Cool Innovations in a Santa Barbara Custom Home

Upon completion of a transformative remodel in Montecito, the expansive team of creative crewmembers — from owners and designers to engineers and builders — praised the project’s dedication to detail as much as its big-picture appeal. 

Even before crossing the threshold of this three-bedroom, three-and-a-half bath, single-family residence, visitors are impressed on approach. Once through a gate from the quiet street, the privacy of the front yard centers on a unique footpath that stretches across shallow water toward the home’s main entryway. Builders might call it a water walkway, nothing more than an elaborate fountain with special features. But it’s really an alluring illusion — the symmetrical stepping-stone slabs appear to float upon a calm pool. Along the way, there’s a small landing to a welcoming patio and a casual living space complete with cobblestones and plenty of custom-made weatherproof seating surrounding a cool fountain with a warm heart — a feature that’s part water, part fire, and all outdoor ambiance. As a whole, it makes for a lasting first impression. 

This welcoming front patio and walkway evolved as a collaboration of those creative forces. The homeowners had an idea. Designers and engineers translated the concept into a visible, measurable plan. Putting the pieces together, builders produced a final product. The result, much like any successful show of teamwork, exists as a creation greater than the sum of its parts.

Throughout, the home showcases several innovative details. Some are on display, such as the vanishing-edge pool out back. Others are hidden, such as the kitchen island’s heated countertop. Each of them brings clarity to the overall vision of a relaxed and comforting place to call home. 

Big on automation, the homeowners rely on simple voice commands to activate that fountain out front, as well as interior heating, cooling, and lighting; motorized sliding glass doors; and the temperature of the backyard hot tub. The entire system can also be monitored and controlled via smartphone, from which the owners can conveniently adjust settings from the comfort of their vaulted living room or from halfway around the world. 

“Just about all the interesting details in the home look simple,” says Giffin & Crane Executive Vice President Derek Shue, who managed the project. “But making it all look simple — that was very difficult.”