This home was ingeniously built around turn of the century ruins of Santa Barbara's original aqueduct. Fifteen-foot high stone block walls frame the backyard and pool, with tufts of lavender growing at random.

My clients bought this place as a California refuge from their East coast lives. As such, they desired a quiet, almost monastic or cloistered effect to the work. The site and house welcomed this approach.

Neutral, quiet Great Plains linens were used throughout, and upholstery designs by Christian Liaigre, Gary Hutton, and myself reinforce the well appointed, pared down aesthetic.

Rustic antique furniture from Brazil, India and Japan lend contrast and substance paired with antique Indonesian textiles and Dutch colonial Indonesian polychrome teak architectural fragments.

An extremely soft, pale Kaufman shade of pink is the primary wall color. It reads almost neutral, while casting such a warm, welcoming glow. In the California light it bathes the interiors with variegated warmth, and is an unexpected choice. Upstairs in the bedroom and meditation room a deep brick red, also by Donald Kaufman, supports sleep, quietude, and reflection.