(I almost fainted!!!)

It is  perched at the top of the most beautiful  mountain  village of St. Paul de Vence.

Here are some pictures we took at that time.

It is such a unique and unusual place;  and it is still, 31 years later, is virtually unchanged.

Actually, it is almost unchanged from the 1920′s.

It exemplifies all of the things we love about Provence.

In two words, simple elegance.

The village is of native stone, built over centuries.

(Adam in the pool on the left!)

 The simple chaises could not be improved upon(in my opinion).  The light wood and canvas covers blend beautifully with the ancient stone walls.

The umbrellas and chairs and tables of the cafe are simple and elegant.

Nothing “sticking out” and calling attention to itself!

This is now an “endangered species” !!

“Understated elegance” An endangered species!

(Horrific plastic outside “wicker” furniture;  orange umbrellas, hideous overdone wrought iron or aluminum furniture!!!)

EEEWWWWW!!

I will stop my rant……and resume pictures of what I LOVE!!

and interesting to me…….I always have!

31 years is a long time!!

The terra cotta pots and olive jars are made from the local soil.

Natural linen cloths and napkins are undyed!  The tablecloth and napkins are natural linen.

We both felt completely relaxed and at one with the environment.

We are not unusual.  That is why, I believe major artists congregated here!  MAJOR ARTISTS!!!

  I actually saw doves flying in and out of the dovecote on the top of the next door building.

These lights are ingenious!   They were made out of olive oil strainers.   (these dark brown wicker ones!)

The oil was poured through these to “filter out” pieces of olives, to fill up the olive jars with the “filtered olive oil”.

 

We stayed on one trip at a wonderful hotel in Aix-en-Provence called La Villa Gallici.

http://www.villagallici.com/en/hotel

It smelled absolutely divine;  so I looked everywhere for a housekeeper who spoke English!

I found one and asked her what on earth smelled so good!

She explained that they used drops of pure lavender oil on the carpets and rugs throughout the hotel!!!

It is a natural insect repellent;  it is a anti-anxiety treatment, and I have been using it at least 4 times a week ever since!

This is a big bottle;  but to use it on our rugs, it is convenient to have it in small bottles that release just drops at a time.This

bottle is to refill the small ones!

I don’t know how to make it!  I do make sachets out of our lavender!

Surprise!

And our little hen hatched 5 baby chicks just in time for Mother’s Day!!!

I transported her chicks to the “maternity ward” coop in this basket!  She is taking great care of them!

Happy Mother’s Day!

HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!!!!

I ran this last year on Mother’s Day, and for anyone who didn’t see it, you might enjoy it!!

I had a wonderful Mother!!

 She was the creative behind my own creativity;  although my father, (whom I cannot remember)  was extremely creative as well!

I owe so much to my mother;  and since she died when I was 33;  I never really was able to thank her for her encouragement

and support of a talent……that really barely had a “job description”  when I started “decorating”!

So, I decided, in honor of my talented and wonderful mother , to repost this “surprise” film  I discovered this past year!  (thanks to my cousin and her contractor!)

I hope those of you who haven’t seen it will enjoy it!  Those who have seen it can push “delete!!

Now we begin the original post……..shortly after we discovered this film!!   (78 years after it was filmed!!!):

So,  I decided to share the thing I  am most  thankful for in a long, long time!

Honestly;  the best “Surprise Present” I have ever received   (that was not alive!)  is this!

I was born in 1947 in Los Angeles;  My mother was 40 years old when I was born (that was a neighborhood scandal!)  I have a brother born in 1938; ( there were blood issues ;  now easily solved);

 however, my mother lost 7 pregnancies after my brother;  who was born in 1939!

My Daddie died when I had just turned 4;  I heard wonderful stories about him;   I have some great photographs of him which I treasure….and are on my walls!

I don’t remember him…really…except little  tiny “snippets”..I never saw him “move”; and I didn’t remember any “mannerisms” or  ”body language”.

My mother was an enormous influence…..we were incredibly  close;  I learned everything I know  from her;  and she was a total pistol;

until Parkinson’s took her down at 67  (YIKES!)  and took her life at 70.

So:  my cousin Paulette calls me to say she found a yellow “Kodak” box with my father’s name on it;  inside is a roll of film with a date stamp of “June  20 1950″

I think it might be my birthday party!   Off it toodles to be turned into a disc!    I put it into my laptop;  and this is the story!

It is a film of them right after their wedding!!

It was a “silent movie” filmed 16 years earlier;  in 1934! It is a movie (when you had to crank it up……and let it wind  out…..and  crank it up again!)

My mother was 26; my father 32; they were married in Yuma Arizona, in 1934!

Right after the ceremony; this person filmed them leaving the “Justice of the Peace” office;

 and off they went to some divine hotel with a cousin; filmed by someone! In 1934!

After they left for the hotel, they were filming each other and talking to each other!

My father took it to the film store to update the film 16 years later.  He knew he was dying;  I think he did so so we could watch it when he was gone!  He died in 1951.

This is the 3 minute film.

Having a movie of my parents right after they are married is great enough;  however, this is the first time I have ever seen my Daddie “move”!

It means more to me than I can express!

One of my friends said it so beautifully!

She said….”this shows the power of film to bring people back to us”!

Watching it, I felt they were blowing kisses at me!

I saw a lot of love here!  Please share your comments!

Pretty darn stylish people;  and the cutest car!  A 1934 Ford Cabriolet with a rumble seat!

An incredible gift!!!

My Mommies Wedding

Well, there is a “secret place”   in Montecito.  Honestly;  even close neighbors barely know it is there!

One can only see it from the water……or walking on the beach going from the “Biltmore” east towards the “Miramar”!

It was the dream job of a lifetime for me!

In 1989, my client and dear friend in Pasadena, Molly Munger,  (her Italian villa by Reginald Johnson circa 1919 is pictured in my “work” section) , told me

that her father “Charlie Munger” had some property in Montecito that he wanted to develop for many years;  and he was

“getting close”!     “I think you want to go up there on Tuesday with Charlie and Nancy” (his wife, her stepmother)!

So I did!

His property  was originally part of a subdivision of a large estate owned by the Hammond family;  and it was slated to be more large condominium  buildings which were built in 1970.

The Montecito community was not happy about these buildings; and they went bankrupt.  Charlie and Warren Buffet (his partner at Berkshire-Hathaway) owned the bank

which had the second mortgage.  They knew that anything resembling the original buildings would be impossible to build.  Charlie also knew that Montecito

was a very special place.  He had been a guest at a very unusual development in Oceanside, California, called “St. Malo”.

It was developed  starting in 1929..(it was the first gated community in San Diego County)!

and a family with a “vision” (from Pasadena, where I grew up)  bought a big bunch of acres……and started a “development” with very strict architectural

restrictions.  This is seriously one of my favorite things I have ever seen on the coast of California.

 It resembles a fishing village of the same name  in the Brittany area of France. That village “St. Malo”

was the inspiration.   Many owners who built houses in Oceanside  traveled there

to take pictures and buy things.

 Many of the houses are extremely authentic;  the people who built them went to France and brought back materials.

The coast of California is not known for its fine architecture.  Far from it.  Frankly, it is pretty sad.  Even pathetic. Never mind!

  “St. Malo” is a jewel on the coast.

An article about it is on the “san diego travel tips”:

http://www.sandiegotraveltips.com/public/Saint_Malo_Oceanside_California.cfm

 Charlie;  being the visionary that he is, thought this would make sense in Montecito!

I went with Charlie and his lovely wife Nancy up to see this property!  YOWZERS!!

Beautiful!  28 acres.

It is a”flag lot”  meaning that the first part of it is behind some beachfront houses….

and then it opens up and there is a meadow and 11 lots around it with ocean views and frontage.  The plan had 23 “condominiums”

(forget every single condominium you have ever seen);  a common clubhouse with a tennis court, swimming pool, kitchen and a wonderful living room with poolhouse bathrooms!

This was in “the planning stages”

Charlie finally got the permits to build a “village” like St. Malo;  and he was starting to build it!

At first, I was hired to “decorate” the clubhouse! (which was not built yet).

Now.  Here is the clubhouse!  Originally, Charlie hired me just to do the “Clubhouse”!  My foot was “in the door”!!

I designed it.  I showed him samples and presented it  all to him in his office.

(there is a farm table with red chairs that don’t show in this picture)…they are to the right!

He said,  ”everything is ok here; except the red chairs.  They need to be dark wood color.”

I leapt up!  I jumped up and down!!!   I shrieked!  ”NONONO!!  THEY NEED TO BE RED!  THAT IS THE WHOLE POINT!”

“It will be so ordinary if they are brown wood!  This project just cannot be ‘ORDINARY’!”

AND THEN I SAID……..(this is the God’s truth;  I could not make this up!)

“And, Charlie, there just needs to be one person doing all these houses you are building!  And it needs to be me!  I “get” your vision!

I  want you to hire me!  I know what to do here!”

And he did.  And I did.

And that is a true story of a dream job.

My title was “Aesthetic Director”!

So, for the next twenty years…….I chose all the “finishes” exterior and interior;  the light fixtures inside and out;

the cabinets, the colors, the floors, the tiles (87 bathrooms all different hand painted tile!

24 kitchens…….all different cabinets and tile!  Whew!!!)

for the 23 “condominiums…the clubhouse ..and for Charlie’s own house, and another house!

There are 11 “houses” (built by the owners….but subject to the architectural restrictions)  that surround the “common areas;

and the “condominiums ” which are all completely different from one another.

This has never been publicized.  So here we go!

Here we are.  On one of the most “primo” surf beaches in the world.  ”Hammond’s” is in every book about surfing beaches.  Charlie had to provide a special bridge and beach access to surfers!  He also

had to deal with the Chumash Indians;  who have a “sacred Indian burial ground” right on the ocean.  The following picture is the meadow (which cannot be landscaped); and the Chumash

have rituals here.  There is a monument honoring them.  This an multi- acre open meadow right on the ocean in honor of their ancestors!

Near  the center  to the left;  you can see the monument!

Here is the monument…..and the Indians have celebrations sometimes in this meadow!

  There are some very low-profile houses along the edge of this meadow.  They had to be low because of the two story condominium

buildings behind  them. ( They emerged from  bankruptcy;  and now sell for millions each!)

The views from these houses (not condominiums) go up and down the coastline;  and the surfing beach is right to the left of them!

This is looking at these  houses across the meadow…..and you can see the condominiums behind. 

Now we return to the “condominiums”;   they all  have slate roofs;  and are French Normandy architecture. (different slate!!) My husband and I went to

Normandy to do research when I started this project!  I took  millions of pictures of every detail! 

Charlie said;  ”I have waited so long to build these houses;  I don’t even want deciduous trees!”

So the landscaping was incredible.  Every tree was huge, and it looked like the landscaping was there for a hundred years

immediately!

They looked, even in the beginning, like they had been there forever!

There are these charming roof ornaments I took pictures of in Normandy!  They are called “epis de faitage”

Charming!

The attention to every detail is truly astonishing!  (It is the only “development I have ever worked on0;  so I did not know how completely

unusual it was until I listened very carefully to all the construction workers. ) They had never (and all said they will never) work  on

anything with the quality and details this entailed!

The first bridge is in the “community”  can you see the second bridge just beyond? That is for the surfers!  Charlie said, “there must be something in the

water in Montecito!!”  Surfers, Indians, and the community who never wanted anything like

the other “condominiums” happening again!  It was such a challenge!  We went to lots of  Montecito Association

meetings!  They loved our plans….and they , I believe are grateful for this beautiful little community. 

I was able to work with the architects (there were two) from the ground up!  Designing garage doors;  picking colors, floors, windows, and consulting on the

design of the houses.  (This is a duplex)  (two houses in one….so they stayed in “scale”!  Inside this duplex;   one would never guess there was a “common wall”!

This one is actually part of a “triplex!”  Never would you know….inside.  Beautiful, beautiful architecture!!  One of the architects

went out with his camera on a big “stick” to make sure about the views from the second floor!

Another condominium!  Have you ever seen a condominium look like this?  Every one completely individual in every way!

Here is another!

Another.  23 in all!! Only alike in the style of architecture!

Here is a kitchen  of one of the “condominiums”  Yes, antique french pavers on the floor…….and red cabinets!  Yikes!

Revolutionary at the time!!!  I LOVE it to this day!!!

Now we move on to the houses!  They are past  the “flagpole” of the flag lot!  Across the stone bridge.

Some are directly on the beach!

This is a “house”  that is right on the beach!

 This is one that overlooks the “meadow…..full ocean view!!  Antique windows!!

this is one of the two “houses” I decorated!

Charlie and Nancy took two lots (good for them!)  One is their garden;  and will someday be perhaps another house!

The following pictures are of their house!

 Here is their back courtyard.  Behind this is a large garden;  actually, another “lot”!

 Nancy’s father’s collection of beautiful botanicals!  Each one shows the seed, the plant, the entirety of the plant.  The most magnificent I have ever seen!

the bird hanging was my “housewarming present” to them!

It turns out to have a great story!

 The conservatory.

 The dining room.  Quilting table and “Charlie” chairs!

from Richard Mulligan!

The dining room!  One day at the antique “Collective” in Summerland (next town)  Nancy and I were there when 8 boxes (big boxes) of French Quimper arrived

from an “estate sale”!  I said…….”BUY IT ALL!!!  We need it all!”  And she did.  And we did!  It is all over the house!

It had been collected by a woman in Montecito for over 50 years!

It was an incredible find!  And Nancy had faith in me!

Charlie’s library!

to the right is a full-on ocean view over the meadow! 

The living room!  The French doors on the left overlook the meadow and the ocean!!

We purchased everything down to the silverware and can openers for this house before it was built!  Every now and then;  Nancy would say to me:

“What if when we move in, I don’t like it “?(or more often; “them”)!

I would make sure I was out of Adam’s earshot…….(he runs the business side)  and I said, “back on the truck it goes!  and you will be credited!

(Adam would have had a stroke if he had heard me say this literally hundreds of times!)

(after the installation….1 lamp and three plates ended up coming back to our house!  I still have them!!)

She liked them;  there just wasn’t the right place for them!

A guest room with headboards hand-painted by Radisha!  (see my post on him!)

Another guest room with beautiful toile and “redwork pillows”!

A guest bath with “children’s games” delft tile from Country Floors.

(all tiles in all houses and condominiums came from “Country Floors”!)

Now;  one of only 3 “condominiums” I did not get to select things for  (they were built by owners);  sold, and I DID get to!

This is the largest condominium of them all.

It is next door to the clubhouse;  and it is now on the market!

furnished !

(I also got to do this one down to the can openers!)

It was sold to the now owners with the stipulation that “everything stays……down to the can openers!”

And  it is for sale…….right down to the can openers!

This  entry was white with brown ceilings and railings!

It was too cold!!

“This entry hall wants to be red!!”  I said!

The husband said to me…..”how do you know?”  I said, “It told me!!”  And it did!

This is the living room!  The wife was 9 months pregnant!  She said:

“I am going to the hospital to have a baby;  this is our second house.  I saw the clubhouse and Charlie’s house!  Please do it!”

I did!

The kitchen and  family room!

Here is a description of “Sea Meadow” in “Santa Barbara Estates”  here:

http://www.santabarbaraestatehomes.com/beaches/montecito-real-estate/hammonds-beach-homes/

And that is a true story of a dream job.

I took the responsibility of this project  very seriously, quite honestly.

And I had the most wonderful time!

I hope you enjoy this story!  I sure had a “whee of a time”!!

Yikes!  What an exciting week!

Fifi O’Neill , the founder and editor in chief of this magazine/book,(and many others!  ”google” her!)

 saw our house and my friend Renee’s house on my blog; ( she expressed interest in both of them)!

 and Mark Lohman (a wonderful photographer, and an old friend)

photographed them both  for this issue!  It just came out;  but it will be on the newsstands until  July 29th!

I absolutely love the job they did with the wonderful photographs;

 (and the writing I think quite captured my philosophy !!  And also Renee’s spirit and creativity )!

Fifi is quite the genius!  She is unbelievable!!

We couldn’t make the printing bigger;  so run out and buy this!  The whole issue is just exceptional!!  You will want to

add it to your library !

It is in markets (my friend from the “Henhouse”, Elizabeth found two in the Safeway!  Cathy my friend in Pasadena found it at “Target!!) and

on newsstands kind of everywhere!

I must say,  every article is definitely  very educational!  I am so proud to be

included in this group of very talented people!!

I actually read the analysis of things that I do!  And I learned a lot!  Much of my work is instinctive!

It is fun for me to see how it is analyzed!

 The cover photograph is of Fifi’s cottage in Florida, where she lives!

Here is the informative, educational, and delightful article on our house!!

Sometimes people ask me about “faux” wall finishes.

The walls in our house are not “faux” anything!  They are  lime washed.

 Lime (which is mined out of the ground); is mixed with natural pigments also mined out of the ground in  Roussillon, France

in a way it has been done all over Europe for hundreds of years!

The lime is a natural insect repellent; and this kind of “paint” lets the mortar in old stone and brick houses “breathe”.

(A friend who has an historic  plantation near New Orleans had some serious damage done to her

outbuildings by a movie studio painting with modern paints!)

I absolutely love murals;  and am so lucky to have this one in our powder room.  The animals all around our property

are represented;  it makes me happy every time I peek in there!  We always leave the light on, as there is no window!

(Done by Zoe Designs from Massachusetts;  Brooke and Lena)

 There is our rooster!

 Often, ceilings are ignored and neglected.  I love pale blue ceilings , and use them in much of my work!

It reminds me of the sky! This is pale blue lime wash in the powder room!

  This delightful deer I haven’t seen;  but she may be out there!

We had peacocks for a while!  They “ran away from home”!

This is in our master bathroom;    over a bathtub.  From the tub;  I can see the sky and the pale blue ceiling!

This is a hand painted tile mural in a niche.  (painted and fired by Radisha)!

In a client’s entry we did this Moroccan ceiling  ( Also by Radisha)

Examples of other works  I love!

 This fantastical ceiling absolutely “makes” this awkward space!

 This wall treatment is like a dado echoing the ceiling!

This is my favorite!  It is like being in a pergola.

     A tent on the ceiling and walls!

 Another tented ceiling

 delightful wall mural!

  Today really feels like spring! 11 baby ducklings!

Just in time for the Piedmont Garden Club!!

The proud Mommy!  It’s the most we have ever had!

The duck house in the rear (from LWB Creations in Georgia) is where she sleeps to keep the ducklings safe!

She laid her eggs and hatched them in the one in the front!

  The ivy is growing new leaves!

I was asked by the Piedmont, California Garden Club to show them our garden and house.

I was so pleased and flattered;  I asked them to have  a picnic lunch in the garden at the long table!

They are coming on Tuesday!

My friend and fellow blogger Tracey Jackson

came to Santa Barbara to visit her mother;  and came over to visit!

(These pictures were taken last Spring!  Not by Tracey)

Tracey is a screenwriter, and that is one reason she is such a good blog writer!

She has also published books!

Honestly, in about fifteen minutes, she took some wonderful pictures and posted them!

The title is “Penny Bianchi’s birds in Paradise”!!

Here is the link!

I think you’ll enjoy her blog!

 http://www.traceyjacksononline.com/2013/03/penny-bianchis-birds-in-paradise/

I’ve been taking some “beginning of Spring”  pictures which I will be posting soon!

Happy Easter!!!

In 1997;  we decided to move to Montecito from Pasadena.

We spent our honeymoon here in 1978;  and I had grown up in Pasadena coming up every August!

We sold our house before we put it on the market in Pasadena!

 I looked and looked for an older house;  and my real estate agent almost gave up!

One day, she announced that she was showing me a “vacant lot”!!  Oh no!  I don’t want to build!!

She drove up to this!

(The one house next door is shown above.)

She said,  ”There is a 45 acre nature preserve on one side;  there is the 45 acre property of your Mother’s friend Mrs. Bacon on the other two sides It can’t be subdivided!;

 and there are deer in there!”

She has known me since high school;  and she knew that would clinch the deal!

The day we bought the property;  I looked at this view;  and there was a command in my head!

“A pond wants to be there!!”

I told my husband that day!  He said,  ”Slow down, honey!  We have a house to build; all kinds of more important things!”

“I said, no, you can’t dig a pond with a house in the way!!”

I wouldn’t let go of that!  So he let us have the bulldozers dig a pond!

It filled up with water!

My goal from the beginning was to create a “nature preserve” of our own;  and  a “not too big house”!

I read every book I could find on attracting and keeping birds, butterflies and wildlife of all kinds!

And then I found that the National Wildlife Federation had a “Backyard Habitat Program” to assist homeowners who want to

assist wildlife!  It is a fascinating program that anyone can qualify for; even if you only have a balcony!

I used two landscape designers;  one in the beginning, and then I switched to my favorite!  I

took Margie to the “nature preserve” next door, and said ” I want a landscape a lot like this!!”

Margie listens;  and she can do any landscape someone wants!  Her range is amazing!

The first thing we found out is that our lot is the “drain” of Montecito!  All the flow charts end here!

So there was a massive drainage system that needed to be installed!

The “dry creek” below is connecting one “catch basin” to another!  Designed by Margie to be a lovely part of the landscape!

Margie Grace Links to website

I worked with my favorite architect David Serrurier.  There was another caveat:  The building envelope was 65 feet square;  which meant he had to fit a house, a guest house and a garage

in that space!  The property is over 2 acres;  but it couldn’t have anything built on any other part of it!

The guest house is above.

It feels like a little village!  But the landscaping was crucial to the “animal habitat”!!!

look at the size of the tree on the left.  That was about  eight years ago!

That sycamore tree is 60 feet tall now!

To learn about the  ”Backyard Habitat Program” click here!

 National Wildlife Federation : this links you to the Garden For Wildlife Program/ Backyard Habitat.

Look at all the ducks that come back every year!

I had one duck house in the beginning;  and now have two!

Thanks to my friend in Georgia!

Winston Brown, at www.lwbcreations.com !

Three years after we moved into the house a lady who had grown up nearby looked out the window at the pond, and said,

“I think it is lovely dear, that you put the pond back”!

In shock, I said….”Back?  What do you mean?”  She explained that in the early forties,(before I was born), there had been a pond exactly where we dug it!

Same size, same shape, same.  There were stables here for polo ponies;  and the pond was filled in to make a riding ring!

I still get chills telling that story.  This land spoke to me, that is all I can say!

I keep the duck treats under this bee skep!

They recognize my voice, and come to me when they hear me!  They are wild mallards;  and they nest every year, laying their eggs inside

the duck houses!  If a stranger comes out;  they are “guarded”! And ducks return to

where they are hatched, so lucky us!!

  Here are  the sycamore trees recently!!!

My poor gardener had to “unlearn most of what he has spent a lifetime learning!

“No blowers, no mowers, no hedge trimmers, and I like the roses climbing the trees!  And the vines on the rooftop!!”

We planted a whole bunch of milkweed for the monarch butterflies!  He was completely horrified to see this, above!

Those monarch caterpillars eat all the leaves!!  Yes!  And then they make chrysalises and there are monarchs all over!!

 When my granddaughter was in kindergarten;  I decided to do the “Backyard Habitat” project with her!

We filled out the following questionnaire, and took pictures!

She had such fun!! “Granny, take a picture of THAT thicket!!  It’s like an apartment house for birds!”

She proudly presented this certificate to her class;  and said, “Granny and I won first place!!”

Now, (of course, there isn’t a “first place”!  But she learned so much!)

Now, after 16 years, we have a covey of California quail, hummingbirds (3 kinds), and every kind of bird!

Not to mention, bobcats, coyotes, raccoon, Great Blue Heron, (I have to chase away when there are baby ducklings!)

The lady , (Joan Lentz) who wrote the book , “Birds of Santa Barbara County” identified 120 species in two hours

by their song!

I was outside playing my “iBird  Pro” app on my iPhone and it was making the “Hooded Oriole” song;

and a male oriole landed on my hat!!!

The questionnaire is as follows: 

The National Wildlife Federation is a wonderful source of information on what to plant to attract and nourish wildlife!  It has been the most gratifying

thing about living here!  Hummingbirds make their nests in the tendrils of ivy;  and we even saw one baby fly for the first time when we were standing inside the

guest house front door!  I said, “WOW!  That is a once in a lifetime experience!”

(there were two babies so big they were perched on the top of the nest)

She said, “Granny, was it the boy or the girl?”

You just guess what I said!!

This is the continuation of the “restoration” of the Joseph Plunkett designed “Monterey Colonial”  house  we found (finally); in Montecito after a two-year

search for our daughter and her family to move “back to Montecito ” after 8 years in Switzerland!! I consider it one of the “magnificent houses built in the ’30′s!!!”;

by a premier architect in the  ”Monterey Colonial”  Style!

First;  the architect!  Joseph Plunkett arrived in Santa Barbara and worked for the excellent  architect George Washington Smith; and then was

half of the firm “Edwards and Plunkett”.  Unfortunately, he died at 46!!

The fact that he is so famous and he died so young is a great testament to his talent!  The most important part was to restore the house!

Before my next installment of pictures (our daughter really didn’t want this installment….but gave permission with the caveat:

“it isn’t finished being decorated yet!”

Well;  in my world….nothing ever is!  Her choices (my advice;  but completely her choices) of colors, rugs, and finishes.  This is the interim…….but the restoration of this  house has been so educational for me!

So here it is showing a restoration in progress!

My philosophy (fortunately shared by my step-daughter and her husband) is to start with the house!

No complaints!  the “bones” of this house are as “good as it gets” , in my opinion!

You have seen the before!  And one installment of during!  Mostly the exterior!

Here we go!!!  The interior!

There were lots of things to be done before they arrived.

 Let’s start with the entry hall.  (I had been looking for two years;  and  when I first saw this house;  the front door opened;  I looked up and saw the sky!

I immediately thought;  ”this wants to be blue!”  Our daughter agreed!  We tried at least 6 colors of blue!  emailing back and forth…….we waited until she

arrived…..we chose “light blue”;  Farrow and Ball”

(All paints by Farrow and Ball used for the whole house!!)

(I have been a decorator in Pasadena and Montecito for 43 years.,,,never have I stepped into an entry hall and looked up and seen “the sky”!!)

Never!  Here it is!

Here it is!  this is the window one sees when you step in the door!

I thought……”this entry wants to be blue!”

Fortunately;  our daughter    agreed! She ‘got ‘it when she saw it!

we both (and the painter);  learned so much from how colors change according to the “light”!!

One lovely reason to use “Farrow and Ball”  (do not believe one paint store who says they can duplicate these  paints!)

They cannot!  There are way more pigments than any American paint!

Here it is blue!  (Farrow and Ball,  ”Light blue”)

gorgeous!

By the way, this border looks orange in this picture! It isn’t!  It is red;  closer to the next picture!

The daughter had always dreamed of this runner!  I suggested the red binding….she went for it!  She loves it!

This house has the lovely architectural feature of an “enfilade”!

One stands just inside the front door; ( it is a central hall floor plan)  and one can see through aligned doorways  from one end of the house to the other!  Each way. (very unusual in Southern California!) A beautiful architectural feature anywhere.

Looking into the living room!

Terrible picture;  but you can see the formerly heavy brown beams are lovely

now that they are off white!

 The view from the entry to the left!  (one can see through the far doorway the library fireplace !)

(If I were a better photographer)

Tucked under the circular staircase is a charming powder room (behind the white door in the entry hall).

I love the curving wall;  I think it gives it the best personality and charm!

Many people would consider it a “flaw”!  I simply adore quirky and brilliant things like this!

It is so obvious to me (even before I knew the architect)  that this house was designed by a brilliant architect!!

Joseph Plunkett!

The charming little sink was original to the house in 1934;  but it was pink!  She did not want pink (nor did I);  but we found

someone to refinish it!

I was delighted to be able to preserve it!

Next:

The Library transformed!!

One of the things that bothered us  was that a window in the beautifully paneled library

had been removed to make into a TV cabinet!  Thank goodness the window itself, and the outside shutters had been saved!

What a difference!!  This is when we removed the cabinet.  Great care was taken (by another owner)  not  to enlarge the opening;

 and so everything fit perfectly back together!   And look at the light!  And the view!!

This, below, is after the restoration;  you will notice that we painted the backs of the bookcases to match the paneling.

The fireplace was an “antique” in 1934!  And the restoration of the “window”  was important!

The antique pavers on the floor were left over from our guest house!   A bonanza!

Just enough!!

And the inside of the showers we did in “Brooke and Steve’s pool plaster”!  (of “Velvet and Linen” and “Giannetti Architects”) It looks beautiful!!

You can put pigments in it;  but this is just plain;  and there is a very interesting kind of “patina”!

Brooke and Steve let me bring our plasterer down to their house in Oxnard to see!

Below was the built-in dresser between the bathroom and bedroom.

Nothing wrong with the drawers;  soaked the shiny brass “lacquered ” hardware in some solution!  Painted  the cabinet Farrow and Ball  ”Railings”

And “POOF!!”

Good lines make easy solutions!

There are two windows in this space.  The shutters shut out (interesting name for shutters)  light, views, and also made it impossible to open the windows!

She picked a lovely camel grasscloth wallpaper; and then the mirror was hung!

 The boy’s bedroom has three exposures;  and wonderful views into the gardens!

The house is mostly one room deep;  which is one of the best of its architectural features!

Two of the four bedrooms have three exposures;  making wonderful light and views!

This  post was meant to  show;  and it may (appropriately be called) “The end of during”

Henceforth, “evolving”!

Back to the entry hall;  to the left is the living room with French doors opening to the front terrace and the back terrace;  to the right is the dining room  shown here!  The beams in the living room and dining room were formerly brown. We selected two colors of off-white for the woodwork and the walls.

Both the living room;  and the dining room have French doors on both sides;  opening to the north (this view) and to the south (onto the front terrace).

The view from the dining room!

I am so sorry about these pictures!  The beams and trim are a lovely off-white!  The color of the beams is the same color as the trim!

Going up the stairs, these charming wood valances are over the two windows on the curving walls!

These were also original to the house in 1934!  We plan to paint some detail!

(No curtains/ shades yet here and in the boy’s bedroom!)

Turn to the right is the master bedroom!

Now the Master Bedroom!  Here it was with these beams, shutters  and fireplace before.

The tile “sneaked”  in from the bathroom!

It is the same tile as in the downstairs bathroom!~

 This tile was “much loved” by the truly darling family that installed it (I am guessing 40 years ago!)

(I do tell my clients;  and always have;  try to put simple “permanent” things like tile and plumbing fixtures  mostly white;  because when

you decide you are “tired” of patterns or colors;  paint and wallpaper are easy to change!)  ( This tile

all over the walls and floors of two bathrooms and sneaking into the bedrooms and dressing rooms  was not easy to change!!)

No more tile; painted the brick, and used some leftover marble from the downstairs counter on the hearth.

She loves carpeting in a bedroom;  it makes it very cozy and this carpet seems like an extension of the hardwood floors!

I love it!!!

Beams removed.  Such a pretty shaped ceiling!  Again, this room has 3 exposures and beautiful light and views!

It also opens onto the balcony that runs the length of the front of the house!

Pool plaster shower and walls;  ”borrowed light” ceiling ;  new cabinet

with a space for either a dressing table or a free standing  bathtub.

“Pool plaster”  shower, limestone floors and countertop of beautiful new cabinet!

A medicine cabinet on the left and the right! (behind the mirrored panels)

Thank you Brooke and Steve of Velvet and Linen and Giannetti Architects and Giannetti Home for the pool

plaster!

Here is the view from the master bedroom, bath, other  bedrooms of the mountains and trees!

That redwood in the right corner is so

tall I can’t even estimate!

 These mountains are beautiful!

this is the view from every bedroom;  the living and dining rooms!

At the top of the stairs;  turn left and there are two “jack and jill” bedrooms  (in this case they are jill and jill’s)!

Two bedrooms that share a dressing room, two walk-in closets and a bath!  The girl twin and her older sister each have one!

Such a perfect set up!

 This bedroom had a  mural on all four walls!

They primed the walls before the ceiling and I came in!  I said;  ”YIKES!!!  Save that ceiling!!  I LOVE IT!!!!”

Fortunately, my granddaughter did too!  Two hand-painted birds are building a nest!

And it is a lovely sky!

I  LOVE  HAPPY ENDINGS!!!

The second bedroom which shares the dressing room and bath!

Still awaiting headboard and a few things!

(DON’T FORGET IT “ISN’T DECORATED YET!”)

Two exposures;  facing East and South!

Farrow and Ball “Calamine”!

This daughter is 16!  She loves “pink!”

Their bathroom was done completely in “pool plaster!

A new bathtub;  and another cabinet made “on site”  (the way they did it in 1934)!!

Again, like the master bath;  limestone floors and counters;  in this case;  the splash had to have the faucets and spout come of of the wall to give more space!

Gorgeous!  (to me!!)

I hope you enjoy!

Funny story.  Our housekeeper was helping at this house;  for this daughter

and a man came in!  He said….”I saw this house on the internet;  I need to know the manufacturer, the colors and number of the paints on the outside!

( Our housekeeper is very, very smart!)

She said  ”I will ask”!  ”Mrs. Penny”  (I love that!)

So;  here’s what!  If anyone wants the names and number of the colors;  let me know!

I will list them all!

One of the greatest beauties of Farrow and Ball;  is their “sample pots”!

Colors changed from room to room more than I ever thought possible!

The painter and I thought we were losing our minds!

(this has been my painter for 16 years)  !!!

Critical in selecting a paint color! You

paint enough on the wall……and you look at it at all times of the day!

Take advantage, I suggest, of this feature this paint company provides!

(no I do no advertising)

I have no connection with Farrow and Ball!

I was just desperate to replace my favorite supplier “Fine Paints of Europe”!!

(20 years?)  The company  that supplied them just “went out of business”

And “my”  (Rick is such a part of my team…..even though I cannot employ him full- time;  I try to keep him “employed in the family!!”)

“Old School”  (you should see him……he is the coolest looking ‘surfer’ you will ever see!!)

And he is of the “old school” when it comes to painting!  He subscribes to my bible…..and that is “preparation, preparation, preparation!!”

This is the rear of the house !  The center window with the balcony is the window in the staircase where you see the sky!  To the left is one of the “Jill”

bedrooms;  to the right of that upstairs is one of  the master bath windows.  Downstairs, the middle window is the powder room, to the right is a living rooom

French door,and to the left is the dining room!

The repaired gate in the center of the back garden!

This is what Sara Dillard (one of my favorite bloggers and writers)!

calls an “axis”  It is in the center of the hedges in the back garden and creates

a lovely focal point on axis from the center of the house!  The entry hall!

 Steve Giannetti suggested this “cathedral ceiling” in the porte-cochere!

What fun it is!

This lovely, classic house will continue to evolve! It is a house that is not too small for five people;  and not too “big” for two!

Steve Giannetti has designed a terrific “playroom and guest room and bath in the garage space on the right in this picture!

(on his iPad to scale…it was a wonder to watch!)

When they can;  this will be the next project!

The most exciting thing of all is having our grandchildren back from Europe; and our daughter

and son-in-law so close!

Our daughter says, every time she drives in the driveway, she “pinches herself” that she really lives in this house!

We all feel incredibly fortunate!

I am especially grateful for my “team”!  None of this could have been done without my

absolutely amazing team!  Alfredo;  the most brilliant “jack of all trades” he made all the cabinets, the replacement french door screens,

repaired all the hardware; I could go on and on!

Joe;  the best electrician in the world;  (and the handsomest!);

Rick the best painter in the world,and all the wonderful subcontractors who fixed all the

things you could ever dream of!

It is now the “best of all worlds!  The quality and beauty of an “old house”;

and the benefits of a “new house” with all the electrical, plumbing and heating updated and

energy-saving!