Joseph Plunkett

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

Another update on the "Monterey Colonial"! Interiors and exteriors!

November 20, 2013 By // by Penelope Bianchi 23 Comments

This story has been a long and winding road!

Anyone following my “blog” knows!!

Rather than publishing the three former installments; if you haven’t seen them, you can click on the “search” box on this blog,

and write “Monterey Colonial”

and they will show up! If you haven’t seen them; I suggest you do that first!!

It is very fun even for me to compare the “before” “during” and these most recent!

It surely proves what I have always said; a house is NEVER “finished”!! A house is like a “life”; “a scrapbook” of the lives living in it; and is

always a “work in progress” over the lifetimes spent in it! A great house adapts to the family

and animals who live in it! And it evolves as they do!

I hope you are enjoying the journey!!

Did you give up on this update post?? I’m so glad you didn’t!!!

Well ! Come on in!!

A peek into the living room! (A work in progress!!)

Terrible picture!

(Joni! I already know my pictures are terrible….my assistant will help more!!)

The library! Remember the window on the right was turned into a TV cabinet! No light came in here1

also heavy shutters on French doors!

big plantation shutters block out at least 50% of the light!!

Our grandson’s room on the first floor just past the library!

Grasscloth, tortoise wood blinds; and twin headboards! Bedskirts match headboards!

(“dust ruffle” is the female equivalent)

There is a surfboard mounted on the right wall! So cool!!!

It looks like a grown-up boy! He’s almost 15!!!

Up the stairs!

The hall to the “Jill and Jill” bedrooms and bath. The door on the right goes out to the balcony at the top of the “Lover’s stairs”

The bedroom at the end of the hall!

Family pictures where they belong!!! Not in silver frames spread all over the house! Framed and

hung on wall people walk by every single day..and starting at eye level; up and down past that!!!

The sixteen- year old’s bedroom!

This is blurry….so sorry! I want to show the curtains that they had in Switzerland; lovely silk panels were remade for this

bedroom AND the Roman shades in her sister’s!

As long as the fabric is a “natural fabric”; curtains can last through many houses

and incarnations! These are 100% silk; and from Pottery Barn, no less!!

In the new Mario Buatta book; he shows us his curtains he has had for fifty years!!

Redone for each of this three residences! (added on, taken off, valance added; Honestly!! Fifty years!!!

(do buy this book; it is a DOOZER!!!)

SHE LOVES PINK!!!

headboard coming!

To the left before the end of the hall!

The other girl’s bedroom with the sky and the birds! Thank goodness

she decided to keep the birds!!!

SAME FABRIC!! redone into roman shades!!!

On to the Master bedroom!

The headboard is in; and the curtains were fixed!

I love this bed alcove….there are bookcases in there on both sides!

These curtains and shades were made from curtains they had in Switzerland!!!

There are windows on three sides!

Windows on three sides; and French doors to the balcony on the front!

I adore this hand-painted chest! It says some wonderful saying in French! With someone’s birthdate!

I think it was a birthday present to someone in the 30’s!!

I found it in Summerland at a wonderful antique store!

It was happy living in Switzerland for 8 years!

But I am even happier that it is “home”!!!

The fireplace is greatly improved!

You can see the gate in the back of the garden!

Here are a few exteriors!!

The agapanthus and the jacarandas look wonderful blooming at the same time!

Newly planted beds in the side garden! And big pots with olive trees!

Two new gates to match the one in the back (but singles)!

This gate goes to the pool from the back…..beautiful oak tree!!!

This one is in the front!

Up the “lover’s staircase”!

Through the porte-cochere!

Through the “porte-cochere”!

Leading to …..

Through the rose arbors, lots of refining!

To a lovely focal point!

There are vegetable and herb beds!

Vegetable beds! And…….

Hydrangeas and roses!

and an apple tree!

My favorite poppies!

As progress moves along; I will keep everyone posted!! This house has some very serious fans!

I keep getting email saying “HURRY UP!!!”

I am sorry I haven’t been faster at updates! The good news is that my “real job” has been busy!

I will also keep you posted on that!

I am doing a wonderful house in my favorite part of Los Angeles (actually Santa Monica) for a wonderful guy!!

(he wrote one of my very favorite movies of all time!!)

“School of Rock”!!

MIKE WHITE!!!

He was also our daughter’s “her Best Man” at her wedding 19 years ago! Best friends since

“crib room” at Sunday School!!!

(I was so sure he would be a “STAR” I asked him for his autograph when he was in third grade)

He is a “perfect client”!

Another update on the "Monterey Colonial"! Interiors and exteriors!Read More

Monterey Colonial!! "Progress!" "More Progress coming next" This is the "Interior progress" midway! UPDATE!!!

October 25, 2013 By // by Penelope Bianchi 34 Comments

Well; again, instead of just launching into the
” update” on our “Montecito Monterey Colonial”; because of my new subscribers, I am repeating the “during” published in January!

With three children relocating from Europe; all the things I had done to the house in their absence, the progress now is slowing down! But “slow and steady wins the race!!” And our daughter

will not make any mistakes! This is the post that was posted in January!

(I will make some notes along the way!)

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!

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!

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 the owner who made the tv cabinet!!) not to enlarge the opening;

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

What a difference!!!

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!

Remember this bathroom?

It is between the library and the downstairs bedroom.

The boy twin has the downstairs bedroom; and this bathroom.

Fortunately, he never saw this!

But you may have; and if not, now you will!

YIKES!!!

THEN!!!

NOW!!!!!

Can you believe it? We approximated the marble on the antique fireplace; and our cabinet

man made all the new cabinets right on site!

We removed all the shutters from every window! They blocked out the light and hid the views!

The views are beautiful from every single window!

The mirror is a hinged medicine cabinet.

this is the same view that showed the two sinks………We reduced it to one…….removed the tile…….

and our boy grandson made friends with the bathroom!

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!

this above; became this; below!

Same knobs. they were shiny brass! Soaked in turpentine; they became understated and they

are the new “unpolished brass…..which will weather naturally…..the natural finish that is

fortunately gaining force into fashion today!

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

Our daughter found some lovely “grasscloth”! and his room is getting better and better!!

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!

(I were extremely disappointed with the curtains…….)!

Same fabric; new remake……..happy ending!!!

I love the bed alcove with bookcases!

Still working on the headboard; and getting the curtains right!

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!

Back to the “central hall”

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;

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!

“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!!”

and another post is coming!

A house is NEVER finished…….and this, like all, is evolving! there are just more posts! and the next one will be in a day or two!

What a treat to work on such a treasure!!!

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!

Hang on tio your hats

the most important changes were in this post!

the next one shows some more. Chip away!!!; it you do it right; it takes a long time to redo a treasure of an old house…….

Correctly!!

I hope you enjoyed this “catch-up”!

The next installment will be the most recent!

Remember; it takes a long time for a house to be “done”! (it is never finished!!)

It remains a work “in progress!!”

I hope you will enjoy the “process”! As our darling daughter and I do!!!

Next installment……..NOW!!!

9 months later!!!

October 26th!! 2013!!!

Penelope

Monterey Colonial!! "Progress!" "More Progress coming next" This is the "Interior progress" midway! UPDATE!!!Read More

Monterey Colonial "During"!! again before the "present" to be posted in the next few days!!! Exterior!

October 23, 2013 By // by Penelope Bianchi 54 Comments

Hi there again!

I am going to post the “present pictures” of our Monterey Colonial; however, it has been so long since I have posted; and I have many new subscribers; so I decided to republish the

last post”during” a day or two before the “present” so no one has to search for it!!

Here was the post last May!

The very top picture is the exterior “before”

The above is “present” exterior!

Hi there all my friends!

I am so sorry!

I am back!

I am so sorry this has taken so long! I am so enthusiastic and excited about it!

My assistant (who helped me endlessly with my blog) left to travel; and I thought I knew more than I did how to do it!

(the blog, I mean!)

This is such an exciting thing for me; and I want to share all the things I have learned!

Here goes the first one! The “exterior” during! And that doesn’t even include the garden!

This is a Joseph Plunkett designed house built in 1935 in Montecito, California.

He was a very respected and accomplished architect here. He contributed to the magnificent City Hall here;

he designed our beautiful original airport, the “Arlington Theatre” (drop-dead amazing and beautiful);

the original “Paseo”; contributed to the “City Hall” (famous throughout the world!!!)

and many other buildings and houses is Montecito, Santa Barbara, Ojai and Santa Ynez!

He died at 46; which is even more astonishing that he designed so many buildings that are so well known for their artistry!

I thought I would do one post on the “during”!

There will have to be more than one! I am starting on the “exterior”! And this is the first of the “during”!

The post on the “before” was my last post!

Here is the “Monterey Colonial” house I found for our daughter’s family here in Montecito!

Their goal was to “move back!”I started looking two years ago!

I knew when I walked in the door………this house took my breath away!

I knew it would take a lot of work to restore it; but I didn’t really know HOW much!

Sad to say; this house had been neglected in ways many older houses are! It is called “deferred maintenance”!

It is extremely common in old houses!

This house was first in 1935. By one of the prominent architects who worked in Santa Barbara during the twenties and thirties. He

designed a few wonderful houses; and unfortunately died very young at 46. His name was Joseph Plunkett.

This house is a complete treasure! I hope I will show you why!! I am going to start with the exterior!

(To begin with; this house looks in pictures as though it was yellow. No. Pink.)

Many people do not know the importance of painting “correctly”;

in dealing with an old house (it is always more expensive than just slapping on some paint)!

Great advice on my friend Leta Austin Foster’s blog…….”Decorating with Sheets” “when to call in the specialists!” She is one of the best

decorators on this earth (in my opinion); and her explanation of the importance of “specialists” cannot be better explained!

My darling friends Brooke and Steve Giannetti I asked to come see the house! They did and they loved it!

Steve solved the “roof problem”!

(one of the items of “deferred maintenance”!)

No where in Santa Barbara County can you on a put a new wood roof!

So he showed me the absolute best “fake shake” roof! (my skin crawled at the notion of ‘fake shake’; until I saw Steve’s solution!) Thank you Steve and Brooke!)

There is simply not one single “composition roof” that looks like real “shake”! Except this one!

The roof was on its last legs. You could see sky when you stood in the attic.

And the roof is huge! It goes across the entire house; over the “porte-cochere” and the two and a half car garage!

The wood shake that looks appropriate on this style of house is now illegal to use in much of California; due to the risk of fire;

so Steve Giannetti sent me this picture with this color and this maker of “fake shake” roof which as you can see is

“as good as it gets”! It is “Cedarlite” and the color is:”Silverwood”! Thank you Steve! It looks gorgeous! (Just so you know; he also explained to our “head guy”

how to treat the side views so they didn’t look like ‘fake slate’!

This makes a “huge difference by the way!)

Here are the “planters” inset in the brick front terrace!

This was where the “leggy hags” lived! My total favorite Tara Dillard expression!

So inside those brick “planters” will be boxwood and an Anduze pot with a topiary “cone”

Instead of “leggy hags”

This is planter bed our daughter found at a chateau in France!

The exterior of the house had not been painted in over 35 years; and it was pink, with turquoise shutters!

The amount of preparation to sand and prepare the exterior woodwork and brick and stucco was mind-boggling!

It took 4 painters over 4 months for the inside and outside. (Fine painters) Nothing is more important in

the restoration of a fine old house than fine painters.

I often say to clients: “nothing is more expensive than ‘cheap painters’!

Without the proper preparation; harm will be done that is almost unfixable. Hire “cheap painters” at your own risk!

It was completely worth it; because it will now hold up for many years to come.

We spent a long time on the phone!

The roof off; and the shutters off preparing to paint! This looks like it is yellow; but it was pink! Honestly, pink!

The new colors for the exterior are : the brick and stucco are a “creamy” off white “New White” by Farrow and Ball”

and the whiter trim is “Pointing” by Farrow and Ball;

and the shutters and front door are “Black Blue ” in “full gloss” Also Farrow and Ball!

Now we start the new colors outside!

Here is the “before ” front door!

Please excuse the photographer (me) the new front door!

Well; it was a neglected “beautiful woman”; in m opinion! It had simply not been “kept up”! And houses (and people) do deteriorate when they are not “kept up”!

I saw this house as a magnificent beauty in dire need of restoration and “heavy cosmetics”!

The bones..as so many of you commented were perfect!

This is the exterior! For my next post…….I will do the “during” of the interior!

Yikes! It is such an exciting thing to bring a beauty back with restoration! This house reminds me of the model “Carmen”!

She is gorgeous at 81! This house is 78! It needed help……but the “bones” were perfect; and no “remuddeling” had taken place!

the entrance to the dining room from the back terrace……..(don’t forget; one room deep!”

Who thought of an outside fireplace in 1935?

Joseph Plunkett!

One chimney serves 3 fireplaces in this house!

Living room, this outside, and upstairs in the master bedroom. All use one chimney!

Masterful!

Now we see the new color scheme!

I think it makes a “magical” difference!

Just my opinion!

The chimney looks so pretty as “a part of the house”!

We do love the new , more classic, colors! That chimney was a bit of an eyesore!

(I am having a bit of a crisis! Newell Turner, my friend; editor of House Beautiful; recently promoted to “editor of all Hearst Design Publications”!!

Liked it “pink and turquoise!)

Oh well…..

Look how the shutters really “work!

They have no curtains or anything yet! This is what shutters were invented for!

(When was the last time you saw a “shutter” closed? Let alone not being nailed to the house and completely the wrong size!)

This shows the new roof!

This has been a six and a half month labor of love!

It won’t be as long before I post the “during” on the inside! Some spectacular before and afters!

They have moved in; and there is still more to do; they are all ecstatic!

On our chickens; one hen just hatched seven chicks!

Monterey Colonial "During"!! again before the "present" to be posted in the next few days!!! Exterior!Read More

Monterey Colonial Restoration in Montecito: "The Before!"

September 7, 2012 By // by Penelope Bianchi 25 Comments

For two years, we knew our daughter and her family

were moving back this fall; and wanted to buy their “first house” !

Time to buy their first house! Yikes!

I have looked at just about every family house in Montecito! And I saw some wonderful houses “dying on the vine” because of the colors, the furniture, and also, the “tile”!

The truth is, most people cannot “visualize”! They see what is there; they cannot see what “can be”!

This is one of them! The second I drove into the driveway; a feeling came over me……….and when I walked into the front door…….”I knew it!”

I thought I found one I thought was “perfect”!!

The key for me is this……a good size for five; and still a good size for two!

That is what I saw when I saw this house!

This is the “before”! This is the former owner’s furniture.

This is how I saw it the first day!

This will be fun!

I am particularly fond of an architectural style known as “Monterey Colonial”.

It started in Monterey, California

with an adobe with a second story and a balcony across it.

One of the first houses in this style is the famous “Larkin House” in Monterey; pictured below.

How perfect this looks to me! The pitch of the roof….all of it! I think this is beautiful! Built in the early 1800’s!

The renowned decorator Frances Elkins bought an historic house in Monterey,”Casa Amesti” built in 1830 and she “restored” it;

and greatly enlarged her decorating practice because she did such a good job.

In fact; she became the “superstar” decorator

all over the United States because of her start in her “Monterey” at “Casa Amesti”;

and her partnership with her brother, David Adler! Such a happy story!

This architecture “married the Spanish-Mexican building materials adobe bricks and redwood

with the rectangular block and center-hall interior plan of an Eastern colonial.”

One of the hallmarks of this architecture is the second-floor balcony.

Frances Elkins bought Casa Amesti in 1918.

She took a “falling down wreck” and with her brother, the architect David Adler, turned it into the “showplace of northern California”!

It was largely because of her that this style of architecture became very popular, in California particularly.

And it was because of the beauty and sensational taste she exhibited in this astonishing

house; she had a following all over the United States……California, the midwest and the East!

she was talented beyond!

She decorated most of “Pebble Beach”; one of the loveliest residential areas in California.

She was immensely successful! There is a book about her; written by Stephen Salny……(such a good writer! And a GREAT BOOK!)

She was “the” California decorator in the twenties, thirties, and forties!!

San Francisco, Pebble Beach, around Lake Forest in the midwest, and back east……..(she was the “IT” girl) in terms of decorating!

And she kind of “started Monterey Colonial”! She set it “on fire”!

“Frances Elkins Interior Design” by Stephen Salny (when I use quotes; it is from his book about her!)

This is her house in Monterey; which is on the “National Register”

I grew up in Pasadena, California, and the “Monterey Colonial” was a very popular style there.

They were built in the “golden age” (in my opinion) of architecture in Pasadena,

and California; the twenties, thirties and forties.

Some wonderful architects used this style a lot. My favorite architects who were designing during this period were Roland Coate,

Reginald Johnson, Gordon Kauffman, and George Washington Smith.

Here are a few in the neighborhoods in Pasadena.

As you see here, the traditional colors are cream or white, with white railings and dark shutters.

Black-green or black blue. And , please note most have “real working shutters”; not skinny stuck on fake ones!

Imagine my surprise to see this “Monterey Colonial” in Montecito!!

I love, love the architecture; it was designed in 1934 by Joseph Plunkett, a very famous architect in Santa Barbara.

You can’t tell very well; but the house was pink! With turquoise shutters! Even the non-traditional colors could not hide the beauty of the architecture!

The lovely balcony goes across the front of the house and there is a curving stairway up to the balcony over to the right.

Three magnificent oak trees span the entire front. These trees go along the ground .

Usually these trees are “trimmed up” and these are really unusual and create privacy from the street. I am a third-generation Californian…….I have seldom

seen trees this magnificent……and they have been lovingly maintained for 77 years!

These trees are over one hundred or one hundred and fifty years old!

In California……this is a serious rarity!

So; I fell in love in the driveway; then I go to the front door!

I walk into the central entrance hall and I see the sky!!

The oval entry hall I fell in love with at first sight!

To your right is an “enfilade” looking through the dining room, pantry and kitchen! To your left; you have another “enfilade” looking through the living room

to the antique fireplace in the gorgeous paneled library!

The house is “one room deep” which is very unusual, and creates both north and south exposures in many of the rooms.

This is the living room; to the left of the entry, and beyond it is the library. French doors open to the front terrace and the back. Two pairs each, directly across from each other!

This is the gorgeous paneled library at the end of the left side of the “rectangle”.

If you turn to the right in the entry hall; you enter the dining room, butlers pantry, kitchen, breakfast room.

To the right of the entry is the dining room with the same thing as the living room

A pair of French doors with sidelights andlights above opening to the back terrace;

and a pair of French doors opening to the front terrace opposite them.

Because of the curving exterior stairs; this shapely and charming pantry (with its original 1935 tile!) has a curving wall! (one of my very favorite decorators in the world was Keith Irvine;

he and his wife “Chippy” had this tile in their country house and their children learned their

names of animals and fruit from them!)

The kitchen; beautifully remodeled by the last owner; uses a copy of the tile, and the servant’s room

turned into a “breakfast area and laundry room.Also with north and south windows!

This is the side……the window facing south is to the right……and the french doors facing North……are to your left through the

Breakfast room!

This is the window facing south (which here faces the ocean! California makes a turn where

Santa Barbara is; so it is a “south facing coast”!

These doors face north toward the mountains and the back terrace

and garden. They “opened in” which was a huge problem in the floor plan. We turned them around……I noticed on the “plans” for the remodeled kitchen……they were supposed to open “out”!

Oh well! Stuff happens!

Back to the entry hall………….and ………..Up the stairs we go!

At the top of the stairs; here is another window facing south; so the entry hall is bathed in light! (I love the carved valences above the entry hall windows!)

At the top of the stairs; turn to your right; and a hallway with closets leads to the master bedroom!

It has three exposures! Windows facing west, north, and French doors facing south and leading onto the front balcony!

I take an instant dislike to the fake beams (I cannot help myself!) The fake beams and the can lights just have got to go! And they did! The room

felt very crowded..I just had to eliminate the furniture in my mind…….lovely room. Lose the fake beams!

Even with the heavy shutters, the light was incredible!

The shutters needed to go; (immediately! I didn’t even know exactly why….it was visceral!)

I found most of the furniture very oversized and heavy, but the “bones” of the house

were singing to me!

I do often encourage my clients to use plain tile because it is permanent and difficult to change.

It made me dizzy! And it was in two entire bathrooms; floors and walls!

this was the master; the other one, downstairs off the library!

Now….at the top of the stairs……turn left……(it is so lovely to have a central hall in the middle of the house..

this is a “classic” because it is ‘calming’ and feels wonderful from the second you walk into the front door.

So much of “architecture and design is ‘visceral’ and there is a reason that central hall houses are comfortable and lovely! It all makes sense!

This house had been on the market for awhile…..but was very difficult to show. It was rented out as a “vacation rental”!

Turn to the left and a hallway leads to two bedrooms that share a dressing room and bath.

This room felt small with all the furniture in it; but I knew it wasn’t!

This dressing room is shared by two bedrooms, and also a bath! Great closets!

this is the shared bathroom…….this tile was much more palatable……..

but when I learned all the tile in the bathrooms was 35 years…….no. we cannot paint….that is too long!

The tile had to go…….in all 3 bathrooms! It was the right thing to do!

This is the “girl’s bathroom!

Brooke taught me about “pool plaster”! It is so genius! And it looks so divine!

And we got rid of this tile…….we did “pool plaster” on all the walls…..replaced the “louvered” door with a solid door….put in a cabinet with a sink……..

All these changes are happening right now….wait till you see!

Here is the “before”!!

Steve Giannetti designed a delightful “playroom” and guest room and bath in the garage to the left of the “porte-cochere” Genius!

and he wrote on the plans “any chance of a cathedral ceiling in here?” on the porte-cochere! And we did it!

Brooke showed our plasterer her bathrooms in Oxnard done entirely with “pool plaster”!

They are so fantastic!

Thank you, Brooke and Steve!

Here is a view of the lovely balcony across the front of the house!

and here is a view of the “secret” lap pool on the left (west) side of the property behind a hedge!

Divine!

and this is the view from the house……and all the rooms……this amazing garden and lawn!

The pool is behind the hedge on the left……behind the hedge on the right is an amazing orchard and rose garden.

this is the most lovely house!

This is the “before”

Next……..the challenging “during”!

I described it to them and sent photos of this beautiful classical house!

It is nothing short of a miracle……really………It has unfolded as the most beautiful house I have ever seen!

(no, I am not exaggerating!)

(what does not show in any of these pictures is the views from the windows!)

The shutters were “boxes” around lovely moldings around the windows; and there were “double key locks’ on almost every door inside and out..

They “threw off” the proportions of the hardware . These are things most people would think were

not important…..and they make “all the difference!!”

At the end of the day; the house is exquisite…….incomparable, unimaginably beautiful….and I cannot wait to post the after!

Get your smelling salts ready!

But next………comes the “during’!

“Deferred Maintenance”

Rears its ugly head!

Anon!

Penelope

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