Viva Magenta
Top picks in the season’s hottest shade
Top picks in the season’s hottest shade
Edited by Charlotte Bryant
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Design Duo
The power couple behind Cove House share their 2023 must haves
Isabella and Chase Duddy, husband-and-wife creators of Cove House, covehouse.co
The power couple behind Cove House share their 2023 must haves
Edited by Charlotte Bryant | Photography by Tessa Neustadt, Ally Simons (Portrait)
SANTA BARBARA LIGHTS is our go-to for exterior lights. Karen and her husband have sourced the most incredible collection of antique lights.
Kate and Mimi at THE WELL SUMMERLAND are so lovely, and they have the most insane selection of pots, furniture, art, and more. We just bought two leather-slipcovered armchairs for Casa Plunkett.
Ceramics, baskets, and antique bells from India are perfect for decorating a shelf from DOMECIL, a little gem that has a gorgeous selection of home wares.
JENNI KAYNE in Montecito has the best pillows, and her upholstered Pacific bed is classic.
We recently scored the most beautiful antique dresser from SUMMERLAND ANTIQUE COLLECTIVE. We love melding old and new.
Follow @cove.house for more on #casavista and #casaplunkett projects
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Meadowscaping
Rustic and rattan tones for indoor/outdoor living
Interiorscape by Plant Gallery.
Rustic and rattan tones for indoor/outdoor living
Edited by Charlotte Bryant
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Pillow Talk
Global goods at a textile candy store
Global goods at a textile candy store
Written by Jennifer Blaise Kramer | Photographs by Sara Prince
Jean-Philippe Cajuste of Indian Pink dons an Indian velvet textile robe in the comfort of his Montecito home.
Jean-Philippe Cajuste, aka “The Pillow Man,” earned his nickname selling pillows made from vintage textiles his wife, Tamara, would collect from all over the world while working as a flight attendant. “I’d meet her at the airport on a layover with a black duffle bag—it looked like a full-on drug deal,” he says. Whenever they’d travel together, he’d pack hundreds of pillow covers—from Jaipur prints to Chinese batiks—in hues that were fitting for the destination, such as coastal blues for Nantucket or the Hamptons. Inevitably all the pillows would sell out, which essentially funded the couple’s trips.
Those same seaside hues caught the eye of their first client, a buyer from local design store Rooms & Gardens, resulting in frequent trips and an eventual move to Santa Barbara. The Cajustes settled their family into Montecito, where home is a “laboratory,” and their first retail outpost, INDIAN PINK, puts a face to the brand so many designers, decorators, and celebrities have come to love. The bohemian State Street boutique feels like a textile candy store, full of pastel block-printed pajamas, vintage upholstered furniture, and countless pillows. But rather than adding to the cliché of couples constantly fighting over too many throw pillows on the bed, Jean-Philippe often talks people into just one. “I hear it daily—if I buy another pillow my husband’s going to kill me,” he laughs, admitting it’s easy to overdo it. “Sometimes it’s like, where’s there to sit?” 1307 State St., Santa Barbara, 310-908-5011, indianpinkshop.com
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Chic & Proper
Impeccable details and eclectic inspiration for your travels
Potted cactus and palms flank the historic Renaissance Revival building in Los Angeles.
Impeccable details and eclectic inspiration for your travels
Kelly Wearstler’s turn as the design partner for PROPER HOTELS has been one of the most fascinating hostelry stories of the past decade. Beginning with a landmark San Francisco property in 2017, the brand grew to include outposts in Santa Monica and Austin in 2019, before rounding out its portfolio with a downtown Los Angeles location in 2021. The disparate venues showcase the range of Wearstler’s work, from the restoration of a historic 1920s building in L.A. to a sculptural new build from Handel Architects in Texas.
For Curlett & Beelman’s California Renaissance Revival landmark, Wearstler has drawn on Spanish, French, and Moroccan influences, along with Mexican modernism, deploying more than 100 types of tile throughout the building, along with vintage rugs and furniture and handmade ceramics and murals. The result is an eclectic gem of a hotel with a residential feel and an outsize spirit. Where else would you find a suite with its own private swimming pool?
In Austin, the contrast between the concrete, glass, and metal exterior of the property and the vivid, textured interior points up the paradoxes that best represent this great state. Travertine tile mined directly from local quarries and a patchwork of vintage rugs and the work of Texan craftspeople mark this hotel as a love letter to the landscape and artistic heart of the surrounding city. properhotels.com
Brian De Lowe’s Austin Food Scene
Besides Austin Proper’s stellar Mediterranean restaurant THE PEACOCK and the alfresco LA PISCINA, the cofounder and president of Proper Hotels gives us his best bets for lunch and dinner in this Texas town.
SAMMIE’S (sammiesitalian
.com) New old-school Italian spot. Chicken parm!
SUERTE (suerteatx.com) Handmade tortillas, suadero tacos, and amazing aguachiles.
LAUNDERETTE (launderetteaustin.com)
East Side American fusion. Great place for dinner.
JUSTINE’S (justines1937.com) East Side French. Make sure to sit outside in the garden for dinner.
CLARK’S (clarksaustin.com) Perfect neighborhood spot that I could eat at three times a week.
JEFFREY’S (jeffreysofaustin.com) Fine dining. Great vibe, especially in the bar. Try the burger.
LORO (loroeats.com) Asian-BBQ fusion (a concept from Aaron Franklin of Franklin BBQ and Tyson Cole of Uchi).
POOL BURGER (poolburger.com) Super-casual tiki vibe.
HOWARD’S (howardsaustin.com) + ROSIE’S (rosiesaustin.com) Newly opened. Fun dance party at Howard’s and wine bar at Rosie’s.
Hive of Activity
Just minutes from downtown Santa Ynez, the Shunem Bread House provides an architectural contrast to the surrounding countryside.
Written by Anna Ferguson-Sparks | Photography by Lindsey Drewes
Just minutes from downtown Santa Ynez, the Shunem Bread House provides an architectural contrast to the surrounding countryside. Owners and builders Leyla and Brad Williams, proprietors of Solvang’s Good Seed Coffee Boutique, worked with Ulrick Design on the unusual structure. It’s tied to the Williams’s nonprofit, Sky Roots, through which Leyla conducts workshops on homestead arts and Hebraic culture. Named for the biblical woman who sheltered the prophet Elisha, Shunem Bread House is a retreat for visitors and a space to meet, educate, and entertain.
The building’s cantilevered upper level has a beehive form inspired by the healing properties of honey and its importance in the Bible, while the lower level houses a metaphorical hive of activity. Upstairs are two bedrooms with organic Coyuchi bed linens and one full bath with a redwood slab counter and a Stone Forest sink with Brizo brass fixtures. The living space features a wet bar and opens to a covered patio and a sundeck with 360-degree views of mountains and vineyards.
The first floor’s dining area, library, and lounge include an antique drafting desk transformed into a Torah ark by local carpenter Matt Rogers and a table and chairs by Central Coast woodworker Ben Riddering. In the lower-level commercial kitchen—where Leyla bakes Good Seed’s heritage-grain sourdough breads—is a chandelier handcrafted by Brad from an antique threshing sledge and incorporating pendants from Alison Berger Glassworks.
In the future, Shunem Bread House plans a picnic-lunch program and pop-up culinary events. $650/night. Available through airbnb.com.
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Natural Preserve
Homeowners who build in Montecito are frequently frustrated with the county ordinance that protects old-grown oaks and complicates construction plans on many properties throughout our beautiful canyons.
Written by Charles Donelan | Photography by Sara Prince
Native plants line the sections of the "branch house" that extend among the oaks.
Homeowners who build in Montecito are frequently frustrated with the county ordinance that protects old-grown oaks and complicates construction plans on many properties throughout our beautiful canyons. When it came to replacing a modest ranch house that was edged by an oak grove on San Ysidro Creek, however, the owners embraced the legal limitations and trusted their project to an innovative plan for the one-acre site, tapping architect Peter Tolkin of TOLO, landscape designer Wade Graham, and Rich Coffin of RHC Construction for the bold project.
“The original ranch house sat at the edge of the lot; the ‘branch house’ would arise in the heart of the property, with the grove of protected oaks surrounding it.”
An unconventional site plan allowed the house to nestle within the oak grove without crossing the drip lines of the protected trees.
The team traced the outlines of the existing oaks as large circles and devised a pinwheel-shaped “branch house” that would fit into the forest like another large tree. They cantilevered the branchlike sections of the house off the ground, allowing for water and even debris to flow underneath. Then Tolkin came up with an exterior that would interact with the garden over time—a sheath of custom copper shingles that develops a rich patina and blends with the colors of the oaks.
Boulders excavated from the site reappear in the landscaping.
In designing the landscape, Graham counterbalanced the curvilinear organic volumes of the house with an imaginative site plan that introduced straight lines and hard angles. As excavation pulled boulders from the ground, Graham had them milled and fitted together to form angular benches.
The entire branch house project represents a significant advance in residential design. By living and building with the oaks rather than against them, the house reveals a path forward for Montecito’s next century. toloarchitecture.com; wadegraham.com; rhcconstructioninc.com.
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Larger Than Life
Aristides “Aris” Burton Demetrios is perhaps best known for the contemporary public sculptures he created in Northern California
Joie de Vivre, owned by Chris and Bob Emmons
Written by Charles Donelan
Aristides “Aris” Burton Demetrios is perhaps best known for the contemporary public sculptures he created in Northern California, but his work plays an equally prominent role in homes and institutions in Santa Barbara and Montecito.
Since moving here with his wife, Ilene H. Nagel, in 1998, Demetrios fulfilled more than 100 private commissions for many of the most elegant estates in the region. In a bold abstract style and with a penchant for revealing emotion through form and gesture, Demetrios gave his clients playful, humanistic works. Whether it was putting a Fiddler on the Roof for Kirk and Anne Douglas, designing a whimsical sculpture for UCSB’s Sir Anthony Cheetham, or highlighting the family feeling of friends such as Bob and Chris Emmons through a composition of ten acrobats, Demetrios used sculpture as a universal language of optimism and love.
Born in 1932 in Lincoln, Massachusetts, Demetrios came to California by way of Harvard College and the U.S. Navy and enrolled in the architecture school at UC Berkeley, where he began to make large-scale pieces. Santa Barbara residents can enjoy Demetrios’s work on the West Campus lawn of Santa Barbara City College, where his fountain, Mentors, celebrates faculty and students, and at the Ridley-Tree Cancer Center, where Dance of Life embodies a positive message of peace and vitality.
Demetrios, who passed away in December 2021, is sorely missed by his many friends here and around the world. Fortunately, his work lives on in thousands of homes and public spaces, as an indicator of lives well lived and the power of an artist to bring joy to the world.
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Bookmarked
When Appleton Partners relocated its architectural offices to the 900 block of Chapala Street a couple of years ago, it embraced a chapter of Santa Barbara history.
While it is not open to the public, researchers can make special arrangements to get access to the library.
Written by Joan Tapper | Photography by Sara Prince
When Appleton Partners relocated its architectural offices to the 900 block of Chapala Street a couple of years ago, it embraced a chapter of Santa Barbara history: The two adobe buildings there had been administrative headquarters for Hollister Ranch, and one still contained an impressive vintage safe. The smaller structure—just 14 feet wide—has now been transformed into a library for the 3,000 carefully curated architecture, design, and landscape books collected by firm founder Marc Appleton, including rare and out-of-print works and volumes on Spanish Colonial style.
“The books still need cataloguing,” says Appleton, “but eventually we want to turn it into a working library accessible to the public and the design community.” appleton-architects.com.
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That Personal Touch
Antiquarian Lee Stanton has been splitting his residential time between Montecito and Los Angeles for nearly a decade, but it was only last August that he opened PRIVATE STASH
Written by Joan Tapper | Photographs by Sara Prince
Antiquarian Lee Stanton has been splitting his residential time between Montecito and Los Angeles for nearly a decade, but it was only last August that he opened PRIVATE STASH, a small shop in the Upper Village that features select pieces from Stanton’s personal collection. Like his large Los Angeles showroom—which has been a mainstay for celebrity interior designers for 20 years—the new business focuses on 17th-, 18th-, and 19th-century antiques from England and Europe, but it’s a more curated, eclectic version of his elegant and refined inventory in a more relaxed setting.
“I had amassed quite a collection,” says Stanton, who wanted to downsize and also gain a better understanding of clients in this area and their taste. “I’ve brought things in stages, a few pieces at a time. And I’m finding that people enjoy coming in each week and seeing what’s new.”
In addition to designers from Los Angeles who are decorating homes in the Santa Barbara area, the business welcomes private clients. “I’m beginning to sell to end users,” Stanton says. “People now want to personalize their home—to fine-tune their décor or add a special piece that makes a statement.”
The location—a mini design enclave with neighbors like Davis & Taft and Marc Normand Gelinas—has many benefits. There’s a community feeling that reminds Stanton of the small Ohio town where he grew up.
“I love my little shop,” he adds. “It’s like a scene from an old British film. When you walk in, you feel like there’s someone who’s been a collector for years, someone you can trust and who has things you can enjoy or share.” 1482 East Valley Rd., Ste. 41, Montecito, leestanton.com.
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Enlighten Me
As a former cinematographer, Bino Marsetti is an expert on lighting.
Bino Marsetti
Written by L.D. Porter
As a former cinematographer, Bino Marsetti is an expert on lighting. So when an injury sidelined his film career, he pivoted to making handcrafted sculptural light fixtures. Working in copper, aluminum, and molded plywood—the latter a nod to midcentury designers Charles and Ray Eames—the results are breathtakingly beautiful and include indoor installations as well as outdoor lanterns and area lighting. One of his most dramatic designs, Fiocco, is a three-tiered construction of Baltic birch that commands attention while providing graceful illumination. He’s even volunteered his skills to Crane Country Day School, constructing a handsome row of hand-washing sinks for students as a COVID-19 response measure. His pieces take from one to 10 weeks to produce. binomarsetti.com.
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Mad for Mod
In love with midcentury modernism? Head to SBMIDMOD in the Funk Zone, where a treasure trove of sleek style awaits.
Owner Tracey Strobel ensures all items are in pristine condition and ready to go.
Written by L.D. Porter | Photography by Sara Prince
In love with midcentury modernism? Head to SBMIDMOD in the Funk Zone, where a treasure trove of sleek style awaits. The selection includes furniture, lighting, tableware, accessories, and art, all expertly curated by enthusiastic owner Tracey Strobel, a true aficionado of modern design. All items are in pristine condition and ready to go. “I try not to have anything that’s rundown,” Strobel says. “When people come in here, I want them to be able to take it home and enjoy it.” What started two decades ago as a personal collection eventually morphed into Stobel’s current vocation. “I think most antique dealers would say they got their start by overcollecting,” she says with a laugh. She discovered her delightful brick-walled location just one year ago, during a bike ride that included a stop at Mony’s taqueria located just steps away. “I love the Funk Zone,” Strobel says, “I love coming down here for food, there’s great stores, there’s good galleries, it’s super fun.” 223 Anacapa St., Ste. C, Santa Barbara, 805-364-2447. sbmidmod.com.
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Team Player
As head of the interior design team at Warner Group Architects, Jamie Hallows enjoys working on projects from start to finish.
Hallows darkened the silk-backed shelves in the library to set off contemporary art.
Written by Joan Tapper | Photography by Sara Prince
Jamie Hallows Warner Group Architects
As head of the interior design team at Warner Group Architects, Jamie Hallows enjoys working on projects from start to finish. “The firm has a holistic approach to design,” she says, which means she is involved from the initial space planning to choosing finishes and fun stuff like furniture and accessories. “We work collaboratively, and that gives the client a complete experience.”
A graduate of Westmont College with a BA in art, Hallows pursued interior design in Los Angeles and worked there for a decade before returning to Santa Barbara nine years ago. She joined the Warner Group in 2016, and since then she typically has 10 or 15 projects on her desk at any one time. She recently completed a large, three-story residence in Montecito. “We made some architectural modifications, but it was primarily an interior project,” she says. “The existing home had an Old World look, but the new owners’ sensibility was much more contemporary. They liked soft colors and blue tones and wanted things approachable, not stuffy, but luxe.”
She used a neutral palette overall, papered the primary bedroom with a chinoiserie mural, darkened the paneling in the library, and transformed a dark kitchen to a bright white space. The result is classic and sophisticated, an elegant backdrop for the owners’ collection of abstract expressionist art.
“One of the things I really love is when the design comes together,” says Hallows. “There’s a moment when I hear it click. That can be on paper first, and then a second time when the process is done, and the last accessory is in place. When the client is thrilled, nothing makes me happier.” wgarch.com.
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Sowing Seeds
Floral foraging with mother/daughter duo Adrienne and Haley Carerre
The mother-daughter duo.
Floral foraging with mother/daughter duo Adrienne and Haley Carerre
Written by Anush J. Benliyan | Photography by Sara Prince
Whimsical. That’s how Haley Carrere describes her childhood in Carpinteria, where she grew up in the Provençal-style home her parents built in 2000. While her father, Leon, acted as the general contractor for the build, her mother, Adrienne, was in her element outside, tapping into her landscape design profession to transform the sprawling estate into a remarkable oasis. She carved out a kitchen garden, a fountain section, a barbecue area with a veranda, and a rose arbor, all of which are surrounded by textured, California-native plantings like citrus and pepper trees, agaves, bay laurels, and nonflowering geraniums. “I planted foliage that I knew I would forage and use in the floral design area of my life,” says Adrienne, who still “floralizes” clients’ homes with lush bouquets. The greenery abounded at home, but for the blooms, “she would take me with her to all the flower fields,” Haley recalls—gerbera daisy fields, dahlia fields, parrot tulip fields. “It’s a lot of what we call ‘roadside-ia, ’” Adrienne notes. “I have clippers in my car at all times.”
“I planted foliage that I knew I would forage and use in the floral design area of my life.”
Fresh-cut blooms sit in the shade of California pepper trees.
When it comes to entertaining, it’s naturally a family affair. Adrienne handles the arrangements, of course; Leon is the cook, whipping up uncomplicated hometown food; and Haley is a master of setting the table. Her preppy, Grandmillennial style is what she calls “a little old fashioned and sweet,” featuring fresh linens in mixed patterns like floral and toile. (Think Ralph Lauren’s café in Paris.) Though the 24-year-old recently moved to Aspen, away from her parents’ Californian Eden, she’s now using her well-trained eye to pursue a career in interior design. “She grew up experiencing, watching, and helping me with these things,” says Adrienne, “and she’s far better than I am.” @adriennecarrere, @haleycarrere.
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The Gathering Place
The Santa Barbara House is ready to party
A sunken gravel courtyard with olive trees makes for romantic dinners and weddings.
The Santa Barbara House is ready to party
Written by Jennifer Blaise Kramer | Photography by Jen Huang Bogan
The Santa Barbara House.
Presiding over an Eastside corner is a stately Queen Anne that’s becoming quite the party house. The 1903 home was originally one in a row of Victorian vacation dwellings dubbed the Santa Barbara Houses for families who came in search of sunshine. “That’s why we named it the Santa Barbara House,” says Jen Huang Bogan, who took on the extensive renovation after purchasing the home in 2017 with her husband, Elihu Root Bogan.
Embarking on the project with two young children was truly a labor of love. While they briefly considered turning the dwelling into their family home, the couple quickly realized it needed to continue its multipurposed history: During Covid they opened the house for school pods; now it hosts small parties and weddings. “It’s for the right type of bride. You have to have a love for old homes and backyard weddings,” says Jen, a wedding photographer and stylist. “It has a European, villa-like feel with its own garden, and it’s downtown, so afterward you can really take the party anywhere.”
Four guest suites are furnished by RH.
With four suites (each with its own private entrance), a caterer’s kitchen, and a front lawn for ceremonies and cocktails, the home is primed for 30-person events, offering an intimate, affordable alternative to nearby hotels. The couple also launched a series of ticketed gatherings, allowing locals to experience the sunken garden for themed dinner parties and workshops, while giving back proceeds to good causes.
“The garden is meant to be shared for alfresco gatherings,” Jen says, nodding to the roses, Italian cypress, and ancient olive trees. “Outdoor living is so Santa Barbara, and this house just epitomizes that.” sb.house.
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Fresh Start
Lush Life’s author Valerie Rice serves up cocktails from her garden
Scenes from a summer cocktail hour hosted by Valerie Rice.
Lush Life’s author Valerie Rice serves up cocktails from her garden
Written by Charlotte Bryant | Photography by Sara Prince
Most of Lush Life author Valerie Rice’s cocktail recipes are inspired by her travels combined with a twist from her Santa Barbara garden. When it comes to entertaining at home, delicious drinks can be made with just a few ingredients, and the use of fresh, in-season botanicals and herbs is sure to elevate any cocktail hour. eatdrinkgarden.com.
Summer Sonics
Makes two cocktails
“I hope the Brits don't mind my suggesting half tonic and half soda water for this cocktail. It's so light and delicious and has less sugar,” explains Rice. “Rum, gin, vodka, and white port all work beautifully in a sonic, but my favorite is white port, which adds a wonderful richness and is an awesome less-alcoholic option for day drinking.”
4 ounces (½ cup) white port
2 ounces (¼ cup) chilled sparkling water
2 ounces (¼ cup) chilled tonic water
2 sprigs lemon verbena (garnish)
2 plum wedges and 2 orange wedges (garnish)
Fill two glasses with ice. Add port, sparkling water, and tonic water, dividing equally. Garnish with plum, orange wedges, and lemon verbena.
Summer Sonics and individually plated crudités with fresh seasonal offerings from the garden.
Valerie’s Sip Tips
PORTO Unlike most red ports, white ports can last after opening. I like Sandeman Porto Apitiv Reserve.SPARKLING WATER Agua de Piedra and Topo Chico have bigger bubbles, and bigger bubbles hold up when diluted with alcohol and mixers.Fun Ice Visit a specialty grocery store like Bristol Farms for “fancy ice,” or make your own with molds.See the story in our digital edition
Area of Influence
Get acquainted with the new Arts District home + design collective
Get acquainted with the new Arts District home + design collective
Written by Jennifer Blaise Kramer and Erik Torkells | Photography by Sara Prince | Illustration by Michelle Beamer
Holding Court
Lonetree's Michelle Beamer
Victoria Court is quickly becoming a design collective. Peek in on any given First Thursday evening, and the charming inner courtyard looks like a movie set with pop-up floral stands, makers, and artists painting under the trattoria lights. Anchoring the action is LONETREE, a new showroom from interior designer Michelle Beamer.
Located across from Olio Pizzeria’s patio, Lonetree is a longtime dream realized for Beamer, principle of MB Interiors and adjunct professor of interior design at Santa Barbara City College. Here customers can come in and have furniture designed to their specifications. “We can literally put a sofa in CAD here,” says Beamer, who displays two rosy-toned sofas along with new and vintage rugs, chairs, runners, books, artwork, and indoor-outdoor tables. “People come in and say, ‘You have color!’ We have lots of color!” She also encourages mixing styles, be it Spanish, traditional, modern, or beachy, as she illustrates by hanging a ropey rattan light over a polished black sideboard. Aside from her refreshing merchandise and relaxed approach to design, a big draw is the ability to touch the real thing before buying. As Beamer says: “With so much looking online these days, it’s nice to see things in scale and how it all goes together.” 1221 State St., Ste. 24, Santa Barbara, 805-892-7335, LONETREESB.COM.
Domecíl's Stephanie Payne-Campbell
Nearby, DOMECÍL is a home-goods shop from Stephanie Payne-Campbell that began as a pop-up. After she moved to Santa Barbara from Pasadena, Payne-Campbell opened a temporary outpost on Carpinteria’s Santa Claus Lane, and the experience triggered fond memories of shopping downtown. “My favorite was Dani, where everything was hearts and rainbows. I’d come in with my allowance and buy stickers,” she recalls. Though she originally had no intentions of opening a brick-and-mortar place, she found a spot in the hub of Victoria Court and jumped at the opportunity to have a smallish shop of her own. Tiny but mighty, Domecíl is filled with natural textiles, handwoven baskets, brooms, artwork, aprons and clothing (her own designs), ceramics, plants, and a kids’ corner where you might even spot a heart or a rainbow. “Santa Barbara used to be all small shops and super charming,” she says. “I thought, ‘Let’s bring it back!’” 1221 State St., Ste. 7, Santa Barbara, 805-324-4971, DOMECIL.COM.
Private Eye
“We wanted to be in an area that attracts people who understand and appreciate the material,” says Benjamin Cobb Storck, explaining why he and his husband, Jason, chose the Arts District for their GALERIE XX, formerly based in Los Angeles. The 3,000-square-foot gallery is set in a building next to the Arlington Theatre that was an I. Magnin department store in the 1920s and ’30s—an apt location for the material in question: 20th-century decorative arts and furniture by the likes of Jean Prouvé, George Nakashima, Harry Bertoia, and Jean Royère. Collectors have been gravitating to the category in recent years not just because of the elegant lines but also because it pairs so well with modern and contemporary art. “I’m an obsessive collector who has turned it into a business out of necessity,” says Cobb Storck, “and we can’t live with any of it because we have a three-year-old and a six-year-old.” 1315 State St., Santa Barbara, 805-895-2312, GALERIEXX.COM.
Jean Royère Cone Leg Table, $125,000, at Galerie XX in the newly dubbed Arts District.
Indian Pink's Tamara and JP Cajuste.
A more exuberant glamour is on display at INDIAN PINK, a few doors down. It, too, is a hobby-turned-business: Tamara Cajuste collected so much fabric while working as a flight attendant that she started making pillows; people loved them, and her husband, JP, joined the enterprise. After pop-ups here and there, the brand is putting down roots. There will be much more than pillows, including the pajamas Indian Pink launched during the pandemic and dresses, blankets, napkins, lamp shades, vintage textiles, and even furniture, all curated from around the world. The shop showcases the haute bohemian lifestyle, and what holds the collection together is a profound appreciation of color. “It has energy, and it just comes out of me,” says Cajuste. “I love everything about it!” 1307 State St., Ste. B, Santa Barbara, 805-869-2027, INDIANPINKPILLOWS.COM.
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A Long Night’s Journey into Day
A lot can happen in five years. In 2017 Jodi Goldberg, of Jodi G Designs
Written by Joan Tapper
Photography by Riley Yahr and Nancy Neil Photography
A lot can happen in five years.
In 2017 Jodi Goldberg, of Jodi G Designs, was living in Montecito in a Balinese-inspired home she had designed. After that house was destroyed in the mudslide of January 2018, she and her husband eventually rented a home at the top of the Riviera, though Jodi always assumed it was just a temporary residence. But there were more unwelcome surprises to come.
In February 2020 Jodi suffered heart failure followed by complications and then a diagnosis of lung cancer. “That was a double whammy,” she remembers, “a progression of being traumatized and starting over.” She had surgery, watched as Covid took hold of the country, underwent chemo. . . and has recovered. And along the way she fell in love with living on the Riviera.
“Creativity is what fuels me,” she says. “It gave me a reason to get better. And I can’t say enough about the Riviera. Being there feels very nurturing and nature oriented. The birds seem to sing louder, the stars are brighter. My husband and I walk every day.”
Ultimately, they bought the house they’d been renting. Jodi stripped out its earlier heavy décor and transformed it into a light, bright, airy space. “I used raw woods; neutrals like white, cream, and black; and lots of texture,” she says. “It feels more Zen.”
The experience has also altered the way she approaches her work. “I’m more confident, less afraid to take risks. My design has gotten more organic, but I find you can do that in many, many ways. I have more freedom.
“I got lucky,” she says, “I have amazing clients, friends, and family, and I have delved into positivity.” jodigdesigns.com.
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French Revolution
Designer Hélène Aumont's pièces de résistance
Designer Hélène Aumont's pièces de résistance
Photography by Matt Wier
Tricks of the Trade
Metal Tubs
“Free-standing metal tubs hold hot water for a long time…and you can drink champagne in them! Can’t do that in the shower, non?”
A Trellis
“A steel trellis mixed with natural reed for the incredible light it gives.”
Fabrics
“Raoul Textiles is my absolute favorite fabric house with the most endearing prints.”
Flooring
“I’m loving white oak and black limestone flooring at this moment—and NS Ceramic for the infinite possibilities of custom tiles.”
Pools
“A pool set in grass with surrounding stone appears more as a reflecting basin.”
Hélène’s Black Book
Summerland Antique Collective, 2192 Ortega Hill Rd., Summerland, 805-565-3189, summerlandantiquecollective.com, for the hunt for an unexpected treasure.
Give me a dozen of each—I love it all at Porch, 2346 Lillie Ave., Summerland, 805-684-0300, porchsb.com.
The best floors, fireplaces, and fountains are to be found at Charme d’Antan, 2337 Troutdale Dr., Agoura Hills, 818-889-0229, charmedantan.net. It's worth the drive. Jacques is a gem—and he is French!
If you are well-behaved, Michael will show you his secret room at Rugs & More, 410 Olive St., Santa Barbara, 805-962-2166, rugsandmore.com.
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SBIFF Springs Back to Life, On and Off Screen
Everything you might have missed at the 37th annual film festival
Scott Feinberg, Paul Thomas Anderson, Kenneth Branagh and SBIFF Executive Director Roger Durling speak onstage during the Outstanding Directors of the Year Award program at the 37th Annual Santa Barbara International Film Festival at Arlington Theatre on March 03, 2022 in Santa Barbara, California.
Everything you might have missed at the 37th annual film festival
Written by Josef Woodard | Photography by Rebecca Sapp & Tibrina Hobson
Following a two-plus-year hiatus due to the pandemic’s chokehold on normal cultural life, reel life became a welcome reality as the Santa Barbara International Film Festival triumphantly returned to local streets and theaters. In this, its 37th annual enterprise, the Santa Barbarian cultural institution rose to the renewal occasion with flourish and the requisite elements of glitz and cinematic sophistication which have made SBIFF prosper.
As usual, the primary treasures in the 200-plus list of screenings came from beyond America, with special focus on cinema from Nordic countries, Spain, Latin America, and Eastern Europe. Some of this year’s finer films came south from Canada, including Islands, Scarborough, All My Puny Sorrows, and The Righteous.
The all-important celebrity tribute list, synchronized with current Oscar nominations, brought out the starry likes of Penélope Cruz (Parallel Mothers), KristenStewart (Spencer), Will Smith and his King Richard co-star Aunjanue Ellis, Benedict Cumberbatch (The Power of the Dog), and Being the Ricardo stars Javier Bardem and Nicole Kidman. The award for best unscripted moment in the tributes goes to the comically gifted Smith, who responded to an audible disturbance in The Arlington by telling Ellis, “See, that’s why it’s important to have white audiences, because that would’ve gone differently where you and I grew up.”
Behind the lens, the Outstanding Directors Arlington tribute toasted all Oscar-nominated directors this year—with Steven Spielberg (West Side Story), Jane Campion (The Power of the Dog), and Ryusuke Hamaguchi (Drive My Car) appearing via video from their respective quarantine outposts. Master American director P.T. Anderson (Licorice Pizza) alluded to his Robert Altman-influenced creative process as an auteur: “Ideally, you have a story at the center, and the center will hold. It’s a balancing act involving both a knowingness and a freedom of flight.”
Roger Durling, now in his 20th year as executive director, was a recurring and anchoring presence on stage, a charismatic rallying cheerleader, and also a champion for solidarity and fundraising for victims of the war in Ukraine. A goal of raising $100,000, through the Santa Barbara-based Direct Relief, fell short $4,000, a tab picked up by Cumberbatch. Durling also put in his finest moderator work to date, in a bright and personable exchange on Cruz’s tribute night.
As the self-effacing and, on this night, elegantly dressed Cruz noted, “I am very grateful and feel lucky for all that I’ve been able to do, but I also torture myself a lot. My rhythm is different at this stage [of my career], but I still have the same excitement as when I was 4 years old.”
Well-known film critic Claudia Puig took the programming reins this year, with a new team, and filtered through a record number of entries (partly due to the closure of other film festivals this year) to create a substantial and diverse roster. Women filmmakers and issues asserted a prominent force, in films such as Quake, the Danish delight Miss Viborg, and even the nerve-tingling Hitchcockian Spanish thriller La Hija. Meanwhile, veteran director Campion, whose The Power of the Dog is a rare male-oriented saga in her filmography, explained that “with the #MeToo movement and more women working (in film), I felt free to go wherever I wanted to.”
Hybrid feature-documentaries accounted for some of the prized entries, including the fascinating 107 Women (Slovakian director Peter Kerekes’ film about pregnant women in a Ukrainian prison) and the gripping I Resemble You. Based on a true story, I Resemble You chronicles the back story of an Arab Frenchwoman falsely accused as a terrorist in the 2015 Bataclan bombing in Paris, winning director Dina Emer SBIFF’s Best Middle Eastern/Israeli award.
As testament to this festivaler’s obsessive hunger for the cinema experience again—in actual theaters with actual audiences—I managed to log 54 film screenings this year, along with tributes and panels. Sleep could wait.
On closing night at The Arlington, before the festivities ended with the sweet, songful documentary Dionne Warwick: Don’t Make Me Over, Durling issued a kind of proclamation: “Mission accomplished. The festival did what it had to do.”
