Group (805) 565-8600
Village Properties DRE#: 01954177
Newly remodeled with ocean views and a prime Montecito location, this Park Lane estate offers generous spaces, chic details, and seamless indoor-outdoor living. A stunning kitchen, expansive primary suite, and versatile ADU make this home refined and inviting.
890 Park Lane, Montecito
$13,750,000
Riskin Partners Estate Group (805) 565-8600
Village Properties DRE#: 01954177
This charming 4-bedroom, 3-bathroom home offers an unbeatable location just minutes to Montecito’s stunning Butterfly Beach, Coral Casino, and The Biltmore Four Seasons. The recently remodeled kitchen and spacious second-floor primary suite provide modern comfort and luxury.
1114 Hill Road, Montecito
$10,500,000
Don Johnston/ Montecito Luxury Group (805) 951-7331
Sotheby’s International Realty DRE#: 01868263
Nestled at the end of a quiet road, this single-level estate offers tranquility & views over the 4th fairway of Birnam Wood. Set on 1.4 acres of lush, grounds, the property has mountain vistas & serene golf course views.
2125 Ten Acre Road, Montecito
$9,000,000
Marsha Kotlyar Estate Group (805) 565-4014
Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices DRE#: 01426886
REAL ESTATES
ENCHANTING MONTECITO GARDEN RETREAT
Step into this enchanting Montecito garden retreat located near The Montecito Club. The refined home and guest cottage offer 4,465±SF and include vibrant gardens, a gazebo, hot tub deck, and Koi pond. Conceived by renowned Landscape Architect artist Bob Clark.
Atranquil oasis resting peacefully on approximately 1.4 beautiful acres near the base of the Montecito foothills, this superbly reimagined and updated home features today’s comforts and amenities in embrace of its mid-century design by esteemed architect Lutah Maria Riggs.
880 Knollwood Drive, Montecito
$8,695,000
Cristal Clarke (805) 886-9378
Skyhawk Ranch -- A world-class 40-acre equestrian estate just miles from Los Olivos. This Spanish hacienda masterpiece features a luxurious main residence, resort-style amenities, guest houses, premier equestrian facilities, and breathtaking views---the pinnacle of Santa Ynez Valley living.
3170-3090 Avenida Caballo, Santa Ynez
$7,985,000
Joe Ramos / Coastal Ranch (805) 680-6849
1077 Summit Road, Montecito
$8,995,000
Locale Group (805) 284-3660
Compass
DRE#: 01157712
Nestled in Montecito Avocado Ranch’s gated community, this modern farmhouse blends elegance, tranquility, and effortless California living. Set on a sprawling lot, it features luxurious suites, a chef’s kitchen, seamless indoor-outdoor spaces, a pool, a guesthouse, and breathtaking garden views.
Tiburon Bay Lane, Montecito
$7,950,000
Susan Jordano/ Simone Eurich (805) 680-9060
Village Properties DRE#: 01775462 LUTAH MARIA RIGGS MID-CENTURY
Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices DRE#: 00968247
Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices California Properties
DRE#: 02040488
REAL ESTATES
Set on 21.22 acres in Montecito’s foothills, this 1970s 3-bed, 2-bath home offers ocean views, expansive windows, and rich wood paneling. A timeless layout invites relaxed living and entertaining, creating a rare opportunity to craft your private sanctuary.
2200 Bella Vista Drive, Montecito
$7,495,000
Riskin Partners Estate Group (805) 565-8600
Village Properties DRE#: 01954177
Single-level Spanish-style in exclusive Ennisbrook. Living room with vaulted ceilings & fireplace, dining room, & large eat-in kitchen all with French doors to landscaped grounds. 2 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, plus office / media room. New HVAC, solar, & Tesla PowerWalls.
454 Meadowbrook Drive, Montecito
$6,395,000 Lisa Foley (805) 252-2271
Goodwin & Thyne Properties DRE#: 01995513
Experience breathtaking mountain views from this contemporary Hope Ranch retreat by architect Richard Bliss Nelson. Vaulted ceilings, walls of glass, and seamless indoor-outdoor flow. Private lower-level suite, lush gardens, and ADU potential. Moments from La Cumbre Country Club, private beach access and trails.
985 Monte Drive, Santa Barbara
$4,495,000
Knight Real Estate Group (805) 895-4406
Berkshire Hathaway Home Services DRE#: 01463617 985montedrive.com
MEDITERRANEAN WITH OCEAN VIEWS
T
his Spanish-Mediterranean home offers a true taste of the Santa Barbara vacation lifestyle, with 3,800+ sq ft of renovated space, ocean views, a gourmet kitchen, luxurious primary suite, office, and spacious garage---just minutes from downtown, the Funk Zone, and the beach.
396 Las Alturas Road, Santa Barbara
$4,495,000
Daniel Zia, Zia Group (805) 364-9009
eXp Realty
DRE# 01710544 | Exp Realty DRE# 01878277
E
xceptional private ranch featuring a custom home permitted as a short-term rental plus a legal 1,200SF ADU, barn and pastures. Set on 5.58 acres, this property offers a serene retreat and income opportunity.
1712 N Refugio Road, Santa Ynez, CA 93460
$3,695,000
Santa Ynez Valley Real Estate Company (805) 688-5717
DRE#: 01132470
Newly available, this charming 1913 Craftsman in Lower Mission Canyon sits on nearly an acre with mature oaks, lush gardens, and stunning views. Featuring four bedrooms, three baths, a spacious kitchen, grand living areas, and a 520± sq. ft. accessory building.
841 Mission Canyon, Santa Barbara
$3,495,000
Crysta Metzger (805) 453-8700
Sotheby’s International Realty DRE#: 01340521
LUXURY RENTALS
OCEANFRONT LUXURY AT RINCON POINT
Oceanfront home in Rincon Point, known as “The Queen of the Coast,” is a premier surfing destination. This property features four bedrooms, high-end finishes, and outdoor amenities such as a hot tub, sauna, and fire pit that offer stunning ocean and coastline views.
THE JEWEL BOX OF MONTECITO
The jewel box of Montecito. This pristine home offers four bedrooms, two full baths, and exquisite furnishings with meticulous attention to detail. The property is being offered fully furnished and move-in ready. The current owner has further elevated the award-winning gardens.
2320 Sycamore Canyon Road, Montecito
$35,000 per month
Don Johnston/ Montecito Luxury Group (805) 951-7331
Sotheby’s International Realty DRE#: 01868263
8096 Puesta Del Sol, Carpinteria For Lease: $45,000 per month
Emily Kellenberger & Associates (805) 252-2773
Village Properties DRE#: 01397913
Experience luxury living at Casa Miramar, a newly remodeled retreat near Montecito’s premier beaches and Rosewood Miramar Resort. Enjoy an open-concept design, upscale finishes, a game room, a private deck with a hot tub, and a stunning outdoor entertainment space.
Price: Please inquire for rates Paradise Retreats (805) 716-6059
DRE#: 02090892
COASTAL ELEGANCE IN MONTECITO
REAL ESTATES OUTSIDE THE AREA
HISTORIC SANTA FE COMPOUND
Offered for the first time in 40 years, this historic and restored Santa Fe compound is the finest example of Pueblo-style architecture. Gated and private, its lush gardens, casitas, and Sangre de Cristo views create an unmatched oasis of history, elegance, and endless potential on 2.21 acres.
CUSTOM SKYRIDGE HOME WITH MOUNTAIN VIEWS
This custom home blends elegance and functionality with breathtaking views of Jordanelle Reservoir and Deer Valley®, offering luxurious living spaces including a gourmet kitchen, main-level primary suite, and expansive garden floor entertainment area with a wet bar, cinema, and wine room.
1817 SkyRidge Drive, Park City, Utah
$4,600,000
Onie Bolduc (435) 631-1615
Summit Sotheby’s International Realty MLS#: 2061163
503 Camino del Monte Sol, Santa Fe
$15,500,000
Casas de Santa Fe (505) 660-3424
DRE#: 41986
MOUNTAIN LIVING AT PARK CITY BASE
Discover the epitome of mountain living at the base of Park City Mountain. Enjoy stunning views, an updated kitchen, cozy fireplace, private outdoor space and access to top-notch amenities. Minutes from Main Street, skiing, dining and shopping.
1415 Lowell Avenue #146, Park City, Utah
$850,000
Onie Bolduc (435) 631-1615
Summit Sotheby’s International Realty MLS#: 200105
