Spanish in Hope Ranch

This Spanish Colonial Revival had started out as an elegant and typically understated design by the distinguished Alexander Harmer on a beautiful five-acre parcel near the ocean in Hope Ranch. However, a number of misshapen additions, ill-considered remodels and a general level of deferred maintenance required a great deal of attention to bring the place up to the very high aesthetic standards of the new owner. Although nothing was built beyond the existing footprint, almost every surface had to be refinished, a tiny office with an outdoor stair was placed on a second story and numerous other romantically Spanish details were added, including a number of vaulted hallways and a high lantern that brings an astonishing amount of sunlight into what had once been the pitch black entrance to the master suite. And then the owner came up with a few ultra-modern requests, particularly in the kitchen, the master shower and the master toilet room, that somehow had about them the simplicity of an Andalusian farmhouse and ultimately seemed almost to have been there from the beginning.