Boldly Reimagined – Santa Barbara House by Corinne Mathern and Dovetail Architects

After falling in love with the area, the owners of Santa Barbara House wanted their own place of permanence, where the lines between indoors and outdoors were curiously blurred. Corrine Mathern and Dovetail Architects combine to rework an existing midcentury structure into a contemporary iteration.

Set within a warm climate and amid a rolling landscape, Santa Barbara House is idyllically positioned to enable the new owners to live at one with nature. With parallels to a Mediterranean lifestyle, where all parts of the land are used, the home encompasses the immediate surroundings and beyond. With two energetic dogs who also enjoy the expanse of a garden, the new location ticked several required boxes. Together with Dovetail Architects, Corrine Mathern redesigned the existing home, gutting the interiors and rebuilding each space as a personalised reflection of how the owners wanted to live.

With parallels to a Mediterranean lifestyle, where all parts of the land are used, the home encompasses the immediate surroundings and beyond.

An overall calm is ever-present as a result of how each element compliments the others, with a continual focus directed toward the surrounding views. Seen in the tonal palette and mix of materiality applied throughout, the setting plays an influential role in how the home came together, with the built and the natural needing to work alongside one another. Taking cues from the Aman Hotel in Kyoto, Japan, Corinne Mathern instilled a similar approach to texture and restraint to create the retreat atmosphere desired. A mostly earth-inspired palette brings shades of blue, green and yellow, which are then enhanced with the use of timber, natural stone and clay. The undulations in surfaces of materials then catch the light and add visual subtleties that shift throughout the day.

Conveying an appreciation of the landscape, materials carry across inside to out and reinforce an approach to living openly with the surrounds. Whilst the original open plan approach of the structure provided a strong base, the new home combines simplicity and warmth through a holistic focus that extends beyond each space or zone and considers every point of interaction.

Seen in the tonal palette and mix of materiality applied throughout, the setting plays an influential role in how the home came together, with the built and the natural needing to work alongside one another.

Honouring place, Santa Barbara House emboldens the owners to live respectfully with the surrounds. Drawing inspiration from the mountains, soft moments of the landscape and the warmth from the sun, Corrine Mathern and Dovetail Architects ensure the response will remain engaging for many years to come.