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We bought #CoveHouseOnAHill, a quaint Montecito ranch-style home, in April 2023. This unloved, abandoned home was uninhabited for over 10 years. The house sat on a beautiful 1-acre property in the Eucalyptus Hill neighborhood, with a long driveway, private gate and unbelievable canyon and ocean views. This home was a no-brainer for us. The bones were beautiful, the board & batten exterior, was natural, original wood but was in decent enough shape for us to sand, patch and paint and the interior was a demolished shell. Which meant, the sky was the limit with what we could do to this home.
We worked within the existing space for the three bedrooms and two bathrooms. We completely re-did all of the plumbing, electrical, and framing of this home. The kitchen space was originally very small, so we opened up the entire home by removing the two kitchen walls and adding load-bearing beams to the structure. We also raised the kitchen ceilings and added a tongue-and-groove ceiling. This opened up the entire home and made it the perfect space for entertaining.
The kitchen in this home was really inspiring for us. We wanted a simple color palette and chose Farrow & Ball School House White for the cabinets. We found the most stunning marble slabs from a local Santa Barbara Stoneyard. We chose a Calcutta Emerald Oro marble to complement the aged brass deVOL sink tap, pot filler, and cabinet knobs + pulls.
Behind the kitchen was a long thin space that we thought would be the perfect Butler's Pantry meets Laundry Room. Since this is a little enclave tucked behind a hidden cabinet door in the kitchen it felt moody and mysterious so we painted it a muted "French Gray" by Farrow and Ball. This turned out to be one of our favorite rooms in the home. To complement the warm sage-y hue we found a washer & dryer set from LG in a rich green hue.
For this home we used a light, french oak, wide plank floor. We did brand new black Iron French Doors, Black Bi-Fold Doors, and Milgard Ultra Windows.
For the hallway bathroom we chose a slate Hexagon Floor Tile and a Pure White Zellige Subway Tile from Zia Tile. To tie in the darker floor we chose a natural stone countertop for the Parker Vanity made by Cove House.
For the master bathroom we chose a Honed Limestone (4x12) tile from Zia Tile and a Cement Subway Tile in Linen from Zia Tile. We used the London Vanity (by Cove House) in this bathroom with a un-honed Cararra Marble countertop.
The exterior of the home was truly transformative. We chose Swiss Coffee by Benjamin Moore as the exterior paint color. We wanted the white "farmhouse" feel without it being too stark. We chose a copper gooseneck farm light for the exterior lights and landscaped with a variety of drought tolerant plants (including Olive Trees, Marjorie Shannon, Silver Sheen, Lavender, Lantana, Flax, Waverly Sage, and more.
Thank you for following along our #CoveHouseOnAHill transformation. We hope you enjoy!