Santa Barbara

Sotheby’s - Dusty Baker

artwork by karen bezuidenhout

Berkshire Hathaway - Kotlyar

MODERN • CLASSIC • JEWELRY

23 years of experience with the utmost in privacy + confidentiality

REPRESENTING EXTRAORDINARY PROPERTIES IN MONTECITO, SANTA BARBARA, GOLETA, HOPE RANCH, CARPINTERIA, & VENTURA

Coastal Properties - Goldberg

30 YEARS OF REAL ESTATE

30 YEARS OF REAL ESTATE

Coastal Properties - Goldberg

My journey in real estate commenced as an attorney specializing in landlordtenant law and real estate business litigation. In 1994, I decided to grow my career by applying my legal knowledge to the high-stakes world of real estate transactions. Fueled by my entrepreneurial spirit, this bold move paved the way for the birth of Coastal Properties – a boutique brokerage and property management firm.

My journey in real estate commenced as an attorney specializing in landlordtenant law and real estate business litigation. In 1994, I decided to grow my career by applying my legal knowledge to the high-stakes world of real estate transactions. Fueled by my entrepreneurial spirit, this bold move paved the way for the birth of Coastal Properties – a boutique brokerage and property management firm.

GARY GOLDBERG BROKER | REALTOR®

GARY GOLDBERG BROKER | REALTOR®

DRE LICENSE #01172139

DRE LICENSE #01172139

805.455.8910

805.455.8910

gary@coastalrealty.com

gary@coastalrealty.com

www.garygoldberg.net

www.garygoldberg.net

As we hit the 30-year milestone, I’m not just counting the years; I’m raising a glass to the relentless commitment of my operations team, the sweat equity of my hardworking agents, and the unwavering confidence of countless sellers and buyers who entrusted me with their homeownership dreams. Through the rollercoaster of challenges and victories, I’m not just looking back; I’m gearing up for the thrilling expedition ahead. Here’s to three decades of Coastal Properties leaving an indelible mark in the real estate game!

As we hit the 30-year milestone, I’m not just counting the years; I’m raising a glass to the relentless commitment of my operations team, the sweat equity of my hardworking agents, and the unwavering confidence of countless sellers and buyers who entrusted me with their homeownership dreams. Through the rollercoaster of challenges and victories, I’m not just looking back; I’m gearing up for the thrilling expedition ahead. Here’s to three decades of Coastal Properties leaving an indelible mark in the real estate game!

Bush Monkeyflower Diplacus sp.

California Buckwheat Erigonum fasciculatum

LANDSCAPE DESIGN STUDIO

Deer Grass Muhlenbergia rigens

LSD Studio

Island Oak Quercus tomentella

Santa Cruz Island Ironwood Lyonothamnus floribundus

California Poppy Eschscholzia californica

Purple Three-Awn Aristida purpurea

Howard McMinn Manzanita Arctostaphylos densiflora “Howard McMinn”

At LSD STUDIO , we try to construct a little bit of natural magic. There isn’t a secret to making this happen. We listen. We listen to you, our client. We listen to the land around us. We experience the particularities and uniqueness of each space and begin our collective conversation. Through a combination of rigor, thoughtful selection of material, playfulness and getting down and dirty, we create.

justin@lsdstudio.co lsdstudio.co

This luxurious renovated 4-bedrooms, 3.5-bathroom home on almost one acre seamlessly merges with its wooded surroundings. Upon entering, the vaulted ceilings and Mahogany wood floors create an immediate sense of modern elegance. Adding allure to this retreat is a tucked-away guest house boasting 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. With its high ceilings, wood beams, glass walls, and an effortlessly cool style, it’s a space that complements the main residence’s unique charm. Immerse yourself in a lifestyle where artistry meets nature in this architecturally unique and thoughtfully designed home in Montecito. Price available upon request.

Compass - Luke Ebbin

Compass - Luke Ebbin

$7,475,000

Compass - Luke Ebbin

4 BED | 4.5 BATH | 4,000 SQ FT +/ - | 0.6 ACRES +/ - | MUS

$8,350,000

Compass - Luke Ebbin

Compass - Luke Ebbin

Jennifer Smith

Tolleson

James Timmins

Rutledge

Dean Alari

White

Charles Donelan

Anna Ferguson-Sparks

Amelia Fleetwood

Jennifer Blaise Kramer

Christine Lennon

Dawn Moore

Lorie Dewhirst Porter

Gabe Saglie

Katherine Stewart

Joan Tapper

Erik Torkells

Caitlin White CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS

Blake Bronstad

David Cameron

Leela Cyd

Sam Frost

Blue Gabor

Tierney Gearon

Michael Haber

Brian Hodges

Elizabeth Messina

Dewey Nicks

Victoria Pearson

Sara Prince

Lisa Romerein

Trevor Tondro

Allen Construction

Coldwell Banker - Conger

FROM THE EDITORIAL DIRECTOR

One of my favorite issues of the year, our Home + Garden spotlight is chock-full of all things beautiful and inspiring. Living here is a recipe for la dolce vita. It’s a place where neighbors invite neighbors for drinks, dinner, and even late-night dance parties, so of course your abode must always be at the ready!

backdrop is nothing short of perfection. We go for a studio visit inside his magic factory and explore how he creates custom homes that fit his clients’ every wish (“Mind of an Architect,” page 126).

When the Grassini family took over La Tarantella estate in Happy Canyon AVA, they worked with a local designer, artisans, and tradespeople to transform the stately villa into a stunning space that’s now available for private events, and you can see the results in “The Villa Among the Vines” (page 134).

Edit Letter

As for our cover story (“Lights, Camera... Home!” page 94), it recounts a most delightful day shooting actor, wife, and mother Jordana Brewster at her new Montecito home. I met Jordana 19 years ago when we launched C Magazine, but I hadn’t connected with her again until she moved here and we became friends and neighbors. The home she and her husband, tech entrepreneur Mason Morfit, purchased was a 100-year-old Winsor Soule with amazing bones. Their thoughtful touches to the property have transformed this family house (with a combined six kids!) into a home full of love and lightness (plus surfboards and video games). Jordana welcomes us in!

Think of this magazine as your cheat sheet for everything you need to spruce up your current situation. I am deep in the final stages of renovating my own dream home, and I can’t wait to return to entertaining alfresco with lunch in the garden—and finally unpacking my beloved dishes and linens to set the perfect table with centerpieces of garden roses from Rose Story Farm. Speaking of, we present a portfolio of the floral showcase they created when they took over their 100-year-old farmhouse and transformed it into a blossoming fantasy (“In Bloom,” page 118). You can almost smell the scent wafting from the pages.

I’m also thrilled to highlight Rails founder Jeff Abrams’ El Mirador domain (“The Great Estate,” page 106), with a classic Montecito vibe that honors the tradition of its surroundings while making it work today for this successful clothing entrepreneur’s easy breezy lifestyle. Shot by famed photographer Dewey Nicks, the gardens and home come alive for their next iteration.

William Hefner is the architect on everyone’s wish list. The way he creates old world mixed with modern and blends it all seamlessly into the

Back to the idea that entertaining here is about open doors and last-minute barbecues or drinks with friends: Although the house is always the main attraction, it’s the way we live and love and laugh in it that really makes it shine.

Jennifer Smith

ON

Jordana Brewster

photographed by Sami Draisin. Styled by Katie Bofshever in Ulla Johnson dress, Bottega Veneta boots, Anita Ko earrings, and Irene Neuwirth necklaces.

Hair by Clariss Rubenstein at A-Frame Agency. Makeup by Lilly Keys at A-Frame Agency.

CONTRIBUTORS

KATIE BOFSHEVER

The L.A.-based stylist who worked on our cover story on Jordana Brewster, (“Lights, Camera...Home!” page 94), prides herself on her ability to translate her artistic training and sensibility to celebrity styling. She says, “Shooting with Jordana is honestly always a joy, but what I loved about working on this issue was the nearly all-female crew. There was just a good energy on set and such a sense of community and collaboration.” S.B. MUST DOS

• Drinks at Honor Bar

• Shopping at Wunderkind

• Coffee at Dune.

LORIE DEWHIRST PORTER

JOAN TAPPER

Contributors

The regular contributor to Santa Barbara Magazine for more than 15 years penned several pieces for this issue, including two features (“The Great Estate,” page 106, and “Mind of an Architect,” page 126). She loves writing about art, architecture, and culture. Regarding her interview with Jeff Abrams, she recalls, “I loved talking to him about his vision for El Mirador; he’s so enthusiastic about its history and clearly loves every inch of the property.”

S.B. MUST DOS

• Admiring paintings at Stewart Fine Art

• Checking out the chic accessories at Maison K

• Eating at Taqueria El Bajio on Milpas Street

SAMI DRAISIN

The L.A.-based fashion and portrait photographer, who turned her lens on Jordana Brewster for our cover feature (“Lights, Camera...Home!” page 94), has made her name as an artist over the past 10 years for her beautiful imagery and her subtle hand with talent. She has been asked to shoot many of the world’s top musicians and actors, as well as luxury fashion brands such as Dior, Tiffany & Co., and Prada. S.B. MUST DOS

• Wine tasting in the Funk Zone

• Pizza from Lucky Penny • Architect Jeff Shelton’s walking tour—these homes spark so much joy!

“It was a treat going back to see Casa del Herrero after a number of years and letting folks know about its upcoming centennial” (“Polishing a Hidden Gem,” page 62), says the book and magazine editor. A Santa Barbara resident who writes often about people, arts, and culture, she also did the piece about the Rose Story Farm showcase (“In Bloom,” page 118). S.B. MUST DOS • Walking in Shoreline Park • Feasting during Fiesta at Our Lady of Guadalupe • The mezze plate at The Daisy.

CAITLIN WHITE

This food, wine, and travel writer, who is based in Los Angeles but makes the trek up PCH to Santa Barbara about once a week, penned all the travel stories in this issue (page 83), as well as our profile of Cherval Studio (page 56). When not researching new hotels and restaurants, you can find her swimming laps, making playlists, or road-tripping around California. S.B. MUST DOS

• A slice of pepperoni-honey pizza at Bettina

• Ice-cold gin martinis at Lucky’s

• A late afternoon walk around Old Mission Santa Barbara.

Jodi G Designs

WE

A historic church has been transformed into a multipurpose studio and shop

Design - Design Ministry

While the Second Baptist Church that has stood on East Gutierrez Street since 1926 no longer functions as a house of worship, Ryan Brown and Diego Monchamp of the Brown Design Group are continuing its legacy in fresh ways. The historically protected building was originally home to the Black congregation that was established in Santa Barbara in 1910, then to Church of Skatan, the popular skate shop and locals-only spot. After years of physical decline, interior designers Brown and Monchamp, who work in Los Angeles and Santa Barbara and settled in Santa Barbara full time in 2020, are ushering the property into its next chapter with care. As of this spring, it’s the headquarters of their Brown Design Group, featuring a lifestyle boutique appropriately dubbed MINISTRY OF THE INTERIOR

“It was a great collaborative process to restore it,” Monchamp says of the 4,700-square-foot Gothic Revival building. He and Brown pored over the church’s archival materials and learned about its cultural and social significance from local historians.

The partners—in business and in life—eventually realized the opportunity to add something more to the meaningful site.

Design - Design Ministry

They repaired the stained glass windows using the original fabricator, designed new custom lighting pendants built by SH Studios, and increased the ceiling height with new trusses and skylights. “DMHA and Henry Lenny Design Studio were fundamental in helping us pull this off,” Monchamp says of their consulting architects.

“My favorite aspect of our job is the final touches,” Brown notes. “The accessories, the art, the lighting.” Ministry of the Interior was a way to respond to clients’ wishes to “shop from our shelves” for items like that and also fill a local retail niche.

The inventory features Brown’s finds from his recent travels to 15 countries. Books, small vintage goods, and furnishings from places such as Denmark and Argentina intermingle with ceramics by Chicago-based Julia Archer and braided leather-wrapped crystals crafted by Los Angeles artist Matthew Ready. A seating vignette with a residential feel is another delightful surprise. “My goal was to have it be approachable,” Brown says. Think of this store as a new type of welcoming sanctuary for design lovers 26 E. Gutierrez St., Santa Barbara, 805228-4113, INTERIORMINISTRY.COM. JESSICA RITZ

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: Restored Gothic arched stained glass windows and new railings have renewed the historic site’s presence on East Gutierrez as Ministry of the Interior; the former sanctuary now houses the team’s working spaces and a welcoming retail experience; Brown’s and Monchamp’s respective studios are on the upper level; “My favorite aspect of our job is the final touches—the accessories, the art, the lighting,” Brown says of offering eclectic goods such as leather-wrapped crystals; partners Brown (left) and Monchamp; more curated finds.

ONES TO WATCH

Clay Masters

DPenny. “It clicked for me right away,” he says. “I was, like, this is my material. Why did I never try this?”

Penny’s clay journey began after Sadie was born. Itching to try something new, she began making ceramic necklaces strung on cords she made herself. These were sold at the now-shuttered Modern Folk boutique in Ojai, where Penny was working. “All of a sudden people who were retailers wanted to buy them,” she says. That included a large order from Urban Outfitters, which prompted the purchase of her first kiln, serendipitously once owned by Otto Heino.

Penny’s sought-after necklaces were followed by her outsize ceramic chains and, most recently, by her large-scale rope and ceramic wall hangings. Ali, who has become an expert on the potter’s wheel, makes exquisite, streamlined cups and vessels, among other items. Currently the pair have a thriving wholesale business with retailers nationwide and also take commissions for new pieces.

Design - Duo Luto

UO LUTO is both a store and a brand conceived by Ojai ceramic artists Fanny Penny and Nicholas Ali. Roughly translated from Latin, duo luto means “mud duo,” an apt moniker for this creative couple who are part of a new generation of the town’s historic clay masters, including, famously, Beatrice “Beato” Wood and her friends Vivika and Otto Heino.

Growing up in Ojai, Penny frequented Duo Luto’s building, which formerly housed a baseball-card and comicbook store. “I remember telling my mom, ‘I want to have a shop someday and make things beautiful and present them to people,’” she says. “I always imagined that this would be my shop.”

Penny and Ali met in 2006; they married seven years later—at Ojai’s Rancho Inn—and have two daughters, Sadie and Gita. Ali hails from Torrance, California, where he did photography and painting and worked with wood and glass. But he never attempted clay until 2014, when he attended a ceramics workshop with

Their retail space has profoundly affected their clay practice. As Ali notes, “It informs the work when somebody picks it up and says, ‘Oh, this reminds me of something.’ It helps move that whole process through, because on a regular basis we’re talking about the work we’re doing.”Adds Penny, “It’s such a nice affirmation to have the community be excited to see what we’re doing. We’ve had a few locals come in and say, ‘This is the best iteration of this space so far.’ That feels nice.” 910 E. Ojai Ave., Ojai, @DUO_LUTO. LORIE DEWHIRST PORTER

CLOCKWISE FROM BOTTOM LEFT: Fanny Penny and Nicholas Ali, owners of Duo Luto in Ojai; the boutique reflects its owners’ signature creative style; Penny makes the distinctive wall hangings and Ali uses the wheel to craft cups and vessels.

Design - Marnie Blau

Beauty Sleep

“My interior design style is Italian luxury done with a barefoot California feeling,” explains Elizabeth Vallino, the force behind her namesake Santa Barbara–based interior design firm. Over the past two decades Vallino has successfully brought old-world and new-world sensibilities together, and it’s no wonder her love for fabric and her innate creativity spilled over into a textile line of her own,

CHERVAL STUDIO

But a gap in the market also fueled the launch. “When I started looking for bedding, I could find a lot of vintage, but I wanted something more patterned that could be layered,” she says. Joined by another designer, Natalie Moore, who had experience developing patterns, Vallino created a percale bedding set that’s made in Portugal and adorned with Cherval’s own prints, which were inspired by patterns for 18th-century dominoté book endpapers. From the world of bedding, Cherval’s designs have begun to “spin into all the other areas of the house,” and the studio now produces pillows, throws, and tabletop items like tablecloths, placemats, and linen napkins.

“It’s that spirit of hospitality,” says Vallino. “Inviting people over and setting a beautiful table, or if you have friends coming to visit, making a beautiful bed.” 707 Anacapa St., Santa Barbara, CHERVALSTUDIO.COM. CAITLIN WHITE

MUST-HAVE

ORTEGA

This intoxicating aroma was born out of the desire to recall and capture driving the winding tree-lined ridge of Ortega Ridge Road. $70.

BELLEFONTAINE

This enchanting aroma pays homage to the rose blossoms that fill the air and delight in springtime in this beautiful historic neighborhood. $70; $120 for the pair.

HOUSEOFHONEY.COM.

KELLY FAJACK

Design - Casa del Herrero

Charming Chatelaine

The concept behind the newly expanded DOMECÍL boutique on State Street is to showcase unique and handmade items for the home. Owner Stephanie Payne Campbell—a Santa Barbara native with a French soul and a sparkling personality— has an instinctive knack for sourcing items that are simultaneously utilitarian and indescribably beautiful: baskets and textiles from far-flung locations (Africa, Chile, Indonesia, Japan), locally made ceramics, linens and clothing (often of her own design), hard-to-find design books, cookbooks, jewelry, and more.

Homes also need art, and breathtaking nature photographs by co-creators Joslyn Lawrence and Brian Kuhlmann grace the shop’s gallery-like walls. And where else can you attend a love-letter workshop taught by local typewriter poet Simon Kiefer? Japanese and French stationery are available if you need something to write on.

It takes a truly sophisticated eye to convene

and display these myriad treasures in a coherent manner, but Payne Campbell does so effortlessly and with enthusiasm. “It’s passion that’s gotten me this far,” she says with a smile. 1223 State St., Santa Barbara, 805-324-4971, DOMECIL.COM. L.D.P.

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: A luminous landscape photograph by Joslyn Lawrence and Brian Kuhlmann welcomes visitors; a collection of baskets and textiles from far-flung locations; Domecíl owner Stephanie Payne Campbell; stationery, books, and items for the home.

ANIA LEJMAN DESIGN

DESIGN

Design - Casa del Herrero

Ahoy, Mate

Ten-year-old MATE GALLERY, located in Montecito’s Country Mart (the retail compound and de facto community center of Montecito), is home to all things nautical—from clothing and vintage accessories to home furnishings. Conceived and owned by Matt Albiani and Ron Brand, the shop was—according to Albiani—designed “to bring a bit of East Coast vibe to California,” and they have achieved that goal; the place is a style source for transplants and natives alike. Country Mart owner Jim Rosenfield recently enabled Brand and Albiani to triple Mate Gallery’s footprint, providing room for more bounty, including vintage furniture and fixtures. “Jim’s been very supportive of us and is a really good guy,” Brand says.

Albiani, a fashion photographer and Boston native, resides primarily in New York; Brand, a real estate agent, immigrated to Santa Barbara from Dundee, Scotland, in 1991. Together they cull and curate unique items that embody the Mate Gallery aesthetic. The pair also own a stylish getaway— dubbed “Sea Roost”—in Montauk, New York, that was recently featured on Magnolia Network’s

Beach Cottage Chronicles and is available for rent on Searoost.com. “If you lived in Mate Gallery, it would be Sea Roost,” says Brand. 1024 Coast Village Rd., Montecito, 805-895-6283, MATEGALLERY.COM. L.D.P.

We’re the key to homeownership.

Buying a house can be one of the happiest days of your life, and getting a mortgage is an important step.

Montecito Bank & Trust offers multiple financing options to fit your lifestyle, including home loans up to $5 million*.

Let’s make that new home a reality!

Polishing a Hidden Gem

The history of CASA DEL HERRERO —House of the Blacksmith—and of Santa Barbara are inextricably linked: On the morning of June 29, 1925, George Fox Steedman, owner of his family’s foundry in St. Louis, was staying at the Santa Barbara Club when a devastating earthquake hit the city, leveling most of downtown. He headed for his new home in Montecito, which had just been finished after three years of construction. The Andalusian farmhouse-style residence was fine, cementing architect George Washington Smith’s reputation and distinguishing the home as an early example of Santa Barbara’s prevailing Spanish look.

Design - Mate

To furnish the home, the Steedmans commissioned Hispanic art experts Arthur Byne and Mildred Stapley, and traveled with them around Spain, acquiring centuries-old treasures that eventually packed 160 containers.

The Steedmans brought on Ralph Stevens to develop the garden and grounds, which soon encompassed 11 acres. In the back of the house, the garden extends from a loggia down a long grassy allée, while the rest of the extensive grounds are divided into a series of “rooms.” An enclosed Spanish garden opens to a blue-and-white garden with

Steedman and his wife, Carrie, embraced the growing fashion for the Spanish Revival style, and Smith’s plans for the 7,000-squarefoot residence incorporated arches, wrought iron, loggias, a red-tile roof, and Moorish accents, like the thousands of colorful tiles that grace fireplaces, fountains, and walls.

MATT WALLA/RIZZOLI

gorgeously tiled benches and a fountain. There’s an herb garden, a boxwood-edged rose garden, an Arizona garden, and extensive orchards. One of the most extraordinary features of the estate is the workshop, where mechanical engineer Steedman designed and crafted silver, other metalwork, and even garden furniture.

Charles Steedman died in 1940; Carrie passed away 22 years later. Medora Steedman Bass, who inherited the house from her parents, lived there until her own death in 1987, after which the family established a foundation that eventually opened the residence and grounds to the public in 1995. Visitors who come for docent-led tours are wowed by the place, which has maintained a low profile for the past three decades.

Now, however, it’s time for the Casa to step into the limelight—and ensure it is ready for its next 100 years. To begin, the foundation is leading up to its centennial with programming that more closely connects the place to the community.

“Medora Steedman Bass wished for the future of Casa to pursue and support the interests of her and her family,” says Edwin Rodriguez Jr., marketing and events director. These include “gardening, architecture, metalwork, silversmithing, restoration of the grounds, global problems, sustainability, population control, family planning, mental health, arts and literature, film, and several others.” Adds board chair Heather Biles, “We are working hard to open the doors of Casa del Herrero to a wider audience and to bring to the community new and interesting ways to experience the Casa.”

Design - Domicil

Meanwhile, the board is launching an $18 million capital campaign—headed by Palmer and Susan Jackson, who have kicked things off with a $1 million donation—to support preservation of its architectural legacy and protect the institution’s future. The hidden gem will be hidden no more. Santa Barbara architect Marc Appleton says, “The Casa, one of Santa Barbara’s best-kept secrets, is a unique, historic, and special place for the community of Santa Barbara to be able to enjoy, support, and cherish.” 1387 E. Valley Rd., Montecito, CASADELHERRERO .COM. JOAN TAPPER

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: Sunlight warms the arched loggia of Casa del Herrero, one of the elements that marks the home’s Spanish Revival style; the octagonal tower library has a frieze painted by Channing Peake; colorful tiles abound, inside and in the blue-andwhite garden; portraits of George and Carrie Steedman preside over the living room; the cover of a history of the Casa depicts its interior stairway.

DESIGN

Design - Beato / Diani

European Elegance

MARNI BLAU has been posting on Instagram for more than a decade, but for 2024 she has updated the name to @designisgoodliving and is using it to showcase her residential projects as well as her passion for travel and food. “My Instagram is all the things I love. It’s all part of design,” says Blau, who had a background in fashion before turning to interiors. Now she focuses on buying homes—“fixers with good bones in good neighborhoods”—renovating them, and moving on. Her aesthetic is eclectic, she notes, a mix of old and new, which fits perfectly with what she sees as important in the coming year. “Trendy is out,” she says. “People are reusing things, and antiques and vintage pieces will be back. That will help modern structures feel less cold.” Look for earth tones to prevail, along with luxurious and soft textures for a cozy interior. “Spaces and decorating will be part of self-care,” she adds. “When you come home, you’ll be coming to a nourishing space.”

@DESIGNISGOODLIVING. J.T.

MARNI BLAU'S DESIGN BLACK BOOK

THE WELL exemplifies how I like to design spaces. There’s diversity in style—old and new, interior and exterior.

NS CERAMIC has a large selection of tile in a variety of styles for kitchen and bath.

As with any antique or vintage shop, you need to constantly pop in to THE BLUE DOOR. Inevitably they will have something that hits you right, even though it may not be what you were initially looking for.

At LEE STANTON PRIVATE STASH, nothing is too precious, which is definitely a style I prefer. It’s a curated collection and a resource for antiques.

MAUNE ART GALLERY is great for contemporary art and being introduced to new artists.

CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: Marni Blau in her living room, which features an antique French daybed and framed vintage Gracie wallpaper; a fireplace in the guesthouse; a powder room with an antique Italian limestone sink and a French mirror from a Paris flea market; a cherished collection of copper pots hangs over the La Canche range.

DESIGN

Design - Cherval

Fresh Stock Divine Dining

Caroline Diani opened her first shop 22 years ago. With a background in retail and an education in fashion, she melded her skills to open a business that’s been a Santa Barbara fixture for more than two decades. The world of DIANI includes three storefronts—clothing, home, shoes— in Arlington Plaza, creating a lifestyle hub for countless locals. Being that go-to shop around the corner is both what keeps the doors open and what guides Caroline on what to stock. “I buy what I like to wear and have in my home, yet I’m constantly thinking of specific customers, especially those who’ve been with us over the years,” she says. “None of us are driven by trends; we like quality and understated style.” Caroline’s spring edit (her blog and newsletter are a must!) sports pops of color that appear in nature. For home she stocks her favorite cookbooks, serving bowls, and textiles, and she has been busy building her own home decor brand, The Stone Jug. Inspiration, it seems, is everywhere she turns. “I’m always looking for new lines for the stores, and traveling helps me find hidden gems,” she says. “My eyes and ears are always open.” 1324 State St., Santa Barbara, DIANIBOUTIQUE.COM. JENNIFER BLAISE KRAMER

For many Ojai residents, the parlor game of assembling a fantasy dinner party would likely include the irrepressible local ceramicist Beatrice Wood, who passed away in 1998 at the age of 105. Now fans of the iconoclastic multidisciplinary artist, known affectionately as “Beato,” can enjoy an homage to her legacy on their own dinner tables with BEATO HOME. “People just went crazy for it,” recalls Heather Stobo about the original dinnerware set crafted by Wood during the 1960s. The pieces were included in an exhibition she and Lisa Casoni curated at the Porch Gallery, the couple’s art-focused Ojai gathering place, which they closed last year. Finding a way to make Wood’s functional tabletop pieces more accessible to a contemporary audience was a logical next step, especially given their partnership with the Beatrice Wood Center for the Arts through Beato Chocolates, the artisanal candy line Casoni and Stobo launched in 2018. Beato Home features five pieces in a textured neutral white, meticulously crafted by Creative Fire Studio in Granada Hills. The collection, which is faithful to Wood’s original clay type, colors, and glazes, is available online and at select retailers, including Field + Fort in Summerland. Beato Home is an impassioned tribute to a one-of-a-kind spirit whose “greatest work of art was her life,” Casoni says. “She’s our North Star in the chocolate business and this dinnerware business.”

BEATOHOME.COM. J.R.

FROM TOP: Beato Home tabletop ceramics re-create the work of Beatrice Wood; Diani offers a lifestyle hub for home goods.

PACIFIC NATURAL AT HOME, by Jenni Kayne, Foreword by Vincent Van Duysen (Rizzoli, $45). Available at Upstairs at Pierre Lafond.

OBJECTS OF DESIRE, by Maria Hummer-Tuttle (Vendome Press, $65). Available at Field + Fort.

SHAMSHIRI: INTERIORS, by Pamela Shamshiri and Ramin Shamshiri and Mayer Rus (Rizzoli, $75). Available at Chaucer’s Books.

MONTECITO STYLE: PARADISE ON CALIFORNIA’S GOLD COAST, by Firooz Zahedi and Lorie Dewhirst Porter, Introduction by Marc Appleton (Monacelli Press, $65). Available at Tecolote Book Shop.

BEAUTY & MISCHIEF: THE DESIGN ALCHEMY OF BLACKMAN CRUZ, by David Cruz, Adam Blackman, and Stacie Stukin, Foreword by Ryan Murphy (Abrams, $80). Available at Chaucer’s Books.

Design - BooksTable Talk

Beautiful books to spark inspiration for your home and garden

WORLDS OF WONDER: RICHARD HALLBERG

INTERIORS, by Mario LópezCordero, Foreword by Dara Caponigro (Rizzoli, $65). Available at Chaucer’s Books.

NO PLACE LIKE HOME: INTERIORS BY MADELINE

STUART, by Madeline Stuart, Foreword by Mayer Rus (Rizzoli, $55). Available at Tecolote Book Shop. L.D.P.

Orchids create longlasting connections, according to Westerlay owner Toine Overgaag.

Chief Beauty and community meet at Westerlay Orchids

WE GARDEN IN PARADISE

I“One of our core values is community,” Overgaag says.

“We donate to just about everything local.”

Garden - Westerlay

t seems there’s not a benefit, a gala, or an auction in Santa Barbara County that doesn’t have an orchid at its center. And the mastermind behind those appearances is Toine Overgaag, president of WESTERLAY ORCHIDS, who took over the family flower business from his parents and is upping not only its acreage and output but also its philanthropy, which has always been at its heart.

“One of our core values is community,” Overgaag says. “We donate to just about everything local,” which includes the Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse’s Amethyst Ball, Dream Foundation’s Flower Empower, and the Santa Barbara Breast Cancer Center. One element of their commitment to the community is an annual fundraiser where every dollar from a week of retail sales directly supports the Carpinteria Education Foundation’s arts and STEM programs. “It’s hyperlocal—a dollar goes so much further at these schools,” he says.

Always looking to make an impact, Overgaag ensured that orchids were popping up everywhere during the pandemic, when supermarkets were

SARA PRINCE

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: Phalaenopsis pink orchids; Joe, Lucy, Toine, and Kandie Overgaag; Westerlay employee Iveth Cortez; pots and containers in the retail shop; classic white and green orchids on overload; varieties blooming in the greenhouse

Garden - Westerlay

scaling back or cutting floral offerings entirely. He launched the “100,000 Orchid Challenge,” in which his team donated flowers to hospitals across California, sending trucks filled with 8,000 orchids each for health care workers to take home. Another initiative led to deliveries for neighbors and friends, lifting spirits when people really needed that blooming surprise.

“There’s a relational aspect to orchids,” says Overgaag. “People feel responsible to take care of them and then share their story.” In fact, he’s heard so many moving orchid tales—about how a grieving person tended to a loved one’s plant or how an orchid led friends to reconnect—that he used it in the company tagline: Every Orchid Has a Story. “You realize you’re in the connection business, not the flower business,” he says. “It’s a privilege to step in and help locally.” 3504 Via Real, Carpinteria, 805-684-5400 ext. 120, WESTERLAY.COM. J.B.K.

Breathing Life

Wallpaper is so 2023. Suddenly every hot workspace, restaurant, and home wants a wall that does more—a wall that’s alive. Terra Basche, owner of LUSH ELEMENTS, is the designer behind the living walls at offices of Netflix, Zoom, and Sonos. “We’re making headquarters unique as well as home offices, which may be smaller but can be special, sacred retreats,” she says. Having started as a florist, the self-trained designer creates massive living walls hung with mosses, ferns, and air plants that require little water and are low maintenance. (She also does follow-up care for most clients.) Her mural-like installations, in addition to edible towers and container gardens, are focal points at restaurants that include Local Montecito, Validation Ale, and most recently Silvers Omakase. There, owner and chef Lennon Silvers Lee dreamed up a back patio full of plants where his guests could pleasantly relax after their two-hour dining experience.

Basche is now on a mission to catch the attention of nonprofits, whose donors might consider sponsoring a living wall rather than giving cash. Currently the offices of the Wilderness Youth Project and the Community Environmental Council feature her living art, and she hopes others will appreciate the perks of working with plants,

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: “Lush Air” of tillandsias displayed on glass with graphic of honey onyx at Sonos; owner Terra Basche; “Lush Wall” of preserved mosses, foliage, and crystal spheres at Origins Integrative Medicine. “Lush Wall” with preserved mosses, flowers, and foliage at Chandler Salon.

Garden - Lush Elementals

which buffer sound, add beauty, and increase air quality, well-being, and productivity. Says Basche: “When you live among plants, you sink into something so special at a cellular level, you just have to pay attention.”

LUSHELEMENTS.COM. J.B.K.

Trade the stress of city life for balmy air and azure ocean views at El Encanto. Enjoy the finest local ingredients and Californian wines, best paired with deep blue skies and radiant golden sunsets. Experience luxurious privacy in elegant bungalows and cottages for uninterrupted serenity.

Dinners, local and Spanish wines, fun cocktails

Tuesday through Saturday

WE TASTE IN PARADISE

Global Goods

These chic shops and markets carry everything you need for a well-curated home and kitchen

Downtown Santa Barbara’s The Eddy reinvents the corner store experience, serving as a one-stop shop for convenience items and gourmet goods.

WE TASTE IN PARADISE

STaste - Home Roundup

ince debuting last year, THE EDDY has woven itself into the fabric of downtown Santa Barbara. Offering a well-chosen selection of elevated essentials and gourmet delights, along with engaging events and workshops, this modern corner store has redefined the idea of convenience. “We envisioned The Eddy as a hub, constantly adapting to the evolving wants and needs of our community,” says co-owner Alex Suhadolnik. “Our approach is very much community led, so we regularly incorporate customer recommendations, but we also hope to instill a sense of discovery.”

Here you’ll find a diverse mix of everyday necessities and unexpected goods, from tinned fish and artisanal candy bars to Rancho Gordo beans and nonalcoholic refreshments, along with grab-and-go items from local favorites like Merci and Riviera Bread. 137 E. De La Guerra St., Santa Barbara, SHOPTHEEDDY.COM.

Effortless elegance is the theme at UPSTAIRS AT PIERRE LAFOND, the esteemed Montecito lifestyle boutique that has delighted locals and visitors alike for decades. An ever-evolving collection of stylish far-flung treasures and locally made gifts ranges from luxurious bedding and rugs to art, tabletop essentials, and children’s toys—each thoughtfully selected to celebrate the joys of artful living. “Every corner of the world is brimming with inspiration, which is why I regularly

travel to various global markets in search of unique finds,” says buyer Emily DaFoe. “Our customers can always count on discovering something special and one-of-a-kind, whether for their own homes or for memorable gifts.” 516 San Ysidro Rd., Santa Barbara, SHOPUPSTAIRS.COM.

Bringing a touch of la dolce vita to the heart of Montecito is MONTESANO MARKET & DELI, a haven of Italian imports and local goods for the table and pantry. Besides the impressive selection of olive oils, jarred olives, authentic sauces, and gourmet pastas—each highlighting Italy’s rich culinary heritage—you’ll find table linens, wine, bespoke tote bags, and artisanal toffee. Also on hand are imported sausages, crackers, and cheeses—perfect for

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: The Eddy offers an eclectic mix of daily necessities and unique items for the home and table; nonalcoholic beverages and glassware at The Eddy; the bright, Italian-focused Montesano Market & Deli in Montecito.

impromptu picnics at the beach. 1150 Coast Village Rd., Montecito, MONTESANOMARKET.COM.

One need not be an interior designer to appreciate Summerland’s FIELD + FORT, a distinctive home-andgarden store that epitomizes refinement. “The owners’ vision was to create a space where people can gather, enjoy delicious food and coffee, and find inspiration in our carefully curated home goods—essentials for elevating living,” says general manager Paul Burns. Notably, Field + Fort is stocked with unique design accessories and products synonymous with quality and style, including items such as Sheldon ceramic dinnerware, Sferra towels, and Flamingo Estate bath products. The store’s pantry section offers gourmet foods like pasta sauces, balsamic vinegars, and olive oils, all destined to become kitchen staples. 2580 Lillie Ave., Summerland, FIELDANDFORT.COM.

“The vision at Field + Fort was to create a space where people enjoy delicious food and find inspiration.”

Taste - Home Roundup

Following the success of its original Los Angeles location, Little Dom’s Seafood cast its culinary net to Carpinteria in 2020. Since then executive chef Brandon Boudet has enticed visitors with his delectable seafood and Italian dishes, infused with Southern flair as a nod to his Louisiana roots. This spring the coastal eatery is expanding with the debut of LITTLE DOM’S DELI & WINE SHOP. You’ll be able to pick up some of Chef Boudet’s signature creations, including his renowned tomato sauces and pickled vegetables. Additionally, the space will carry a range of house-made seasonal goods—think preserved lemons and fruit jams—as well as grab-and-go items like prepared salads and frozen meatballs. 686 Linden Ave., Carpinteria, LDSEAFOOD.COM.

HANA-LEE SEDGWICK

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT:

Montesano Market stocks a selection of local and imported wines; stylish kitchenware at Field + Fort; Little Dom’s housemade tomato sauce and pickled vegetables.

Good work lives on.

Casa del Herrero, the “House of the Blacksmith,” was designed by George Washington Smith in the 1920s and is one of the finest standing examples of Spanish Colonial Revival architecture in America.

Docent-led tours are available twice a week with ongoing special events year-round.

casadelherrero.org

Extraordinary Escapes

Decamp to one of these secluded retreats, where destination is important but design is key

GETAWAY

Desert Gem

Aman Resorts are known for boutique properties that epitomize remote splendor, and perhaps nothing in their portfolio fulfills that promise better than AMANGIRI. This isolated sanctuary in southern Utah, whose name means “peaceful mountain” in Sanskrit, draws much of its grandeur from a minimalist design set against the stunning backdrop of the stark Canyon Point desert. But it isn’t just sweeping views of the Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument or the property’s incorporation of the culture of the nearby Navajo Nation that has elevated Amangiri into one of the world’s must-visit hotels.

Getaways - Amangiri

Since opening in 2009, the 34-suite property has become synonymous with ultra-luxe hospitality and wellness—and a hot spot for celebrity guests who share their experiences on social media, cultivating a sense of exclusivity and prestige that has served the hotel well. In 2020 the hotel expanded with the addition of Camp Sarika, an enclave of 10 tented pavilions.

That expansion dovetailed with concerns related to the pandemic, which spiked an interest in this

distant, mostly outdoor getaway.

One of the selling points of Amangiri, then and now, is the way each room is oriented toward a view of the desert, bringing the outdoors in. The elegance of the decor—concrete, light wood, and earth tones—against the landscape enhances the serenity. Holistic wellness programming also adds to that: Carefully formulated offerings integrate many natural elements into the experience. For example, there’s yoga on the rocks, thermal therapy with saunas and cold plunge pools in the 25,000-square-foot spa, aqua shiatsu, and ai chi, a 4,000-year-old therapy derived from tai chi and qigong that seeks to optimize the flow of chi. If there were ever a place where your energy could unspool, untangle, and flow freely, it’s here. 1 Kayenta Rd., Canyon Point, Utah, 435-675-3999, AMAN.COM. C.W.

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: A natural rock formation blends into the property’s stunning central pool; spa treatment rooms engage directly with views of Canyon Point via large hinged wooden doors; several water wellness modalities are offered in private plunge pools for a truly serene experience.

Getaways - Paradiso

Artist ’s Retreat

Although it’s only a five-minute drive from Paso Robles’ town square, Steve Werndorf’s mystical micro hotel, INN PARADISO, feels like a world unto itself. Venture behind the gates and unlock one of three private luxury suites in the ‘70s-inspired lodge, where exposed wooden beams and a fireplace anchor the central room. Elsewhere, two more private loft suites adjoin a living area and kitchen for the owner, who may make you a cappuccino and explain that most of the art that adorns the property is from his personal collection. An artist and former movie poster designer, Werndorf has imbued the property with a mix of rustic charm and whimsy. His dressed-down Artist Studio is another suite available for booking. A pool and a greenhouse-style lounge, plus lawns surrounded by rare fruit trees, round out the 3.5-acre slice of paradise. 975 Mohave Lane, Paso Robles, 805-275-2706, INNPARADISO.COM. C.W.

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: The main lodge building includes three guest suites plus a central grand living room; a spiral staircase leads to a queen bed loft in the Leonora Carrington Suite; a wall of books and tchotchkes adds color and style to the main lodge.

THE OAK COTTAGE OF SANTA BARBARA

A unique approach to memory care …

The Oak Cottage of Santa Barbara is home to the signature Vibrant Life® program, specializing in unique activities such as gardening, walking clubs, scenic drives and more. Designed to connect residents with family, friends and the local community, our Vibrant Life® program truly inspires.

Oak Cottage is specifically designed for residents with cognitive impairment, including Alzheimer’s disease and age-related dementia.

Call now to schedule a tour. (805) 324-4391

Bungalow Bliss

With just 22 rooms, HOTEL JOAQUIN is one of the smallest seaside resorts in Laguna Beach, but the intimacy of this bungalow-style estate is also its draw. Part of the Auric Road Collection—historic hotels that have been reimagined as contemporary luxury getaways—the property was originally constructed in the 1930s as a motor lodge. But its light wood and earth tones create an aura of serenity that’s more reminiscent of a European villa than an Orange County guesthouse. Rooms feature bespoke touches like marble vanities, hand-painted tile, vaulted ceilings, and Juliet balconies. The sweeping ocean views and access to some of Southern California’s best beaches make it the perfect idyllic retreat. 985 N. Coast Hwy., Laguna Beach, 949-434-5294, HOTELJOAQUIN.COM. C.W.

Getaways - Joaquin / Fabio

Lots of light wood decor, contemporary art, and beachy furniture transforms each room at this former motor lodge into a quiet, bright getaway by the sea.

Room for Wellness

When it comes to luxurious wellness, few ZIP codes in the world do it better than Beverly Hills. And even with such a high concentration of options on the hospitality and lodging side, when it comes to infusing wellness offerings into the rooms themselves,

FOUR SEASONS HOTEL LOS ANGELES AT BEVERLY HILLS stands out from the rest. Partnering with consulting firm Delos Living—which strives to bring “technology, design, health, and science” into its work—the entire fourth floor of this storied hotel has been refurbished to incorporate in-room wellness. The hotel’s upgraded amenities span three categories: Wellness Rooms, Wellness Studio Suites, and the California Wellness Suites, which include a large area for entertaining. The amenities include a Rabbit air-purification system, lighting design that helps regulate circadian rhythms, a water dechlorinator and purification system, and hypoallergenic wood floors for an allergy-friendly environment. Guided meditation offerings narrated by Deepak Chopra, a soundscape machine, and in-room yoga equipment by Alo help transform these spaces into Zen havens. The property also has several auxiliary wellness areas that can be used in conjunction with or instead of hotel rooms. A private fitness suite can be reserved for as much as two hours as a complimentary addition to a booking in the wellness category. It’s also available to guests in normal rooms for a fee of $75 a day. Finally, a Well Office space or the Palm Wellness Room on the lobby level can accommodate both well-being-focused off-site work environments and larger private events. 300 S. Doheny Dr., Los Angeles, 310-273-2222, FOURSEASONS.COM. C.W.

Getaways - Four Seasons / Maravilla

A floor dedicated to suites with high-end wellness amenities like air-purification systems and circadian rhythm–oriented lighting design helps set this hotel apart from other luxury offerings in the neighborhood.

Our world-renowned FILM FESTIVAL finds the sweet spot between Hollywood and international cinema

SBIFF

Tthe 39th annual Santa Barbara International Film Festival, which wrapped on February 17 with the world premiere of Heather Graham’s good-natured rom-com Chosen Family, achieved its long-standing game plan of finding the sweet spot among Hollywood celebrities and Oscartimed buzz, serious international cinema, feel-good diversions, documentaries, and other facets of film

As a popular part of its densely packed 10-day (plus one opening night) festival, the celebritytribute component was well stocked with Oscarnominated actors, starting with the prefestival

Kirk Douglas award tribute to Ryan Gosling (aka “Ken”). Regrettably, Annette Benning—the only woman on the tribute schedule—had to cancel. But due kudos were given to other powerful actors— Robert Downey Jr., Mark Ruffalo, Paul Giamatti, and Jeffrey Wright (honored for his rare leading role in American Fiction). The Outstanding Directors night focused on Justine Triet (Anatomy of a Fall) and Martin Scorsese (Killers of the Flower Moon), who accepted his award by asserting that “the real gift was getting to make the movies.”

Three peripheral celebrities generated their own special buzz. Lily Gladstone, the first Native American nominated for an Oscar (for Killers) was greeted with a hero’s welcome; she commented, “A win by one of us is a win for all.”

Billie Eilish showed up at the Arlington and helped sell out the normally more specialized Variety Artisans panel, noting that her Barbie theme song “picked me up like a little hook lifting me out of a dark place.”

Musician John Batiste showed up for a soulful and heartfelt Q&A with festival head Roger Durling, following the poignant doc American Symphony

In the all-important heart of the program—its 200-plus screening schedule, with an unusually broad geographical sweep—programming director Claudia Puig, in her third year here, summoned an impressive range of cinema. By festival’s end, the avid SBIFF-goers could find resonance in Durling’s opening night comment that “we come to the movies for the feeling of being alive.” SBIFF.ORG.

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: Mark Ruffalo; Jeffrey Wright; Cillian Murphy, Robert Downey Jr., and Rob Lowe; Finneas and Billie Eilish; Virtuoso Award winners Greta Lee, Charles Melton, Andrew Scott, America Ferrera, Lily Gladstone, and Da’Vine Joy Randolph; Bradley Cooper; Paul Giamatti; Roger Durling with Outstanding Director winners Justine Triet and Martin Scorsese; Emma Stone; Brad Pitt.

JOSEF WOODARD

PUBLISHED BY R IZ ZOLI

Well Opener

Lights, Camera... HOME!

WRITTEN BY

ELIZABETH VARNELL

PHOTOGRAPHS BY

SAMI DRASIN

STYLING BY KATIE

BOFSHEVER

Feature - Brewster

JORDANA BREWSTER

renovated a 100year-old house as a weekend getaway for her newly blended family, then realized she never wanted to leave

Alberta Ferretti dress, earrings and rings from Roseark. Opie Tete A Tete chaise, vintage Swedish floor lamp. Hair by Clariss Rubenstein at A-Frame Agency. Makeup by Lilly Keys at A-Frame Agency.

“In a way, moving has allowed me to get far more focused on what I want to do.”

Feature - Brewster

Says Jordana Brewster of her first forays to Montecito, “I started coming here to escape. There was no one around, and I’d read and write, and there was a level of peace. It felt very rooted.” Those initial visits led Brewster and her husband, Mason Morfit, to a century-old Winsor Soule–designed house that they renovated in time to stage their rehearsal dinner underneath the venerable oak tree out front. Now the couple, who recently celebrated their first wedding anniversary, have taken up permanent residency in the labyrinthine space. “We had been here all summer,” says Brewster. “And I thought, ‘Why should we leave?’”

The Yale-educated actress began her career at 15 and made her feature film debut three years later in a Robert Rodriguez sci-fi mystery before being cast in The Fast

and the Furious, the street-racing film that begot a lengthy action franchise. Her work brought her to the West Coast, but a feeling of connectedness and contentment remained elusive during the two decades she lived in Los Angeles.

Brewster, who was born in Panama, moved around as a kid, relocating to London and Rio de Janeiro before landing in New York for her formative years. She says she felt at home in all those places, yet Los Angeles always felt transient. “That’s the piece I found in Montecito—that sense of home and groundedness. Nothing really gets me off balance here,” says Brewster, sitting in her sun-filled dining room, where antique-mirrored walls reflect elegant glass doors leading to a back porch. In the yard beyond, Zelda, her Spanish poodle, and Endicott, her Portuguese water dog, are sprawled in the sun.

The house was designed in 1917 by Soule, an East Coast–raised architect who studied at Harvard and MIT. It sits on almost an acre of land planted with the arching oak

Maison C’s Myco wallpaper lines the entry; Dr. Seuss drawings on the mantel, striped Melrose armchairs, Sabine Marcelis’ polished resin Candy Cubes, and a seagrass rug. OPPOSITE: La Scala top and pants from LA Double J, Goshwara ring from Roseark, vintage cuff and bracelet from Roseark, Irene Neuwirth earrings. Tyler Hays BDDW Ping-Pong table.

Missoni dress, Alexandre Birman shoes, Anita Ko earrings and necklaces, Heart of Star pendant from Roseark. Lerebours Antiques plaster chandelier. OPPOSITE, CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: The couple’s vinyl collection; a pair of Borge Mogensen cabinets and Maison C’s trippy wallpaper; Zelda in repose; Pinch’s Angelo sofa and a Jen Ament painting.

Feature - Brewster

plus palms and citrus. “We were lucky enough to inherit original drawings,” says architect Marc Appleton, whose firm helped the couple update the property, taking cues from Soule’s initial designs. “What’s unique about this house is that it’s built in more of a French Riviera, Mediterranean style than the typical Spanish Colonial Revival approach,” he adds, noting Soule relocated to Santa Barbara in 1911, making this an early project in his decades-long career. “Jordana and Mason were enamored of and attracted to the history of the old house. We worked to refresh it and bring it up to date but at the same time respect it architecturally.”

“There was a lovely awareness of making smart changes, rather than throwing out the DNA of the house,” agrees Chloe Warner, founder of Oakland-based Redmond Aldrich Design. Although Brewster and Morfit, who is the head of a San Francisco activist investment fund, aimed to preserve the character of the rooms, they relied on a vibrant palette devised with Warner to update the interiors. For example, bold blue Portuguese tiles line the kitchen. “I love the color and how happy it is,” says Brewster, whose mother is from Portugal.

Feature - Brewster

The dining room is painted in a dusty blue hue, and the game room’s terra-cotta walls complement the family’s Ping-Pong table and a Fast and Furious arcade game in one corner. “What they saw is what we truly believe, that color can be uplifting, calming,” says Warner. By necessity the space is a stomping ground of sorts, where Brewster’s two young boys and Morfit’s four children can gather. “They’re blending their families, starting this new chapter together. They wanted this serene home base for their families to merge,” she adds.

Continued on page 144

Lanvin dress, Mach & Mach sandals, Carolina Herrera earrings. Formations’ Market dining table, Nicky Kehoe dining chairs, and a BDDW Captain’s mid credenza.

Oscar de la Renta dress, Alexandre Birman shoes. Christophe Delcourt Lek sofa.

OPPOSITE: Carolina Herrera jacket, Mousy jeans, and Eterne tank from Wunderkind Montecito.

“We all worked to refresh it and bring it up to date but respect it architecturally,” says architect Marc Appleton.

Carolina Herrera dress from Wunderkind Montecito.

In the early 20th century, El Mirador was a sprawling 70-acre estate. Over time, it was subdivided and sold to separate owners. Jeff Abrams currently owns roughly 30 acres of the original property.

OPPOSITE: Abrams near the entry of his Montecito mansion located on the grounds of the former El Mirador estate.

The GREAT ESTATE

Fashion-industry mogul jeff abrams

invigorates El Mirador

WRITTEN BY LORIE DEWHIRST PORTER

BY DEWEY NICKS

“ Once the house was revealed to me, I had this emotional, visceral response. It reminded me of being in Europe. ”

Jeff Abrams is a very busy man. In addition to helming his global fashion brand, Rails, with 200 employees and 15 retail stores across the United States and Europe, heʼs a passionate preserver of El Mirador, the historic Montecito estate formerly owned by Chicagoʼs meatpacking Armour family.

In the early 20th century, El Mirador was a sprawling 70-acre estate, replete with Italian and Japanese gardens, an outdoor theater, and a private zoo. Over time, as with many grand estates, the land was subdivided and sold to separate owners. In 2018, Abrams fell in love with a 1990s Mediterranean-style mansion built on one of the property’s parcels. Created by local designer Michael DeRose, it was commissioned by legendary art dealer Stephen Hahn, beloved benefactor of the Music Academyʼs Hahn Hall. “Once the house was revealed to me, I had this emotional, visceral reaction to it,” Abrams told one interviewer. “It reminded me of being in Europe.” The property also includes a magnificent old adobe structure flanked by a pool and a tennis court.

With the advice of local interiors doyenne Elizabeth Vallino, Abrams has been gradually furnishing the 12,000-square-foot residence. “I just want it to be a comfortable place to live,” he says. “Even though the spaces are grand, I want them to feel cozy and at home.”

Feature - Jeff Abrams

Abrams has acquired several adjacent properties that also formed part of the Armour estate, including the original gatehouse, the farmhouse with horse stables, the Japanese garden, and the stone grotto. He now owns 30 acres, nearly half of the original El Mirador estate. “I actually bought a couple of golf carts,” Abrams admits, “because if you’re really spending time walking around here, it could take a fair amount of time.”

In addition to golf carts, Abrams acquired a tractor and other industrial equipment to grapple with maintaining the extensive grounds. Fortunately, the property has its own well to provide water for the extraordinary plantings that continues to thrive under Abrams’ watchful eye, aided by DeRose, who also does landscape design.

Abrams has also grown accustomed to sharing the property with local wildlife. “There are definitely predators and prey,” he says. “Coyotes and foxes and bobcats and bears and mountain lions; and then you have all these animals that are trying to survive.

This is a glamorous setting, but you also have to respect that you’re in nature.”

All this may seem grandiose, but Abrams has earned it fair and square, having launched his business in 2008 with a $5,000 investment and no fashion background; today Rails generates more than $750 million in retail sales.

“Iʼm approaching this property with a sense of humbleness,” he says. “Every time I come here, I feel thankful and want to show respect for the fact that I have access to this. That’s also what drives me to maintain it and be a caretaker; I know how long it’s taken to get here, and how much hard work it takes.” •

The grounds of the estate are drenched in greenery and natural beauty. OPPOSITE: Abrams helms the global fashion brand Rails, with 200 employees and 15 retail stores across the United States and Europe.

A peek into the mansion’s dining room. OPPOSITE: The entry hall features a grand staircase. Local designer Elizabeth Vallino has been assisting Abrams in furnishing the 12,000-sq.-ft. residence.

“

Every time I come here, I feel thankful and want to show respect for the fact that I have access to this. ”

A peaceful fountain. OPPOSITE: Abrams recently acquired an adjacent property with a farmhouse and horse stables that formed part of the original estate.

In Bloom

At a fundraising event, everything was coming up roses — and hydrangeas, dahlias, and more

WRITTEN BY JOAN TAPPER

PHOTOGRAPHS BY SARA PRINCE

Bounteous blooms filled every space of a 19th-century residence during a fundraiser at Rose Story Farm that also showcased the work of designers. In the upstairs bath the flowers rose toward the ceiling and cascaded over the tub in an installation by Emma Rose Floral. OPPOSITE: Ojala Floral took a cue from a wall painting for their arrangement of roses and hydrangeas in the primary “palazzo” bath.

Placing flowers on the furniture, on the floor, and against the walls, Nicole Chapman Design surrounded an entryway that ushered visitors into the event.

OPPOSITE: Danielle Dall’Armi Hahn, the creative spirit behind Rose Story Farm.

With a jaw-dropping abundance of flowers and design imagination, the Rose Story Farm showcase event last November—a fundraiser for Casa del Herrero—was a huge, sold-out success. But it all started out far more modestly, says Danielle Dall’Armi Hahn, who owns the farm with her family. The author of The Color of Roses (Ten Speed Press, $35), Hahn has found myriad ways to promote the beauty and variety of the signature blooms, but this event offered something new.

“The original idea was to do it for fun for [floral design] clients and provide photography for them. It was just going to be for local florists, but as others heard about it, they wanted to join in. And once we got started, it was too big not to invite the public.” As a longtime admirer of the Casa and its board, she decided to turn the showcase into a benefit. “They are supportive of my business,” she adds. “We have a historic home as well, so I felt it would be a good match.”

The venue would be the 19th-century residence on the Rose Story Farm property. “The house was built in 1890 by a Boston sea captain, and it’s reminiscent of a ship,” Hahn says. “There’s a central staircase, which provides interior light and windows all around. We lived in it for 20 years, and no one has remodeled it.” When her kids left for college, the family moved to a smaller home, but they still return for the holidays. The Victorian architecture provided an apt backdrop for the wide-ranging over-the-top floral installations.

The designers installed flowers everywhere, from the entrance into living and dining rooms, into bathrooms and bedrooms, upstairs and down.

Feature - Rose Story farms

“You hear about design houses,” says Hahn, “but that can be an expensive way to do PR. We didn’t want this to cost anybody anything but time.” After her sister, Nina Dall’ Armi, and staffer Alex Ivory came up with the idea, they put virtually no restrictions on the designers, who were free to use anything on the property—roses, of course, dahlias, hydrangeas, hellebores, lots of greens, persimmons and lemons, vegetables, and fruit. They could take as many roses as they wanted and use any props they found on the farm. Otto and Sons Nursery and Florabundance also contributed blooms. “No one had to buy anything,” Hahn notes. “They could do as little or as much as they wanted. They just had to come up with a design.”

Eventually 17 teams—from Santa Barbara, Ojai, and Los Angeles—participated, and although some planned to do modest

Jenn Sanchez’s towering installation of red roses and rare plants centered the library. OPPOSITE, TOP TO BOTTOM: SR Hogue tucked a dainty tea service under an extravagant bouquet in the sitting room; Toast Santa Barbara drew on a dream narrative for the fanciful branch-hung bower on a sleeping porch.

arrangements, “when people saw what the others were doing, they got inspired.”

The Santa Barbara Garden Club and Casa del Herrero both took part, and Rose Story Farm’s designer, Claudio Cervantes, worked on the outdoor table arrangements and the large urns. Inside, at the top of the stairs, was a photo booth where guests could pose among prolific blooms. The visitors were entertained by opera singers Dorothy Gall and Geoff Hahn in the music room. The results tickled the senses with visual beauty, fragrances wafting through the house, and the sounds of music.

The designers installed flowers everywhere, from the entrance into living and dining rooms, into bathrooms and bedrooms, upstairs and down. Two designers shared the kitchen, with Your Creative Light Designs even filling the dishwasher and oven with flowers, as well as setting them on tables, while Pacwest Blooms placed their arrangements in the dining half of the room.

SR Hogue took over the bay window sitting room and created a tea setting there. Teresa Strong installed a tribute to Wendy Foster using dress forms and clothing in the dressing room.

Feature - Rose Story farms

Jenn Sanchez of Jenn Sanchez Designs incorporated rare plantings and red roses in her creation in the library. She says, “Rather than a formal arrangement, I opted for a large central tower to live at the center of the room, experiential in that visitors can walk around and interact with it.”

Kim Curtis of Toast envisioned a boy spending the night at his grandmother’s house and imagined a scenario for one of the bedrooms and an adjoining sleeping porch: “When she tucks him into bed for the night, she places armfuls of roses from her garden on his nightstand and around the room.”

For the master bath, Ashley Morgan of Ojala Floral had a vision. “I was inspired by the painting of what I imagined to be the Italian countryside hanging above the clawfoot tub,” she says. “I selected large and round antique hydrangeas from the garden as the focal flower accented with waist-high, blushy Princess Charlene de Monaco roses from the farm.”

One of the designers summed up her enthusiasm: “We never get to design what we want. We’re always led by clients. I was incredibly thrilled to design with no budget, no design constraints, no color demands.”

Says Hahn, “It was so surprising to see what people could do. People were blown away. You see how creative everyone is.” •

A cut-lace cloth runner set the tone for a pale-hued table arrangement by Emma Rose, who also decked the dining room mantel with countless pink blooms. OPPOSITE: Coco Rose Design used pampas grass to add height and drama to the flowers in an upstairs guest bath.

Mind of an Architect

A new book reveals WILLIAM HEFNER ’s talent for tailoring homes to fit his clients

WRITTEN BY LORIE DEWHIRST PORTER PORTRAITS BY DEWEY NICKS

“ I just love houses, ” Hefner says. “ I just like the whole level of personal interaction and customization. ”

I“just never thought of being anything else,” says William Hefner about his decision to become an architect at the tender age of four.

Enraptured by trace-paper sketches created by an architect hired by his parents to enlarge the family home, young Hefner was out the door every morning, watching the renovation’s progress. He even joined the construction workers for lunch.

His attraction to architecture continued unabated through high school and college, and he was inspired by visits to a friend whose parents owned a home in Sea Ranch, a planned community in Sonoma County with distinctive wood-sided homes. It was no coincidence he ended up attending UCLA’s graduate architecture program; its dean at the time was Charles W. Moore, a founding architect of Sea Ranch.

one point, I had two or three people coming to my apartment when I would leave for work; they would work there because I didn’t have an office. I’d get home at night from work and I’d mark up drawings and go to sleep.” Eventually he realized he preferred doing residential work and left Skidmore.

“I just love houses,” Hefner says. “I just like the whole level of personal interaction and the customization. I like trying to figure out the lifestyle, how they live, what their priorities are. And I like the personal challenges of trying to figure it out.”

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After graduation, Hefner signed on with Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, an architectural powerhouse known for its highest-in-theworld skyscraper designs. At 28, Hefner was responsible for planning 50-story buildings.

“It was really fun,” he says. It was also a lot of work—especially because he had side gigs designing house additions for friends: “At

Some three decades later, Studio William Hefner has more than 40 employees and two locations—in Los Angeles and Montecito—and an enviable roster of pending and completed residential projects throughout California, the United States, and internationally. It’s clear that Hefner has an innate ability to tailor architectural styles to suit his clients’ needs and is equally fluent in classical, modern, and contemporary design.

His third book, Studio William Hefner: California Homes II, featuring a selection of residential projects that span the design spectrum from traditional to contemporary, has just been published. The following three homes are among those showcased in the book.

A Grown-Up House: One of the most dramatic homes in the book was designed for a couple in Los Angeles who were ready to move on from their 1920s Spanish colonial home to a modern open-plan residence with plenty of light and low maintenance. “They said, ‘We’re done with that phase; the kids are gone,’” Hefner remembers. The wife, an artist, needed a studio, which Hefner designed as a metal-sided sculpture attached to the house and surrounded by a Zen garden. Local zoning requirements mandated a pitched roofline, which might have daunted other architects designing in a modern idiom. But according to Hefner, “it created opportunities for clerestory windows” that flood the house with light. At

The architect’s third book (Images Publishing, $75) includes a selection of residential projects spanning the design spectrum from traditional to contemporary.

A dramatic home in Los Angeles features pitched rooflines with clerestory windows. The art studio, which is clad in metal, acts as a sculptural feature at the entry.

The spacious standalone art studio is clad in stone and was inspired by Cézanne’s studio in Aix-en-Provence.

OPPOSITE: A glass breezeway connects public and private areas of a Montecito home Hefner designed for clients who had admired his own home nearby.

the entryway, an impressive staircase—with glass guardrails anchored by a threedimensional oak wall with embedded lighting—is a sculpture in itself.

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A French Retreat in Montecito: A home Hefner designed for himself in Montecito prompted a couple with a neighboring property to commission a similar design. “They liked the materials,” says Hefner. “We decided to make it a little more traditional than my house and less rustic.” The concept was a compound with an assembly of buildings. A glass breezeway separates the primary bedroom suite from the main house, enabling glimpses of the garden when traversing from the public to the private realm. As a nod to the couple’s home in France, several structures are clad in stone, including a separate painting studio inspired by Cézanne’s atelier in Aix-en-Provence. The landscape was designed around a very old California oak tree that shelters an outdoor dining area.

A House for Art: An art collector who wanted one of the midcentury Case Study houses in Los Angeles came to Hefner after realizing his art collection would never fit inside a diminutive vintage home. Hefner designed an entirely new residence on a larger scale “as a love letter to Case Study houses.”

Situated in the hillside above Beverly Hills, the home’s stunning entry, with its white terrazzo

floors and white walls, serves as the perfect art gallery. The main body of the house opens up to the panoramic view, and the minimalist walnut cabinetry and vintage furniture perfectly evoke the Case Study ethos.

Since the pandemic, Hefner has seen a change in residential commissions. Originally his work in Santa Barbara focused on designing homes for retirees from the East Coast or Midwest who wanted homes for entertaining with space for visiting family. Now he’s designing homes for families.

“It’s been an interesting dynamic,” he says. “They’re full-time residence houses, rather than third or fourth homes.” This trend mirrors the type of homes he’s designed for years in Los Angeles, but because Santa Barbara has less density, Hefner has been able to expand his landscape practice here.

“Landscape is such a big part of what we do,” he notes. “It’s been so amazing to have all this extra land and design some real gardens.” •

A contemporary home in Los Angeles is the perfect container for an extensive art collection. The vintage Italian rosewood table and chairs provide a midcentury modern vibe. OPPOSITE: “I just never thought of being anything else,” Hefner says about his decision to become an architect at the age of four.

The approach to La Tarantella and a French limestone birdbath that provides just a preview of the treasures that inhabit The Villa.

The Villa Among the Vines

la tarantella adds old-world glamour to the wine country

WRITTEN BY ANNA FERGUSON-SPARKS PHOTOGRAPHS BY NICOLE FRANZEN

Once upon a time, a globetrotting entertainment attorney fell in love with the Santa Ynez Valley. He and his wife decided to construct a dream home, La Tarantella, in what is now the Happy Canyon AVA of Santa Barbara County.

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The couple, who had a passion for travel, filled their 6,000-square-foot manse with historic treasures collected on their worldly adventures, including an early 18th-century limestone fireplace from a French château, meticulously reconstructed on-site. The showpiece hearth was followed by a second imported limestone fireplace. To frame the entrance to the living room, the couple added walnut columns from a 19th-century French crypt, complete with their original, intricately carved stone bases. That same room received cedar beams for the ceiling, hand-assembled 21 feet above the ground by a local building crew. Douglas fir and cedar beams also graced the ceiling of the lounge, which is paved with the Mexican Saltillo floor tiles that are underfoot throughout La Tarantella.

The home’s construction was completed and celebrated in the early 1990s, with the help of famous family friends like Frank Ostini of Hitching Post 2, who purportedly rotisseried meats in the kitchen’s cavernous fireplace.

Over the next two decades, the adjacent property was acquired by the Grassini family, who opened a winery at Grassini Family Vineyards in 2010. The Grassinis befriended

The Villa blends beautifully with the family ’s own European heritage and love of enteraining.

their neighbors, whose Mediterranean-style villa sat in the midst of the new vineyards. In time, the owners of La Tarantella and their residence began to show signs of graceful aging. The Grassini family stepped in to preserve the property and carry it forward.

In early 2022 the Grassini family acquired La Tarantella and immediately set to work breathing new life into all the glorious elements that make the property unique. They opted to keep the estate private, renting it only for select events. The deadline for the first of those was already looming when the Grassinis enlisted Santa Barbara–based designer Corinne Mathern, who worked with a variety of local artisans and tradespeople to restore the interior and exterior spaces of the stately residence, which they called The Villa.

Grassini Family Vineyards’ Happy Canyon vines hug La Tarantella, which boasts bucolic vistas.

OPPOSITE: The grand entrance to The Villa’s inner Fountain Courtyard.

The Villa’s living room, with an early 18th-century limestone fireplace from a French château nestled below hand-assembled cedar trusses above the original Mexican Saltillo-tiled floor.

Carefully curated objets line shelving in the dining area of The Villa’s chef’s exhibition kitchen. OPPOSITE: The dining table and centerpiece fireplace.

With only five months until a high-profile wedding took place, the design team rearranged some of the venerable furnishings and introduced several elegant new pieces. The living room’s grand piano, which had a wooden frame that had been gorgeously burnished by decades of sunlight, was joined by a new coffee table, situated in front of the centuries-old fireplace that’s now topped with hand-painted tiles reclaimed from the elder Grassini’s Montecito home. Olive trees, uprooted from other spots on the property, were replanted along the pool lawn.

With the opening of La Tarantella in the fall of 2022, Grassini Family Vineyards, now encompassing 104 acres, was ready to serve as an ornate-yet-blank canvas for private events.

The focal point of La Tarantella is still the main house, which has stood for more than three decades on the property, encircled by Grassini vineyards. With its original mix of Italian, French, and Spanish architectural elements, The Villa blends beautifully with the Grassini family’s own European heritage and love of entertaining.

La Tarantella’s six different outdoor event spaces accommodate as many as 250 guests. The Meadow, centered on a 300-year-old oak tree, sits near the Vineyard Oak Courtyard, a well-manicured grassy area shaded by two ancient oaks. The Poolside Lawn boasts views of Sauvignon Blanc vines, which extend 15 acres into the distance—and, as the name suggests, lead onto a vibrant green lawn and an inviting plunge pool. Another Saltillo-tile-lined patio leads into the house through three sets of French doors.

The focal point of La Tarantella is the main house, which has stood for over three decades.

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Olive and cypress trees line the entrance to The Villa, leading to The Piazza, an outer courtyard lush with foliage. Mission wood doors open to an inner Fountain Courtyard, similarly paved with sunset-hued Saltillo tiles, a trickling fountain at its center. The Olive Grove setting is distinguished by its namesake olive trees and dotted with oaks.

An additional rental fee grants use of The Villa’s interior, which features a chef’s exhibition kitchen. Two refurbished bedrooms and bathrooms are also available for bridal preparations, and a third bedroom suite has been transformed into a VIP wine-tasting area with a fully restored wall tapestry that depicts the gracious hospitality at La Tarantella.

Above the lounge, a spiral staircase leads to a custom-fitted library that rewards visitors with 180-degree views of the vineyards and the valley that attracted the home’s original owners. •

A restored tapestry of unknown origins befits the scene in one of The Villa’s previous bedroom suites, now used as a VIP wine-tasting area.

LIGHTS, CAMERA...HOME!

Continued from page 100

Tucked away from the large common rooms, the upstairs primary bedroom includes a century-old essential: an airy sleeping porch. A double-sided chaise lounge, bathed in sunlight coming through the surrounding windows, is a favorite spot. “They’re readers, and they wanted a place where they could sit together and read,” says Warner.

Brewster also records auditions in a guest room, allowing her to remain in town rather than travel. Cellar Door—a thriller with Brewster, Scott Speedman, and Laurence Fishburne—will be out later this year, and the actress is producing a film this summer. “I’m also working on writing something with my husband,” she says. “In a way, moving has allowed me to get far more focused on what I want to do.”

In all, the house offers a very personal snapshot of the couple. “Jordana brought us a wallpaper she found while shooting in Rome,” says Warner. The Tree of Life design by Arjumand’s World, the creation of Milan-based textile designer Idarica Gazzoni, adorns a lady’s lounge adjoining a powder room. A Harlan Miller painting above one of the house’s cascading staircases came from London, acquired during a Fast production. The work depicts a fictional play with the title Wherever You Are Whatever You’re Doing This One’s For You. “I love the quote there, it makes me think of Paul,” Brewster says, referring to her late Fast co-star Paul Walker. She also has an eye on works by New York painter Karyn Lyons, who portrays the heightened emotions and dreamy haze of adolescence. The canvases remind the actress of her girlhood in Manhattan. “We want things around us that mean something,” she says.

Morfit found original Dr. Seuss drawings from books he’s read to his children, and those now line the living room mantel. Above the stairs is a photograph of Joatinga beach in Rio de Janeiro. “I can almost see the place where I lived,” says Brewster. Her Montecito house’s yellow front door is also an homage to Brazil. “That culture of going to the beach after school, you didn’t need the demarcation of being inside or being out in nature—you were constantly out. That’s what we have here.” •

Garden Gone By

In 1970 society photographer Slim Aarons captured Mr. and Mrs. J. Gordon Douglas at the steps of their hillside Montecito estate. The grounds of Il Brolino—Italian for “the little garden”—had been designed in 1922 for lumber heiress Mary Stewart by landscape architect Florence Yoch and Lucille Council to complement the Mediterranean villa–style house by architect George Washington Smith. The plan for the property included iconic formal features like parterres, a woodland, a rose garden, paved terraces, a cutting garden, a lemon house, a pergola, and topiaries. The symmetry and precision of the plantings are striking. Known for his access to the rich and celebrated, Aarons traveled from Hollywood to the famous playgrounds of Europe capturing the jet-set lifestyle for numerous magazines, and he was quoted as saying he focused on “attractive people doing attractive things in attractive places.” Il Brolino and its owners certainly fit the bill. J.T.