LIFE BEYOND FIRST CLASS
DESIGN & ARCHITECTURE
PRIZED ARCHITECTURE
Los Angeles-based interior designer Tamara Kaye-Honey’s family weekend home, dubbed The Quarry House in Montecito, receives recognition at top design and architecture awards.
“My husband and I fell in love with the beauty of the land and the sense of community here by happy accident,” says Kaye-Honey, a Los Angeles-based interior designer who works on both residential and commercial projects such as Otium restaurant at the Broad Museum and the Colony Palms hotel in Palm Springs. Her husband, Ryan Honey, is the co-founder/creative director of Buck Design and Animation Studio. They met as high school students in their native Canada, and after years in New York and then Los Angeles, they found themselves craving more direct access to nature for themselves and their kids. “As Canadians who grew up with cottages and water, we wanted a place away from the madness of L.A., which we love, don’t get me wrong. We responded to its raw and sacred land, the sense of history and bohemian way.”
Their search landed them in Montecito, California, where they discovered a rare gem rumored to be designed by famed local architect Lutah Marie Rigg in need of a significant overhaul. They updated and expanded the layout by working with the local architecture firm AB Design Studio for over four years. They ended with a masterpiece that has recently taken top honors at this year’s Golden Nugget and Architizer A+ Awards.
Kaye-Honey’s family residence, known as the Quarry House, is set in a rock quarry between the Santa Barbara foothills and the Santa Ynez Mountain range. Grand boulders surround this single-story residence with an enhanced wraparound wood deck. A long hallway links both sides of the home, from the remodeled kitchen and living spaces to a new and voluminous primary suite addition.
Honey House reflects the artistic and Zen qualities of the area’s past—a place once inhabited by a collective of bohemian poets, writers, and artists—by maintaining original elements and reusing stones found onsite. Preserving its local heritage, the home also shares the same quarry stone as the nearby 1956-built Buddhist complex, designed by famed Santa Barbara architect Lutah Maria Riggs.
The retreat-like dwelling features expertly detailed, well-appointed interiors, including bright rooms with birch-veneered ceilings, custom cabinetry and woodwork, and hand-selected furniture. Large segmented windows offer 360-degree views of the surrounding oak forest. The architects added a stepped pathway and serene garden courtyard to connect the home to a new pool and guesthouse.
“I think of it as both our home and a future home for our children, and all of our relatives visiting from Canada. I imagine the kids getting married on the lawn, which is crazy to think about,” she says. ‘This beautiful jewel box is such a departure for me, but I just love the land and the feel of it all.”