On the Waterfront
A beachside location sets the tone for an elegantly casual residence
Written by Joan Tapper
Photographs by Joe Schmelzer
The project was something of a surprise,” designer John De Bastiani says about the residence on Sand Point Road in Carpinteria. “It was a referral from a real estate agent. The owners had another house and were looking for a place while they renovated that home. But they found this house, which had recently had a refresh. It wasn’t a construction project, but we did some light renovations—countertops in the kitchen, hardwood floors in the bedroom. And we carved out a powder room in the hallway. The house was a bit of a hodgepodge.”
Light streams into the family room through lightweight curtains that add to the home’s breezy atmosphere. The two armchairs covered in bouclé fabric from Holland & Sherry evoke the work of architect and designer Arne Jacobsen. The Moroccan rug unites the room with graphic boldness.
Many of the original homes were simple beach cottages that residents added onto over the years. This one had postmodern vibes with a bit of post and beam. “But the additions had been done tastefully,” he says. “And it was so beautifully sited—with the ocean on one side and a view over the marsh to the mountains on the other. There was nothing to block the views. There was the peacefulness of looking out to the water. You feel like you’re in the Hamptons.”
The place was spacious—5,000 square feet and five bedrooms, just one story but with high ceilings and several levels that adjusted to the beachfront terrain. Every room was different, and as a whole, it was a blank slate. The home was a second residence and also needed to be furnished top to bottom.
In the informal dining area, there’s a vintage vibe to the light fixture, which illuminates an 18th-century Italian drop-leaf table that cozies up to a corner banquette.
“The owners had a main house in Los Angeles that had been done by an AD 100 designer, so this was a little intimidating at first,” says De Bastiani. “The owners proved to be lovely people, a vibrant couple with two children in college, and this was meant to be a family home. They didn’t give us a lot of direction; they appreciated the fact that we’re designers.”
De Bastiani doesn’t adhere to a specific signature style. “Projects can go in a lot of directions,” he says. “I prefer to decorate for what the clients like,” adding warmth, accessories, and interesting layers to the project. In this case, the overall feeling for the residence was traditional, “but not like your parents’ or grandparents’ traditional. There’s a youthful feel—casual and easy.”
The owners like contemporary art, notes John De Bastiani. He used an abstract painting by Florida artist Caleb Mahoney to focus attention in the living room, where the furnishings are a deft blend of styles and materials, from an antique octagon corner table to a small Moroccan side table. Rose Tarlow fabric in beige with a horizontal green stripe covers the capacious sofa, while a sheepskin ottoman invites you to put your feet up.
He chose a cool palette, blues and greens that seemed both appropriate for the setting and in tune with the husband’s penchant for nautical touches. There are also ethnic accents and contemporary art. “It feels very today.”
The living room is spacious but comes across as intimate. “The goal was to make it interesting with a mix of unique pieces,” says De Bastiani, who combined an antique octagon corner table with a small Moroccan side table and placed metal sconces on the wall. Presiding over the couch is a bold abstract painting by Caleb Mahoney, a contemporary artist from Florida.
The designer commissioned Maine artist John Matthew Moore to create the plaster-on-burlap Tree of Life for the primary bedroom and custom made the bobbin bed with linen coverlets. The embroidered curtains from Chelsea add to the array of textures in the graceful room.
Light flows throughout the house, but overhangs keep direct sun at bay. In the dining room, with its somewhat casual table and chairs, elegant French doors open to the patio at the front of the house, making entertaining an indoor-outdoor affair.
Off the kitchen, on the other side of the home, is an informal dining corner where focus is drawn to the rugged beachscape of rocks and water outside. “The banquette was there,” says De Bastiani, “but we added the cushions.”
“The goal was to make it interesting with a mix of unique pieces.”
The blue of that seating is echoed in the family room up a few stairs. Here the designer placed a large U-shaped sectional sofa, lowered slightly for a more modern feel and covered in linen. “Both owners are tall people,” he says, and the sofa is deep. “Kids could sleep on it.” Behind the sofa is a three-dimensional map of a harbor. “The owner loves maps. He grew up in Boston and Rhode Island.” No accident, then, that the rope ceiling fixture reflects a nautical influence.
Other small seaside touches continue in the guest room, with navy-and-white upholstery by Zak+Fox on the bed, a sisal rug, and a sly nod to surf culture in the form of a print of Clockwork Malibu by Anthony Friedkin, who has photographed many surfers.
In contrast, the Tree of Life in the primary bedroom is a commissioned plaster-on-burlap artwork by John Matthew Moore of Camden, Maine. “There are a lot of textures in the room,” says De Bastiani: a crackle glaze on the lamp, a big woven light fixture, a grasscloth rug. “When you look at things, they draw you in.”
Perfect for an indoor-outdoor lifestyle, the deck of the Sand Point residence has plenty of cushioned seating and a couple of occasional stone tables from The Well.
The only real construction done for the home was the addition of a powder room off the foyer. “I love the room,” he says. He placed a marble sink from Turkey on a custom oak base whose wooden pegs underscore its handcrafted provenance. Above the beadboard walls he added Indian block-print wallpaper by Michael Smith, again in shades of green and blue.
From presenting boards with images and fabric swatches to the move-in date, things came together in about four months, De Bastiani says. “There was a mesh of place and the owners’ personalities. We wanted it to feel like someone cared and collected the stuff. It’s not a showroom. It feels like someone lives there.”
