Haven Studios: December 2013

December 19, 2013

Serene Vacation Home

First of all, this project was bound to impress me – it’s by John Saladino, one of my favorite architectural and interior designers. He’s a designer that can successfully place ancient fragments and design components into minimalistic modern spaces. He creates homes that will have historical value.

In this project, the goal was to design a dream vacation house on a family compound in Kennebunkport, Maine. The homeowners wanted a retreat that conjured the African Safari Lodges they’ve visited in countries such as Tanzania, Botswana, Mozambique, and South Africa. John, the designer, recalls that his challenge was to take the homeowners’ romantic fantasies of Africa, the vernacular Maine architecture that is on the family compound, and his own style, and organize it all into a serene and timeless vignette. And he sure accomplished it.

If you like serene homes that are neutral in color but rich in texture, like me, you will love this home. The interior design will inspire you. Simple, elegant, and utterly relaxing! One of my favorite quotes is very fitting to this design in particular: “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” (Leonardo da Vinci) It’s also one of my most important design principles.

Thank you very much for visiting HAVEN STUDIOS’ blog.

Saladino-serene-exterior-2_Haven-Studios

I love this kitchen with its wood textures and neutral colors. The window placement saves usable space and allows for plenty of light to penetrate into the kitchen and dining area. It also features a La Cornue range/stove. The sink and fittings are by Waterworks; the stools by Artiors, and the pendants by Steng Licht. I really like how the cluster of delicate pendant lights floats above the kitchen island.

Photography Source: Veranda

Serene Vacation Home

December 4, 2013

Remodeled Modern Hacienda

According to public records, Darrell Becker and Kirsten Kemp Becker, purchased this 1960s ranch home in Santa Barbara, CA, through a limited-liability company for about $1.7 million in January. In July, the home was listed for $4.975 million was reduced to a price of $4.695 million, and has since been sold through Riskin Associates of Village Properties Realtors. The home measures about 3,650 square feet and includes four bedrooms and 4½ bathrooms. The master bedroom opens up to a newly renovated yard and pool area. An outdoor area features a repurposed trellis above a herringbone brick patio and stone fireplace. The property also includes a 18-by-40-foot pool and a separate spa.

The couple co-own Becker Studios, a real-estate design and construction company that works on both residential and commercial projects. They purchased this home as an investment property. When they did their first walk through of the home, they knew exactly how they wanted to redesign it. “We both walked out, looked at each other and said ‘contemporary hacienda’,” said Mrs. Kemp Becker. Much of the property was ‘just weeds’ when the couple began their extensive renovation. They added landscaping across the property, including 15 mature olive trees, which “immediately gave it a sense of time, said Mr. Becker.

“The most compelling component of the house is the siting on the parcel,” Mr. Becker said, noting that it creates a “very bright and inviting home.” The living room, like the rest of the house, was renovated “down to the studs,” Ms. Kemp Becker said, including new heating, plumbing, electrical systems and finishes. They estimate spending $2 million on the renovation, not including architectural and design fees. The couple added aged wood beams on the ceilings of some rooms that were inspired by their travels to the Yucatán in Mexico. “We really wanted to infuse a lot of that Old World, Mexican-Spanish feeling,” Ms. Kemp Becker said. The fireplace was existing, but they installed a corbel detail above it that creates more visual interest, they said. In the dining area, they painted the wooden ceiling beams white and used rough fabrics to create a look with more ‘pop,’ Ms. Kemp Becker said.

As always, thank you so much for visiting HAVEN STUDIOS’ blog.

The above photo shows what the kitchen looked like before the couple began their renovations.

The kitchen as it appears now. They added wide-plank oak flooring throughout the home and used imported Spanish stone countertops in the kitchen and some bathrooms. Rolling barn doors, which aren’t pictured, can be closed to separate the kitchen from the great room, or left opened for a flowing space. Antique light fixtures were also brought in and installed throughout the home.

Photography Source: Wall Street Journal – Real Estate Section

Remodeled Modern Hacienda

Interesting Displays

The recent completion of a massive bookshelf gave me the opportunity to look into all kinds of display options. I thought it’s time to write a blog about some of my favorite display items. The following pictures show only a small selection of products out there. The ones I picked for this post are the kinds which I like to use in some combination or another. Glass displays such as the boxes and cloches are beautiful because they are light in their appearance and the display can be changed at any time. They also function very well as bookends. I love antiques, so you will see a lot of those below. I am especially in love with the art deco sculpture. One item that was a recent find and I had never seen before is the SOMA light sculpture by Ayala Serfaty, which is just one of the many light sculptures included in the SOMA collections of the Metropolitan Museum and the Museum of Arts and Design in New York. Each light sculpture from the collection is hand-made out of thin glass rods that are blown in Italy and completed in Ayala Serfaty’s workshop in Tel Aviv to form an ethereal structure. After the form of the sculpture is finished, the piece is sprayed with a unique clear polymer to generate a skin-like membrane. These are truly unique pieces of art.

I’d like to thank you very much for visiting HAVEN STUDIOS’ blog.