Lightening up: New doors, window seats, and subtle earth tones update this 1965 ranch house - Brief Article - Illustration

Sunset, March, 2002 by Ann Bertelsen

This makeover in Carmel Valley, California, combines the patina of history with the panache of contemporary interior design. The house's original owners, an engineer and his wife, made their own adobe bricks, stacked them until they reached ceiling height, placed redwood beams recycled from old bridge supports on top, and were done. But the resulting series of small rooms didn't work for the lifestyle of the new owners. They opened up the house while burnishing its adobe-style character.

Over several years, with help from architect Eric Miller and interior designer Jan Gardner, the new owners painstakingly rebuilt and expanded the structure while preserving the wood beams and adobe walls.

The spacious great room illustrates the transformation. A new fireplace with a raised hearth is flanked by cozy window seats with accent pillows. The owners painted the ceiling off-white and applied a stain to the rustic beams to make them look like driftwood. They reinforced and plastered the adobe walls, painted them warm beige, and replaced the metal and glass sliding doors with French doors made of honey-toned Douglas fir.

Gardner kept furnishings light, opting for an earthy palette--including a sand-colored Berber carpet--to complement the house's features. Two stub walls with ample storage for china and linens loosely define the seating and dining areas. Iron door pulls and candleholders from Santa Fe, coupled with painted equipales (chairs) from Mexico, reinforce the relaxed Western decor.

The great room opens to a spacious patio and garden. "There is now a wonderful synergy between inside and out; the house exudes an understated elegance that is particularly suited to country living," says Gardner.

DESIGN: Eric Miller Architecture Inc., Pacific Grove, CA (831/372-0410); Jan Gardner & Associates, Carmel, CA (831/624-8686).