| In 1919, George Washington Smith, perhaps the most celebrated Spanish Colonial Revival architect of the 1920s, designed his first paid commission, a large estate in Montecito, CA. Several years later, when the property was sold, Smith worked on an addition to the home. Subsequently, the estate house continued to be altered and enlarged, primarily in the 1940s. Finally, in the 1950s, the estate was subdivided to make three separate residences. The center section of the house was moved south to an adjoining lot. The rear section of the estate house and grounds, this project, continued to be altered and added to over the years, in a manner stylistically inconsistent with the original. The only significant remaining piece of Smith’s design was a small section of the Gallery and a garden wall fountain. The resultant house and grounds presented many programmatic and organizational difficulties, with an unclear spatial sequence and mostly insignificant spaces. It lacked coherence, scale, elegance, grandeur and delight. To remedy these issues, a comprehensive plan for both interior and exterior spaces was needed.
THE GARDENS
A new site sequence was designed and the entire site re-landscaped. A new Grand Axis was created to greet visitors at the site’s entry, running from the entry gate, up through the existing Living Room and courtyard. This Grand Axis was continued beyond the house up a new Stairway besides a new Garden, containing a wall fountain of the original estate designed by Smith.
At the top of the Grand Axis, a new Upper Fountain Courtyard was created to redirect circulation
to the Swimming Pool. The reworked Swimming Pool and Pool House were connected on axis to the new Master Bedroom via new Garden Steps and Landscaped Terraces. A carport was removed from in front of the house. The new work included a Rose Garden and Arbor at the base of the site, a Lily Pond overlooked by an Outdoor Dining Area and Fireplace, an Entry Courtyard and Fountain off of Guest Parking spaces, and an Orchard and Garden at the East end of the axis through the Upper Fountain Courtyard and Swimming Pool.
THE HOUSE
Continuing with the new entry sequence from the exterior, the Kitchen and the Dining Room locations were reversed, a Playroom became the Master Suite, an Office became the Garage, a second Bedroom was enlarged, a third Bedroom created, the Powder Room relocated, a Laundry Room added and the Bathrooms reworked. As the “before” images show, most of the house was taken down to bare walls or studs. Almost all finishes are new, including carved and stenciled beams, fireplace surrounds, doors, windows, floors and vaulted ceilings.
The current architect sought a design consistent with Smith’s work and carefully selected details, tile, stenciling and paint colors Smith had used. Light fixtures are either vintage or Smith reproductions. The furnishings are mainly antiques from Spain, Italy and England, similar to those used by Smith in his own interior decoration. Although antiques are used, the interiors are laid out for 21st century functionality and needs.
The result of a careful reiteration of George Washington Smith’s architectural and interior design ideas, an estate that had been stripped of its character is now a coherent, integrated whole.
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