I am smitten with this glorious home – inside and out. Designed as a flexible compound, a new home in the Montecito foothills honors the creative lifestyle of a couple moving full time to the country. A self-contained main house overlooks the rolling property from the top of the site. Adjoining guest space, a pool cottage, an art studio, and working gardens form a set of outbuildings and areas that seem to emerge naturally from the landscape. A palette of local stone and plaster creates a rustic and modern translation of rural houses in Provençe, recalling in particular the vernacular of old world stone barns. High-ceilinged, single-floor wings connect the main living spaces with whitewashed crispness, letting the house feel light and uncrowded.  A long, elegant pool anchors the lower section of the lawn in its own sequestered grove of trees, establishing the feeling of being in open countryside. A massive, very old California oak tree that couldn’t be moved sits at the heart of the property on a slight hill, welcoming views from every vantage point and providing a favorite place to dine outside. Designed by William Hefner. (More of his work was recently featured here)