Montecito Gardens

A Look Back! Living The Dream In 1996

November 10, 2018 By // by Penelope Bianchi 10 Comments

Look what I found!

I was on a delightful television program in 1996! It was called “Dream Living”; and it was about people who live in their Dreamhouses.

I had seen our house in Pasadena when I was 13 and was determined to live in it someday. And I DID!!

It is kind of blurry, but it is a delightful story and the hostess Jody Daley, was a delightful hostess!

A few of my friends have seen this scrolling around in hotel rooms. I was thrilled to find it on a thumb drive!

I hope you enjoy it!

It was filmed right before we decided to move to Montecito!”

A Look Back! Living The Dream In 1996Read More

Montecito Foothills Meet French Country Chic! Our clients house in SB Seasons magazine!

September 25, 2018 By // by Penelope Bianchi 2 Comments

Interior Design by Penny Bianchi | photo by Amy Barnard Story by Nancy Ransohoff | Photos by Amy Barnard

A Look Back! Living The Dream In 1996

When attorney David Cohn and his wife, Debby, came to Montecito from Bakersfield, they connected with two key people who helped make their dream home a reality. After buying a remodeled 1960s-’70s ranch-style house, they hired Jon Sorrell of Sorrell Design, who transformed their ordinary ranch into a French country-style stone farmhouse with a historic feel. “Even though it isn’t an old house,” says Interior DesignerPenny Bianchi, “it feels and looks like one.”

Interior Design by Penny Bianchi, photo by Amy Barnard.

Shared Vision

The Cohns had a vision for the interior but needed help in executing it. When they saw online photos of Penny and Adam Bianchi’s Provence-style farmhouse (featured in Santa Barbara Seasons’ Fall 2017 issue), they knew they had found a match. “They said, ‘Your house looks like what we want our house to look like,’” says Penny.

Penny, who has been designing for 49 years, emphasizes the need for creative alignment and a shared vision for each project. “All my work is certainly not the same style, but there’s a general approach. It’s important to be on the same page. I talk with my clients about their lifestyle, what they are interested in and what they like, and I listen,” she says. “In the end, it should not look like a decorator did it.”

Perfectly Imperfect

The Cohn home is infused with a gracious old-world European feel. “There is nothing that looks new,” notes Penny. “Everything has a patina, old finishes that are worn and look like they have been used and loved. I like to see a mixture of things that look like they were collected over the years. European houses are imperfect—they have cracks. I call it ‘perfectly imperfect.’ For some projects, I have gone after limestone counters with a hammer!”

The living room presented one of the biggest challenges of the approximately one-year design project. “It’s a central room with no windows,” says Penny. “It opens onto rooms with windows so it gets light, but color was very important. We used a mix of colors and prints, with some chinoiserie prints, for the upholstered furniture.”

Timeless Trove

Many of the furnishings and accessories were sourced locally. “There is an enormous trove here in Santa Barbara, with all of the old estates,” Penny notes. Wood-plank floors are warmed throughout the house by old area rugs. “New rugs are against my religion!” says Penny. “When they’re made with vegetable dyes they fade beautifully.” She sources most of her rugs from Shaw Zahiri of Summerland Oriental Rugs, who specializes in handmade carpets from around the world. They add to the timeless quality of the house, which is a signature of Penny’s designs. “If it’s a trend I’m allergic to it!”

“It’s a very happy house,” says Penny. “Debby and Dave have grandchildren who visit and it’s a great house for children, with a lot of indoor-outdoor space and lovely gardens.” Outdoor living is enhanced with seating,
walking and dining areas, and graced with a gurgling stone fountain.

Growing up in Pasadena, Penny was drawn to design at an early age. “Other kids would be out on the swings and I was rearranging the furniture,” she says. “My mother gave me Elsie De Wolfe’s book, I read it and said, ‘Oh my gosh, this is a job?!’” Penny graduated from the University of Southern California with an English major and later took courses at the New York School of Interior Design. “I’m so lucky that I’ve been able to do what I love doing my whole life,” she says, “It’s a passion.”

“A house should feel personally collected … not decorated. … I’ve been collecting things my whole life because I don’t like anything new. I like everything old, weathered and used.” —Penny Bianchi | Photo by Amy Barnard.

This story was originally published in the fall 2018 issue of Santa Barbara Seasons Magazine.

Montecito Foothills Meet French Country Chic! Our clients house in SB Seasons magazine!Read More

Photos by Mark Lohman from a few years ago! So nice to see before the restoration is complete! Hope!

June 18, 2018 By // by Penelope Bianchi 50 Comments

A few years ago, one of my favorite photographers; Mark Lohman, an excellent and well-known interior and exterior photographer

(whom I have known for many years!) called me about a new magazine!

“French Country”!

Fifi O’Neill, the editor ,has written books, and has two other magazines, “Romantic Prairie Style” and” Romantic Country”

Her books are “Romantic Prarie Style” and “Romantic Prarie Cookbook”

She has been searching for real “country” (not fancy, not formal; but rustic and authentic) French houses in the United States!

My blogger friend Contessa sent her my blog on Renee; and she had Mark come take “scouting shots” of both houses!!

Lucky me! He took some wonderful shots of things that have not been photographed before!

I hope you enjoy them!

Here are some new angles of everyone’s favorite room! Remember, the heat is in the floor out here (and all through the house)

and we live out here all year long! Even in the rain; I don’t have to move the books!

My Corgi-mix rescue “Pete ” likes this ottoman!

By the way, the paintings on the right are of the identical room in our old house in Pasadena!

This ivy on the ceiling is my favorite, the panel was a shade on an Italian verandah we found in Florence; and the Italian stove

is another favorite!

Here are our ducklings getting bigger and enjoying their repaired house!

The main terrace with the previous room behind the umbrella! The deer is wrought iron!

A pretty plaque on the chimney; and an unusual way to hide those ugly metal things at the top of chimneys!

The Spring slipcovers and pillows!

My collection of Quimper salt and peppers on the mantle; and showing how the “convent table” works! The nuns would work

at the table all day; then take their dishes out, have a meal, and return them! Very practical!

The teeny Portugese chair on the table I bought at a museum in Portugal! I found the identical chairs at an antique shop here in Montecito!

My mother’s first Vertes painting! (Once, on a tour, a man insisted to his wife that it was a painting of “Mrs. Bianchi”!

“Can you imagine having a nude portraitof yourself in your living room?”

(It was painted before I was born!)

These lovely chickens were a gift from Oprah when there was a tabloid story quoting Oprah complaining about our chickens!

The card said: “Contrary to tabloid opinion; I absolutely adore your chickens!”

This panel in the kitchen was one of a pair I found for a client who only needed one!

The soup tureen on the bottom shelf has chicks poking through her feathers

The cat jumps on this antique stool to reach her food on the island!

Radisha makes us an “initial painting” for our birthdays! These are Adam’s by his sink.

This is my “pride and joy” Vertes screen which was owned by Gypsy Rose Lee! and my sink on the other side of the bathroom!

More Vertes lithographs mostly from the “Cirque” series!

These bookcases house my millions of decorating books!

The checked ottoman is a pop-up TV!!!

two antique valances and a favorite Vertes silk screen of his dog; an Airdale!

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Photos by Mark Lohman from a few years ago! So nice to see before the restoration is complete! Hope!Read More

Montecito Gardens: Our house featured in Santa Barbara Seasons magazine!!!

January 24, 2018 By // by Penelope Bianchi Leave a Comment

GLORIOUS GARDENS: FRENCH COUNTRY STYLE MEETS CALIFORNIA COOL

When Penny and Adam Bianchi bought a modest slice of undeveloped land off of East Valley Road 20 years ago, they had a golden opportunity to build a custom home in the heart of Montecito. The property sits at the entrance to the pristine 42-acre Ennisbrook Preserve, and Oprah’s vast estate borders the property on two other sides. A single home edges the property in the north. “The terrain and plants reminded me of France,” recalls Penny, “so we went to Provence and took thousands of pictures of roofs and crooked roofs and chimneys and floors and doorknobs.”

The Bianchi’s worked with Grace Design Associates to create their own Shangri-La that sits lightly on the land blends in naturally with the surroundings. Photograph by Amy Barnard.

Once home, they began to build a French country-style home and a guesthouse, surrounded by about 2.5 acres of magical gardens and wildlife habitat. The walls were washed with lime from pigment mined from the ground in Provence—no paint was applied at all. “Lime wash lets the mortar breathe,” explains Penny. “This is how stone and brick houses in Provence are traditionally treated.”

Penny has worked as an interior designer for nearly 50 years and has filled her home with antiques from all over the world. Much of her collection was inherited from her mother and grandmother, and Penny appears to have inherited her family’s amazing knack for finding one-of-a-kind treasures, as well. “I’ve been collecting things my whole life because I don’t like anything new,” she says. “I like everything old, weathered and used. Even my linens and light fixtures are mostly antiques.”

Generous use of color and texture spotlight Penny Bianchi’s great eye for detail. As an interior designer for nearly 50 years, she uses her own home to showcase her designs. Photograph by Amy Barnard.

High ceilings and plentiful windows fill the home with light throughout the day. The main entrance leads into a spacious hall, which leads to the bedroom (there’s only one) and master bath on one side, and kitchen, office and guest bathrooms on the other. Adam Bianchi works in the office—he sold his family’s poultry business 30 years ago and has run Penny’s business operations ever since. Penny changes the furniture slipcovers several times a year so the mood always reflects the season.

As an interior designer for nearly 50 years, Penny Bianchi uses her own home to showcase her eye for detail to charming effect. Photograph by Amy Barnard.

Treasures that appear at every turn include antique lace lampshades and oriental rugs, screens and other works by French artist Marcel Vertes, shower tiles from 17th-century France and an 1860s bathtub from Paris. The guest powder room features bird murals with bird figurines that hover over the walls. The kitchen has furniture pieces rather than built-in cabinets.

Views of the gardens—designed by Grace Design Associates—are always on display from the Bianchi’s breathtaking country kitchen, photograph by Amy Barnard.

The gardens, designed by Grace Design Associates, are a welcome haven for humans and wildlife alike. The National Wildlife Federation has named the Bianchi property as a Certified Backyard Wildlife Habitat, which means it provides the basics needs for wildlife: food, water, a roof over their heads and a place to raise their young. Carefully selected trees and shrubs nourish and protect ducklings and other creatures, and floating houses anchored in the middle of a pond allow nesting ducks and their offspring to escape from predators. Heirloom chickens roam free during the day and put themselves in the coop in the evening for protection.

Heirloom chickens happily roam free during the day, along with multitudes of other wildlife. The Bianchi property is a Certified Wildlife Habitat. Photograph by Amy Barnard.

Views of these glorious gardens (designed by Grace Design Associates) are on gorgeous display from Penny Bianchi’s indoor/outdoor office. Photograph by Amy Barnard.

All in all, the Bianchis have successfully created a haven in which every nook and cranny evokes coziness and a connection with the natural world. In Penny’s words, it’s “a cozy, collected and patina” home where they, their grown children and seven grandchildren thoroughly enjoy daily life in a remarkable Montecito setting.

Montecito Gardens: Our house featured in Santa Barbara Seasons magazine!!!Read More

Trumeaus: Lovely mirrors that were formerly part of paneling.

September 11, 2017 By // by Penelope Bianchi 13 Comments

My very favorite mirror above a fireplace or console is a “trumeau”!

A “trumeau” either has a painted scene or some lovely carving.

They were always part of the “boiserie” (paneling) in a french house; and are very popular here, especially

in ” French” houses!

This is what I do know! I LOVE “trumeaus”!!

Our house in Pasadena……..had three trumeaus in the living room!

It was a “pavilion” and copied from a lovely house outside of Paris built in the 18th century.

During the eighteenth century , many rooms were paneled with “boiserie” carved and painted.

Above the fireplaces and over consoles they often had a mirror included in the paneling to increase the light.

“Because lighting an interior was a great challenge during this period the use of highly reflective

mirror glass was an integral part of any room. During the reign of Louis XV (1723-1774) and Louis XVI (1774-1792) large mirror plates

were actually placed within the framework of the walls and

mounted above fireplaces and console tables with candelabra and candlesticks placed in front of them to reflect the light.”

When we were building our house; I was on a decorating trip to New Orleans with Sotheby’s and I

discovered a pair of “trumeau” mirrors with two different scenes!

I had never seen that before!

Because we were building a “big hall” with two fireplaces , I made an “emergency” call

to my husband!

Finding a pair of trumeaus with two different scenes was lucky beyond!

Happily, we bought them , and they are a delightful part of our “big hall”!

They have two delightful scenes of children playing and even a dog that looked like our dog, Georgie!

We had a lovely French Regency style house in Pasadena, which had four beautiful trumeaus!

Here is the one that was over the fireplace in the living room

This is looking the other direction towards the dining room a pair of consoles with trumeaus.

This console was in in the dining room.

This console and mirror were in the entry hall!

Trumeaus are lovely!

The lady who built our house in 1957 went to France with her architect to buy these antiques to incorporate into the French “pavilion” she was building!

I am showing examples of others I’ve found!

Pair of Louis XV Style Trumeaux. Ca: 19th C

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Monterey Colonial garden update! Big difference!!!

May 24, 2016 By // by Penelope Bianchi 3 Comments

Hi there! I have had a lot of requests for more updates on the Monterey Colonial our daughter

purchased a few years ago here in Montecito!

The previous posts are at the end of this post!

She removed some shrubbery crowding this beautiful jacaranda tree; and changed the planting

behind the boxwoods to only purple agapanthus. There were lots of them sprinkled all

over the property; so she moved them all here.

When they bloom under the purple blossoms it will be a show!

Here is the front porch with the Anduze pots with topiaries. Everything simplified!

there is a lovely new gate in the background on the left. It was made to match the back gate.

Around the back of the house; she has added oak leaf hydrangeas, and star jasmine.

Right around the corner.

Another new gate to match the back gate! The pool is on the other side!

Remember when you couldn’t see the pool from the garden? She opened up the hedge!

It is still private; but you have a glimpse!

The beds are also simplified with white agapanthus, iceberg roses and Viburnum.

The original back gate!

The other side!

Behind the above hedge is another whole garden! Avocado trees, wildflowers, fruit trees

and raised potager beds!

3 avocado trees all different species so they fruit at different times!

My favorite! Lavender, matillija poppies, artichokes and herbs! And roses!

I think they are doing a beautiful job of this garden!

I think my favorite of all are these oak trees in the front which were never

“trimmed up”!!!!

Congratulations to our daughter, her husband and their gardener!!!!

Monterey Colonial garden update! Big difference!!!Read More

Garden update on the Monterey Colonial in Montecito!

May 4, 2015 By // by Penelope Bianchi 12 Comments

The gardens have been worked on extensively for the past few months!

Huge improvements!!!

Not too much has changed in the front;

Things are starting to bloom!

The real changes are on the side….

what was a shady mess where nothing much would grow

To a charming space! Bricks (hand-made ones…that is key!!) are laid in sand…..not mortar….that is key also!

So elegant and slim lines between….and easily moved here and there!!!! No mortar!!! (then it becomes “hardscape”; an anathema to me!)

This is so lovely! They added the old brick steps…..and two stone benches.

Looking toward the pool.

They changed the terrace from terra cotta tile to brick; added the steps and replaced the lawn on either side of the pool with brick. (Old, hand-made brick much of which was elsewhere on the property!)

The lawn was too shaded to grow or thrive; so this made a beautiful and comfortable poolside.

Another view. I love it!!!! Simple and elegant!

The hedge used to completely hide the pool ; now it is sheltered and private; but welcoming!

Boxwood and white roses surround the lawn. Just planted!!!

The back terrace now has a path from the pool (the path used to “dead end”!)

This is the back terrace.

The eating area off the family room and kitchen. The barbecue is cleverly disguised on the right!

( I spend my entire life disguising barbecues and televisions and screens! Most men

love how they look! EEEK! I make sure they function well…….and then I disguise them!!)

What an improvement!

The view from the back terrace!

I will post the interior changes soon! It is a process!

Garden update on the Monterey Colonial in Montecito!Read More

Question: “Do you follow trends in decorating?”

February 10, 2015 By // by Penelope Bianchi 18 Comments

(Don’t forget to click on the title!! To see the whole post!)

“Do you follow trends in decorating”?

That is the topic on “By invitation only” on the blog: splenderosa.com.

Everyone is different; but this

is something I decided many years ago (43) to be exact!

I do not follow trends for my own decorating; and being a professional decorator; I avoid it in my work

for others when I can. Since I try to give my clients a house that represents their tastes, family and likes; sometimes

they are dying for something “trendy”. Usually I try to dissuade them if I feel it will

be a dated mistake shortly; and really if it is very expensive. I avoid trends like the plague!

“Santa Fe” decorating belongs in “Santa Fe”; my goal is timeless decorating.

I find it a disturbing trend that many people when they move start all over with their

furniture, rugs and even art!

This is a picture of our “big hall” from outside. Nothing trendy!

This our main room in Pasadena which I decorated in 1985.

I still absolutely love it!!

This is the master bedroom the same year. Same thing!

Our terrace in Montecito designed in 1997 with furniture from our loggia in Pasadena

Circa 1985.

It has been “pinned” 50,000 times on just one website! (my landscape designer’s)

In my view, furniture, rugs, art and should be personal and mean something to the homeowner.

Family heirlooms I work into houses all the time! They are a priority!

And classics stay classics! They don’t go out of style; they weren’t “trendy”!!

I feel my house is a scrapbook of my life!

Permanent things like tile, flooring,appliances and plumbing fixtures should NEVER follow

trends. I encourage classic white tile, (or at least white background) white plumbing fixtures,

and classic appliances.

(ever seen a bathroom all done in black plumbing fixtures? I have!!! TWO, 10 years apart in different cities!)

Lord have mercy!

Trompe l’oeil window with trompe l’oeil curtains in a Reginald Johnson Italian Villa in Pasadena done in

1988. Fortuny on the sofa, family heirloom antiques , and original 1919 sconces with paintings framing them.

Absolutely the same today. And I wouldn’t change one thing!

My goal for myself and my clients is “Timeless decorating”. I doubt anyone could date anything

I have done! And I keep things young, and fun, and full of meaning!

One of my idols is Mario Buatta who just published a book of 50 years of his work.

I wouldn’t change so much as a lampshade! Now, that is “timeless decorating”!!!

Question: “Do you follow trends in decorating?”Read More

Montecito Sea Meadow, my dream once-in-a-lifetime decorating job!! [repost]

February 3, 2015 By // by Penelope Bianchi 78 Comments

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. …

Montecito Sea Meadow, my dream once-in-a-lifetime decorating job!! [repost]Read More