building patina farm

patina farm...

My friend Joan writes one of my favorite blogs, For the Love of a House. Joan's blog is about her and her husband Dan's "journey turning a once unloved antique farmhouse" into their home.  

In a recent post, Joan beautifully explained how she and Dan moved from Texas to New Hampshire even though they didn't know anyone who lived there. As much as they tried to convince themselves that it was crazy to purchase an old farmhouse that needed a lot of work, they felt it was their destiny. This was their house. Many people may have thought that Joan and Dan were crazy, but I completely understood their passion. 

Like Joan and Dan, Steve and I believe that things in our life happen for a reason....

Steve and I have always had a dream of  living on a farm when we retire. The farm would include gardens and animals and room for an art studio. Unfortunately we never thought we'd be able to afford it. Then we discovered Ojai. Not only is Ojai beautiful (you can see some of the natural beauty of Ojai in my last post), but the land is a great deal cheaper than the property in the neighborhood where we live now. 

For the past several months, Steve and I have been spending our free time exploring Ojai. At first we thought we would buy an older home and renovate it, but after doing some research we realized it would be easier to find a piece of land and build our dream home from scratch. That's when we found this...

During the weeks before we made an offer on this property, Steve and I spent our morning walks trying to convince each other that we were crazy. During the same walks we also shared our dreams of our future life in Ojai. Steve will paint. I'll take art classes, garden and raise chickens and a couple small horses (yes, I know. I'm crazy!). We will take long walks into town, and we will  continue to design homes for our clients, of course!

For the past couple of months, we visited the lot on the weekends. Steve drove up the coast several times to talk to  Sherry at the Ojai Planning Department to see if there were any issues with the property. During one of his visits, Steve sent me this photo. One of our neighbors was grazing his miniature horses on our lot. We both saw this as an omen. We were meant to live here. 

Here is Steve's first sketch of Patina Farm...

The main living space of the house will be very open, with the living room on the left, the dining area in the center and the kitchen on the right...

The entrance to the  master bedroom will be on the left, at the far end of the living room. There will be a garden outside of the master bedroom. Beyond the garden, a guest house, built out of an old barn, will sit here with a view between the trees. 

Although it will take a couple of years to become a reality, Steve and I are so excited about our new home! We hope that you will join us on this new adventure as we dream, design and build Patina Farm!

xo

Brooke

If you would like help creating the home of your dreams, email me about our design services. You can also purchase many items found here on Velvet and Linen as well as "to the trade" furnishings through Giannetti Home. Email Kelly about the details.

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patina farm: the interplay of rustic and modern...

As I mentioned in my last post, Steve and I spent some time this weekend starting the design of our new home. 

Our home will feel like a European farm house with a bit of a modern twist. 

Here is the front elevation. Click on the image to make it larger.

This is Steve's beautiful back elevation sketch. 

This majestic 300 year old Valley Oak tree will create a wonderful canopy above the center of our new home. 

There will be three arched steel doors on the back facade. Steve and I would love to use doors similar to this one in John Saladino's Villa.

Image from Villa by John Saladino

In the kitchen, a wall of steel windows will come down all the way to the counter, like the ones below. However we are leaning towards using windows without any mullions for a cleaner, more contemporary look. 

Image via Veranda Sept. 2007. Interior design by Renea Abbot

The modern windows will be placed between rustic antique barn beams. The entire wall will be glass to take advantage of the view and maximize the natural light. Glass shelves suspended from steel rods will hang on either side of the sink for storing everyday dishes and cups.

I'm looking forward to sharing this design process with you as it progresses!

I'd love to hear what you think so far.

xo

Brooke

If you would like help creating the home of your dreams, email me about our design services. You can also purchase many items found here on Velvet and Linen as well as "to the trade" furnishings through Giannetti Home. Email Kelly about the details.

 To Subscribe to Velvet and Linen click here.

To Become a Fan of Velvet and Linen on Facebook click here. 

 

Please visit our Amazon page to pre-order our new book, Patina Style.

patina farm: our studio...

As Steve and I start to design our new home, we've surrounded ourselves collected images that will inspire the look and feel of our entire house. 

Although the front door will be surrounded by stone (probably a golden Santa Barbara sandstone), most of the exterior and interior will be finished in an off white plaster, similar to the image below. We plan to mix a bit of the sand from the property into the plaster for texture and to relate the color of the house to its location. 

Image from Demeures de Campagne

Our studio will be built on the south side of the house, connected to the garage by a glassed in mud room. 

This is my favorite sketch because of the charming quirkiness of the roof lines.

The exterior of the studio will be the only part of the house covered in wood, similar to the image below.

Image from Rik Storms

The next three images are from a fantastic post on Greet's blog Belgian Pearls about a Beautiful Belgian Farmhouse designed by Ingrid Segers, Annemie Coppens and decorator Natalie Haegeman. This portion of the house is made from reclaimed oak. 

Steve and I love the warm gray brown tone of this wood. 

I was unsure about combining the white plaster, the terra cotta roof, and the reclaimed wood until I saw this image. Although this home is lime washed brick, I think our plaster will have the same chalky quality. 
 

I can hardly wait to see our studio come to life. In the meantime, I'd love to hear what you think of our studio design so far!

Have a wonderful weekend.

xo

Brooke

If you would like help creating the home of your dreams, email me about our design services. You can also purchase many items found here on Velvet and Linen as well as "to the trade" furnishings through Giannetti Home. Email Kelly about the details.

 To Subscribe to Velvet and Linen click here.

To Become a Fan of Velvet and Linen on Facebook click here. 

 

Please visit our Amazon page to pre-order our new book, Patina Style.

patina farm modern inspiration: carlo scarpa

When Steve first dropped the "I'd like the design of our next home to have a contemporary influence" bomb on me, I was very nervous. Images of a concrete box of a house filled my head. Where  would I curl up to read a book? What about all of my French and Swedish antiques? Surely they would be replaced with leather cube furniture. When Steve saw the tears welling in my eyes, he introduced me to the work of Italian Architect Carlo Scarpa (1906-1978)...

I started to calm down when I saw the images of  the Museo Canova in Possagno, Italy.

The glowing plaster walls and the steel windows made me sigh...

I loved the juxtaposition of the clean architecture with the beautiful classic sculptures.


Photographer Peter Guthrie created these hauntingly beautiful computer generated images of the Museum.

Image by Peter Guthrie

Image by Peter Guthrie

I thought you might enjoy taking a video tour of Peter Guthrie's computer generated museum.

Museo Canoviano from Peter Guthrie on Vimeo.

I breathed another sigh of relief when I saw this image of the Galleria Regionale di Sicilia. Carlo Scarpa designed this renovation of the Palazzo Abatellis in 1954. Located in Palerme, Italy, this building is proof that contemporary design can blend beautifully with classical architecture. 

Image by Richard Bryant

 
After seeing these images, I could definitely imagine our home having a bit of a Scarpa influence. I started to see hints of Carlo Scarpa in many of my inspiration images.

Like Scarpa's Museo Canovano, this room has beautiful plaster walls, cement floors, and steel windows. 

 

 

Image from Essentially French by Josephine Ryan. Photo by Claire Richardson

Another one of my saved images shares the simple plaster walls with no baseboard as seen in Scarpa's work . 

Image from Essentially French by Josephine Ryan. Photo by Claire Richardson

Like the Palazzo Abatellis, this room combines clean plaster walls with a wood ceiling. The gorgeous paneled doors take center stage next to a rustic sink with a contemporary faucet.  

Image via Country French Antiques

After my discussion with Steve, I added photos of Carlo Scarpa's work to my Patina Farm inspiration file, and thanked Steve for his patience. He handed me a kleenex and thanked me for keeping an open mind :) 

xo

Brooke

If you would like help creating the home of your dreams, email me about our design services. You can also purchase many items found here on Velvet and Linen as well as "to the trade" furnishings through Giannetti Home. Email Kelly about the details.

 To Subscribe to Velvet and Linen click here.

To Become a Fan of Velvet and Linen on Facebook click here. 

Please visit our Amazon page to pre-order our new book, Patina Style.

 

barn beams, glass, round windows and other details...

After writing the last several posts about our new home, I received quite a few emails from readers about various design elements we will be incorporating into our house plans...

One of the most frequently asked questions was about our glassed in mudroom. Were we really planning to use sheets of glass between antique barn beams? How would this look?

Although our mud room will only be one story tall, this is the feeling I have in mind, including some gorgeous vines, although the ones in my head are a pale pink roses. 

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Several readers had questions about the round window in the image below.

We plan to have several round or oval windows in our home. They will be placed high in the walls to allow light into the rooms.

We were inspired by this gorgeous window in my friend Penny Bianchi's Master Bedroom. 

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I hope to find antique windows that will be deeply set in the plaster walls. 

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After my last post about Carlo Scarpa, a few readers were concerned that we were planning to use concrete floors. Although I actually love concrete floors (we used them in our last home), we are planning to have rustic oak floors throughout most of the house, similar to the floor in the image below.

Image Source

Please feel free to ask questions about our design plans so far. I'll try to answer as many as possible.

In the meantime, our kids are on Spring Break, and we are getting ready to take a short family vacation in Chicago. This is our first trip to the Windy City, so I'd appreciate any recommendations!

xo

Brooke

If you would like help creating the home of your dreams, email me about our design services. You can also purchase many items found here on Velvet and Linen as well as "to the trade" furnishings through Giannetti Home. Email Kelly about the details.

 To Subscribe to Velvet and Linen click here.

To Become a Fan of Velvet and Linen on Facebook click here. 

Please visit our Amazon page to pre-order our new book, Patina Style.

 

patina farm: the model...

Just a couple of thank you's before I start this post...

Thank you to Marianne at Haven & Home for asking me to write a guest post for her "Love the one you're with" series. To read about what I'm loving please visit Marianne's beautiful blog. 

I also want to thank all of you who wrote supportive comments and emails about our chicken (too many roosters!) ordeal.  Henrietta is having the hardest time adjusting to the new chicks, so we've been spending some time together at night on the couch. Yes, I'm officially the crazy chicken woman!

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Like many of our clients, I find models to be extremely helpful. Seeing our home in 3 dimensions allows me to really understand how the rooms connect to each other and to the the gardens. 

This is the front facade of Patina Farm!  There will be a gravel motor court in front of the main entrance and a gravel drive that leads to the garages on the West (right) side of the house. 

The entrance tower will be white lime washed brick. Two large wood shutter doors will remain open during the day to allow light through the glass front door. 

Our kitchen garden and chicken coop will be on the West side of the house, directly behind the garages. 

Although the majority of the house will be plaster with an antique french tile roof, this garage will be made of gray wood with an metal roof. 

The chicken coop will be made from gray wood and chicken wire with an metal roof over the chicken sleeping and nesting area. Our studio will have a view of this garden and our roaming chickens. 

There are three large arched steel doors on the back of the house allowing light into my studio, the main living space, and our bedroom. 

The three windows of the kitchen and the trio of windows above the living room window seat flank the middle steel doors. 

The main part of the house is very open, with only a white lime washed brick fireplace separating the kitchen and the dining room/living room. 

Here's another view of the inside. There is a large pantry to the right of the kitchen. 

We're now starting to collect more finish samples. The palette is very light and neutral with accents of chalky blue gray. We won't begin building until next year, which gives us the luxury of time to work out all of the details!

xo

Brooke

One last, very important note... I want to congratulate my friend Monika Claasen on her home being featured in the May/June issue of Rue Magazine. Please visit Monika at Spendid Willow to read more about the photo shoot. Click here to see her home in Rue. Yay Mon!

If you would like help creating the home of your dreams, email me about our design services. You can also purchase many items found here on Velvet and Linen as well as "to the trade" furnishings through Giannetti Home. Email Kelly about the details.

 To Subscribe to Velvet and Linen click here.

Please visit our Amazon page to pre-order our new book, Patina Style.

 

the perfect birthday present...

Steve gave me a wonderful early surprise birthday present! Although my birthday isn't until tomorrow, we spent the day together in Ojai on Tuesday. He made plans for us to meet our landscape installer, Brian Diamond at the site to talk about trimming our beautiful Oak trees. 

Before meeting Brian, we stopped by Ojai City Hall to chat with Sherry, the charming woman who runs the Planning Department. We've already had our arborist inspect our trees, but because our Oak trees are a protected species it's important to understand the trimming guidelines thoroughly.

Then it was off to the site! Steve and I spent some time over the weekend laying out the house on the lot so we could see if it was in the perfect position. This was extremely helpful. We actually moved the front door over 3 feet so that our guests would have a view of the mountains underneath the canopy of our oldest Oak tree.

Once the dead branches are removed, our studio will have a breathtaking view through the trees.

When we sit by the fire in our bedroom at sunset, we'll be able to see "the pink moment" as the mountains reflect the colors of the setting sun.

This lovely Oak will shade the chicken coop, so the chicks will stay cool. 

At the present moment our lot is split into two levels. This is the view from the bottom looking up at where our future home will sit.  We plan to add some terraces going down the hill to create different outdoor "rooms".  

Over dinner that night, Steve and I dreamed up our first ideas for our landscape plan on Steve's ipad. Eventually the plan will include a kitchen/chicken garden, a large field of lavender, a duck pond, an orchard, stables and a meadow for some horses. Each of these areas will probably be developed one by one as smaller projects. 

A couple of you have asked about the more technical aspects of our design. As our plans move forward I promise I will share with you what we've learned about solar power and hydro-thermal energy options as well as our plans to dig our own well on the property. 

 I love being able to share our dreams with you and would appreciate any comments you might have about our plans so far!

Have a wonderful weekend!

xo

Brooke

If you would like help creating the home of your dreams, email me about our design services. You can also purchase many items found here on Velvet and Linen as well as "to the trade" furnishings through Giannetti Home. Email Kelly about the details.

 To Subscribe to Velvet and Linen click here.

Please visit our Amazon page to pre-order our new book, Patina Style.

 

 

visiting belgium and france...

Steve and I love to travel with our children. Introducing them to cultures that are different from ours is one of our greatest pleasures. We also tend to choose countries that inspire our designs in some way, so this month we are taking a family trip to Belgium and France. Our recent projects, including Patina Farm, have been greatly influenced by the design aesthetics of these two countries. 

We are excited to be spending the day with our dear friend Greet Lefevre and her family. Greet is a talented interior designer and writer of the blog Belgian Pearls.

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Ever since I met Greet through our blogs, I've admired the Lefevre's gorgeous home and gardens. I'm particularly impressed by Greet's husband, Jan who does a lot of the work himself!

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Greet shared these images of her garden in a recent post. Her garden has the perfect balance of symmetry and softness.

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I'm looking forward to seeing this charming out building that Jan built last year. 

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Greet's orangerie is covered in luscious grape vines!

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Through her posts on Belgian Pearls, Greet has introduced me to several architectural resources that we plan to visit. Our first stop will be Van Cronenburg.

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We hope to be able to use their hardware throughout Patina Farm.

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Their designs have the tactile hand made quality that I've been searching for.

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Their finishes are also fantastic!

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Greet wrote an amazing post about her favorite resources for reclaimed architectural materials. We plan to visit several of them during our visit, including Rik Storm.

These beams are the perfect pale gray color for Patina Farm! 

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I adore everything about this room...the ceiling, the brick floor, those gorgeous steel windows!
 
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I'd like to use some reclaimed wood on the outside of our studio!

 
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Verschaeve is another destination on our list. I've made a schedule of all of the doors we need for Patina Farm and am hopeful that I will find most of them at Verschaeve,  given their extensive selection of antique doors.

 
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I wish I had a place for these beauties!

 
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We also have a date to visit the studio and residence of one of the most influential designers alive today, Axel Vervoordt!

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Our day will start at the Kanaal, a former distillery that Axel Vervoordt has transformed into exposition rooms, offices, warehouses, and restoration workshops.

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We have plans to tour Axel and May Vervoordt's private residence, the Castle of s'Gravenwezel near Antwerp.

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After exploring Belgium, we are driving to Paris for a couple of days. We don't have a many plans, but we do have tickets to see the Ralph Lauren Automobile exhibit at the Louvre. 

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The entire family has a strong appreciation for beautiful car design.

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After seeing Woody Allen's latest movie Midnight in Paris, Steve, Leila and I put Monet's Water Lilies exhibit at the L'Orangerie on our "must see" list. 

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Vicki Archer, book author and writer of one of my favorite daily blog reads, French Essence,was kind enough to send me a list of her favorite boutiques. Leila and I are planning to carve out a little "mom and daughter bonding time" to do some shopping. Thank you Vicki! 

This is Vicki's dreamy home in Provence!  Vicki knows how to live...

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We are also squeezing in a day trip to Provence to visit my friend Heather Robinson.

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Those of you who follow Heather's blog, Lost in Arles, know that Heather is a fabulous writer that now lives in the charming town of Arles.  We are hoping to do some antique shopping during the day, but just being in Provence is enough for me!

This is Heather and Remi's last apartment. They just signed the lease for a new residence that I'm looking forward to seeing.

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I'm excited to take you with us on our trip. I plan to do many posts during our travels including a few videos. I think they will give you some insight into our design process as well.

I would also love to get your suggestions to add to our "must see" list! 

xo

Brooke

If you would like help creating the home of your dreams, email me about our design services. You can also purchase many items found here on Velvet and Linen as well as "to the trade" furnishings through Giannetti Home. Email Kelly about the details.

 To Subscribe to Velvet and Linen click here.

Please visit our Amazon page to pre-order our new book, Patina Style.

 

 

patina farm: the chicken coop and kitchen garden...

I received my September issue of Atlanta Home and Lifestyles Magazine on Monday. Although the entire issue is fantastic (The 2011 Decorators' Show House & Gardens is stunning!), I spent most of my time oogling over a garden designed by Jeremy Smearman of Planters Inc. (photography by Erica George Dines).

Because Steve and I are concentrating on the design of the chicken coop and kitchen garden for Patina Farm (and because this garden is so charming!), I want to share these images with you...

This auxillary building was transformed into a chicken coop. 

 

Using bent wood pyramids to help support perches for the chickens is such a great detail. Look at those happy chickens!

 

I also like the connection between the chicken coop and the kitchen garden. This is where I would spend my days.

To see all of the images of this gorgeous estate please visit  Atlanta Homes and Lifestyles. 

This is Steve's sketch of the Patina Farm chicken coop next to our gray wood garage (covered in Cecil Bruner pink rose vines). 

 

I hope this plan helps explain how the garden and coop are connected. Most of the coop will be open mesh (I plan to grow plants inside for chicken shade and nibbling) except for the back area where the chickens will sleep and lay their eggs. This space will be large enough for the chickens to stay out of the rain. 

There is also a small kitchen between the garage and the coop. I can store all of my kitchen and chicken supplies in there (think rustic stone counter and sink with open shelves above with a collection of vintage metal watering cans).

 

The coop will be constructed of wood and chicken wire, similar to these beautiful structures. 

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I  relocated my office so it will be in line with the garden and the coop.  My office is almost entirely made of glass. I'll be able to  enjoy the garden while I work! I also have a covered porch next to the garden where I can work as well.  

 

Here's the view of the whole garden from my office...

I think Henrietta and her brood will be very happy in their new home.

I'd love to hear what you think of our new coop and garden design. Any suggestions?

 

On another note... I want to thank Marni Jameson for including us in her article: At Home: Relax Time Looks Good on You.  Check it out. I think you'll enjoy it...

 

xo

Brooke

If you would like help creating the home of your dreams, email me about our design services. You can also purchase many items found here on Velvet and Linen as well as "to the trade" furnishings through Giannetti Home. Email Kelly about the details.

 To Subscribe to Velvet and Linen click here.

Please visit the Patina Style Barnes and Noble page or Amazon page  to order our new book.

Signed Copies of Patina Style are available through Giannetti Home.

 

 

patina farm update: the gardens...

 I hope you had a wonderful week! Steve and I have been spending our spare moments designing the gardens at Patina Farm.

 

Here is Steve's latest sketch of the front elevation. It's getting a little less symetrical and a little more quirky, just the way I like it!

 

There will be a gravel courtyard with something like this in the center surrounded by lavender. 

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Here is a sketch of the entire lot. It's huge! This is our dream of what it will look like...eventually. 

 

The house will be centered on a 300 year old Oak tree, similar to this one behind the "It's Complicated" house.

via Cote de Texas 

 

Here is our lovely.

 

The gardens closer to the house will be a bit more manicured and will include...

 

the chicken coop that I shared with you in a past post. 

 

Eventually, I'd love this area to be almost as overgrown as this guest house on one of Ralph Lauren's properties.

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My kitchen garden will look like this.

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There will be a walkway lined with potted topiaries leading to the formal cutting garden that in my dreams looks like....

 

designer Tricia Guild in her gorgeous garden. Photo by James Merrell

 

this :)

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Our property is not flat, so we will be creating terraces with moments to enjoy along the way.

 

 

There will be Cypresses (like these beauties at Rose Story Farm) lining two walkways down the hill....

 

The stairs will be made of ancient stone and the terraces will be covered in decomposed granite and gravel. 

 

 

There will be places to sit next to a fountain.

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One of the walkways begins at the arched steel door of our bedroom.  In this sketch you can also get a sense of the shady canopy created by the Sycamores we will start planting in the next couple of months.

 

A barn guest house will be built under another large 300 year old Oak tree (yes, we will make sure not to hurt the tree!).

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In the sketch above, you may also notice a walled in courtyard off of our bathroom (behind our bedroom). It will feel like this...

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There will also be a small access road so I can drive my small truck down to the stables. Think this...

 

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A sketch of the center of our home shows the gorgeous ancient Oak tree that will shade most of our home.  Steve's studio will be located on the left and is covered in aged gray wood. 

 

Located to the left of Steve's office is the other pathway, leading to the stables (yes, we're dreaming big... ponies are a ways off).

 

I'm imagining something like this stable designed by our friend Thomas Callaway (note more Sycamores)

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As we get farther from the house, the planting will be much more natural and will require less maintenance.

 

The pond will be located across from the stables on the other side of the meadow.

 

A structure, similar to the one pictured below, will be built on the dock. The perfect place for weddings!

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Or maybe something like this!

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I hope you will continue to share our journey with us, as we turn this...

 

Into this!

 

Wishing you a wonderful Autumn weekend. I plan to spend some time in my existing garden. We didn't have much luck with our pumpkins, but our tomatoes are supplying us with plenty of fall color. And they look a bit like miniature pumkins, don't you agree?

xo

Brooke

If you would like help creating the home of your dreams, email me about our design services. You can also purchase many items found here on Velvet and Linen as well as "to the trade" furnishings through Giannetti Home. Email Kelly about the details.

To Subscribe to Velvet & Linen via email click here.

To follow Velvet & Linen on Facebook click here.

Please visit the Patina Style Barnes and Noble page or Amazon page  to order our new book.

Signed Copies of Patina Style are available through Giannetti Home.