Barker Residence

A Found Hilltop Village with Modern Appeal

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The clients purchased a sprawling hillside lot in Montecito to build their new permanent residence.  Wanting a mix of old and new, the architects created an architectural narrative that satisfied both styles.  The concept for the exterior of the home is to imitate the character of found ancient buildings from a Spanish hilltop village.  Appendages found outside the core of the home represent scattered buildings.  

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Santa Barbara field stone covers the majority of the exterior, with stucco infill sprinkled throughout. Dispersed roof shapes, such as a sloping form that pours out onto the balcony, further this idea with their purposeful asymmetry.  The architects wanted the structure to feel like it was built up over time and therefore embrace possible imperfections.

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The interior is contrastingly clean and modern.  Crisp white walls extend off of interior stone walls to mimic a contemporary addition to the old world structure.  Vaulted ceilings are supported by exposed wood beams.  Custom steel-framed glass doors open up the home for an indoor-outdoor experience.

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The roofs of the ground floor rooms intersect with the upper patio guardrails, further refining the massing and breaking down the scale of the home. This strategy evokes the charm of an old-world hill town while also helping to satisfy the Montecito Board of Architectural Review requirements for homes that blend into their surroundings.

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The kitchen has two primary spaces: the Main kitchen and a Sous kitchen. The central kitchen is open and casual for daily use by the family. The highly functional Sous kitchen remains hidden behind a decorative door when not being used for catering and cleanup during formal entertaining.

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In the primary suite, an alcove adorned with a diamond pattern, creates a cozy setting for the bed. Floor-to-ceiling corner windows provide a panoramic view to the sea.

The modern bathroom opens onto an upper patio, commanding a spectacular view of the valley below and the ocean beyond. A minimal vanity is positioned near a small window, introducing the right amount of daylight for make-up application and reinforcing circadian rhythms in the morning.

In addition to the Master Suite, the upstairs is home to his-and-her offices that are distinct yet connected by a covered patio.

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