Hi there friends - we've been MIA on here for a quick sec while we reset after a crazy January and gear up for this fun and chaotic Spring season! We have so many fun things happening but before we jump ahead, we want to reflect on and introduce you to one of our favorite projects to date - a beautiful, Spanish-Mexican Colonial house we've dubbed #TheCentennialHouse!
Photo Credit: Atlas Imagery
This house was a looooooooooong process for us. We owned this home for 18 months and we were sitting and waiting for permits to really transform it for 8 months! An eternity when you're renovating a home (news flash - you can't do anything to a home while you're waiting to get your permits approved or you could be fined big time!). But before we get into what we did do - a little backstory on this old home nestled in the historic neighborhood of Santa Barbara, CA.
Photo Credit: Atlas Imagery
Photo Credit: Erin Feinblatt
The house was originally built at the beginning of the 20th century, its architecture influenced by the Mexican and Colonial time period, as well as the Spanish Architecture of the Santa Barbara Mission, "The Queen of the Missions," that lives just around the corner from this home. So she has some serious history (well, for Santa Barbara standards!). That and the great bones of this home, are what drew us to her.
We took this house on knowing we had our work cut out for us - the home didn't have a solid foundation (something that terrifies most people, for good reason!), was really lacking in the curb appeal department, and the layout inside was segmented and funky! You could easily tell the home had gone through the decades and the weird layout we attributed to the fact that it was once a home for foster kids - so the segmented rooms and bathrooms once made sense for it!
Photo Credit L to R: Hearth Homes, Erin Feinblatt
The main focus for us was to create a home for a family that provides all the modern amenities while keeping and enhancing the home's architecture and charm. We started with our design concepts, the architectural items we wanted focus on, what the home and our budget could allow, and went from there! We love how the house turned out and can't wait to go into more detail throughout the home with you guys! We'll be breaking down each part of the house to give you more information about what worked (and what didn't) so follow along as we share the story of #TheCentennialHouse!
Thanks for stopping by the blog - we've missed you guys!
XO -
The HHI Team