Santa Barbara cottage gets sleak upgrade
A new, clean, uniform look.
Nancy Lieberman wanted to simplify and update the façade of her “cutesy cottage” in Santa Barbara while adding a garage. She and her architect son, Jerome Olander, worked together to eliminate what he calls “a haphazard collection of details, including incongruous brackets and odd little windows,” refaced “a very unfortunate lava-stone chimney,” introduced a few key architectural features, and blanketed the home in a clean, uniform look.
The new garage occupies what had been part of the driveway to the right of the front door. “In an inspired moment,” says Olander, “my mother suggested a glass door for the garage.” The translucent panes flood the space with natural light and make the house more inviting at night. Other additions include a large bay window to open up the living room and a long, waist-high, plaster-covered planter that visually balances the chimney and also defines the path to the front door. Integrally colored plaster ties the various elements of the façade together, and new brick pavers for the driveway and path create an inviting entry.
The project was minimally disruptive and gave the recently retired and widowed Lieberman an unexpected bonus: the chance to work on something creative with her son. “It was wonderful to carry out Jerome’s ideas while adding some of my own,” she says.
