I've been told by my doctor to let my arm rest a bit (shooting pain from my shoulder to my hand!), so Steve is doing a guest blog post today...
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Hi Everyone! Last week I was given the opportunity to visit a home I designed about 14 years ago.
The owner, Dan Mcghee, is a contractor that I worked with on a number of projects. The quality of his work is amazing, as you can see from The JD Group website, so I knew the collaboration would be a lot of fun.
Dan had a love for Italian villas so we set about to make a Rustic Italian Hillside home. The back yard was almost a full floor above the driveway and the yard was angled so it was a bit of a challenge. We divided the house from the garage and created an angled courtyard between the house and garage.
Here you can see the trellised courtyard above that connects a home office to a guestroom above the garage. The landscaping has grown in nicely over the years.
The garage doors ,made from old barn wood, have also developed a lovely Patina.
The stone veneer on the Garage is my favorite part of this home, replicating the rubble used in Italian villas, and the Boston ivy and bougenvilla overtaking it make it look even better.
This is the entry to the Guest room, where some old brick supports the header. You can see the aged paint on the door.
In the back of the house the Boston ivy has taken over and create a nice fall color palette.
There is also a hidden little stair down to a wine cellar.
The Guest house also has a bay window, made with barn wood, that overlooks an olive grove..
On the stairs up to the front door , Dan has created a great collection of pottted plants
that give the house a lot of charm
Here you can see the front door from the inside. It's down a half a level, and we designed a series of arches above the entry to carry the stair to the second floor.
The ceiling of the main room also has old barn beams. Dan whitewashed them a few years ago to lighten things up a bit.
A beautiful old green hutch is the focal point of the dining room. The stone wall shows up inside, connecting it to the outside palette and adds texture and warmth.
The Kitchen is open to the main living area, like a big barnlike loft space, and the stove is recessed into what looks like a big brick fireplace. I sure have been using this trick a long time..
The kitchen sink also has the stone wall behind it. This is the kind of photo that drives Brooke crazy, " You couldn't move the towel from the sink?" .Well I guess not, I was chatting with Dan, and I had even forgotten my camera.. I took all these with my new iphone..Oh well..
Any way it was a fun visit as we chatted in his back yard looking out at the view.. I could see why Italy came to mind when he bought the property.
We are hoping that this little rest will give Brooke's arm a chance to heal. In the meantime, she is busy with the new "shower chickens"...
We are looking forward to seeing some of you this Thursday, November 3rd at the Patina Style book signing at Penelope and Adam Bianchi's home in Montecito!
Have a wonderful Fall weekend!
Steve (Husband of Velvet and Linen)
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