Style Sanctuary
A historic church has been transformed into a multipurpose studio and shop
Brown Design Studio sensitively updated the 1926 Second Baptist Church building, the longtime base of the Black congregation founded in 1910.
Written by Jessica Ritz
Photographs by Sara Prince
“The partners—in business and in life—eventually realized the opportunity to add something more to the meaningful site”
While the Second Baptist Church that has stood on East Gutierrez Street since 1926 no longer functions as a house of worship, Ryan Brown and Diego Monchamp of the Brown Design Group are continuing its legacy in fresh ways. The historically protected building was originally home to the Black congregation that was established in Santa Barbara in 1910, then to Church of Skatan, the popular skate shop and locals-only spot. After years of physical decline, interior designers Brown and Monchamp, who work in Los Angeles and Santa Barbara and settled in Santa Barbara full time in 2020, are ushering the property into its next chapter with care. As of this spring, it’s the headquarters of their Brown Design Group, featuring a lifestyle boutique appropriately dubbed MINISTRY OF THE INTERIOR.
“It was a great collaborative process to restore it,” Monchamp says of the 4,700-square-foot Gothic Revival building. He and Brown pored over the church’s archival materials and learned about its cultural and social significance from local historians. They repaired the stained glass windows using the original fabricator, designed new custom lighting pendants built by SH Studios, and increased the ceiling height with new trusses and skylights. “DMHA and Henry Lenny Design Studio were fundamental in helping us pull this off,” Monchamp says of their consulting architects.
Restored Gothic arched stained glass windows and new railings have renewed the historic site’s presence on East Gutierrez as Ministry of the Interior; the former sanctuary now houses the team’s working spaces and a welcoming retail experience; Brown’s and Monchamp’s respective studios are on the upper level; “My favorite aspect of our job is the final touches—the accessories, the art, the lighting,” Brown says of offering eclectic goods such as leather-wrapped crystals; partners Brown (left) and Monchamp; more curated finds.
“My favorite aspect of our job is the final touches,” Brown notes. “The accessories, the art, the lighting.” Ministry of the Interior was a way to respond to clients’ wishes to “shop from our shelves” for items like that and also fill a local retail niche.
The inventory features Brown’s finds from his recent travels to 15 countries. Books, small vintage goods, and furnishings from places such as Denmark and Argentina intermingle with ceramics by Chicago-based Julia Archer and braided leather-wrapped crystals crafted by Los Angeles artist Matthew Ready. A seating vignette with a residential feel is another delightful surprise. “My goal was to have it be approachable,” Brown says. Think of this store as a new type of welcoming sanctuary for design lovers. 26 E. Gutierrez St., Santa Barbara, 805-228-4113, interiorministry.com
