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Architects: Anacapa
- Area: 2500 ft²
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Photographs:Erin Feinblatt
Text description provided by the architects. Located in the hills of Montecito, California, a 2,500-square-foot, 1970s residence and combination guesthouse/home office presented the design team with the challenge of achieving a bold program with a modest budget. Collaborating with the client, the designers reworked the home to invest it with a unique residential character and bring it up to date. Focused on orienting the design around the property’s surrounding environment, the home now frames dramatic views of the surrounding Santa Ynez mountains through expansive glass openings.
Strategically, the remodel maintained the home’s existing footprint and structure, yet completely reimagined the interior floor plan, focusing on creating gathering spaces inside and out. A fire pit between two wings of the home encourages outdoor living. The material palette was redeveloped to highlight the natural tones and textures of the surrounding natural environment. Existing board-and-batten T1-11 wood siding was replaced with new charred shou sugi ban cedar cladding.
Concrete floors flow from inside to outside, and together with new anodized aluminum-and-glass sliding doors, reinforce connections to the landscape. "The shou sugi ban works really well with the native California landscape," notes architect Dan Weber. "The oak trees’ canopy is dark forest green." To maintain the minimalist aesthetic, a new standing-seam metal roof now caps the home.
Interior surfaces, including carpets, vinyl flooring, and wood cladding, were changed to concrete and smooth gypsum siding, brightening the interior and modernizing the home. Luxury is conveyed through clean, modern lines, and a minimalist aesthetic. Dropped ceilings were removed, exposing the wooden ceiling structure which is now painted white to create more expansive spaces.
Several small bedrooms were combined to make one primary suite, while the bathroom suite was enlarged, and interior partition walls were removed to make one huge space. Each piece of furniture was handled like a fine sculpture, and materials, including the stone used on the countertops, possess a certain dignity.
