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Home >> Kaleidoscope of Homes >> Casa Montecita
As Scott Simmons and I began to conceptualize the design of this show house, we knew that we wanted the architecture of the design to be authentic to it's roots, whatever style we went with. We considered English and French medieval styles, but found ourselves drawn to the architecture of Santa Barbara in the early 1900's. As we researched the "Spanish Colonial Revival" movement that became so prevalent, we found two key sources that drove our design as well.
One was the 1915 Panama-California Exposition which was held in San Diego to commemorate the completion of the Panama Canal. Bertram Goodhue (1869-1924) was the lead architect, and used the exposition to transform the area into a "fantasy city", drawing from the expressive Spanish Baroque Architecture to reinvent the gardens and structures of the exposition into the "Spanish Colonial Revival" style, which
from that point forward became California's "indigenous historical vernacular style".
The other source of inspiration we drew from was Santa Barbara architect George Washington Smith (1876- 1930). Smith is sometimes credited with being the "Father" of the Spanish Colonial Revival style. His own personal house that he designed in Montecito was in fact modeled after the rustic farmhouses of Andalusia that he visited on a trip to Spain in 1914. Capturing in residential form the excitement and styling of the 1915 Exposition, the house became an instant success and soon neighbors and friends were requesting designs like it as well. Smith completed some 80 homes in Santa Barbara alone, and his work was also done on a national level.
These two sources become the driving force for much of the exterior and interior features of the house. Another concept that was important in designing this house was to rethink and reinvent the arrangement of living spaces in the home to reflect a more up to date lifestyle. In other words, eliminating spaces that were rarely used (formal dining room, for example) and utilizing the space to better fit how someone would want to live in a house. Outdoor living spaces became an important consideration in the layout of the house.
Finally, the Simmons' lot in particular posed some excellent views that we felt it was important to take advantage of. Not only does this lot sit right next to the Shady Oaks main water feature, but the backyard also faces the main Coventry Manor entry water feature. Given that this lot had these fantastic views, and also that the design was going to be viewed publicly from many different angles, we did our best to make the house equally architecturally significant from all sides, as well as provide windows and outdoor spaces arranged to take advantage of the views.
I hope that you have the opportunity to come out to the 2010 Kaleidoscope of Homes tour from Oct 9th thru the 31st and see this house for yourself. Please visit www.TheKaleidoscopeOfHomes.com for more information about the show.
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