IDEA/FILE House Tour

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BELOW: project to get that whole house and that whole property to drain properly,” he says.

Once that was done, the grounds were terraced to create patios that are on grade with the living spaces and several steps up from the landscape, which is knitted together with decomposedgranite pathways flanked by evergreen beds of bay laurel, pittosporum, and dwarf olive trees punctuated by agapanthus and marina strawberry trees, providing privacy and defining a multitude of outdoor rooms. “It’s a small property,” Rubison observes, “but there’s a lot to explore here.”

The Grossbards assembled the interiors themselves, with an assist from the Brown Design Group in Santa Barbara. “We wanted something that was not at all pretentious,” Pam says. “We wanted it to be a place where anybody could come and put their feet up and have a good time.” The pair incorporated furnishings from their childhood homes and mementos from their parents, like the vintage iron patio furniture they revived with powder coating and new cushions. “It’s fun to get creative and look around and see what you have and how you can reinvent it,” she adds.

While the total living space approaches 3,000 square feet, the couple say they never feel dwarfed by it when they’re alone, since the space is divided between three cozy structures. Conversely, when friends or the couple’s grown twin daughters visit, no one feels crowded. “Because the buildings are scattered around the property, friends can come and stay and we don’t even have to see each other,” Alan says.

Although the arrangement might not suit everyone, it offers the Grossbards an inviting alternative to their life in LA. “If we had torn it down and built a brand-new house,” Alan says, “it wouldn’t have the character that it has now.”