This Santa Barbara Ranch House Is Indoor-Outdoor Living at Its Finest

Salt Architecture's Dylan Henderson designed a Santa Barbara ranch house that integrates indoor-outdoor living, catering to clients who relocated from Chicago. The property features a 3,992-square-foot main house with three bedrooms and three-and-a-half bathrooms, alongside a 653-square-foot Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU). The design prioritizes openness and connectivity to the outdoors, leveraging Santa Barbara's temperate climate. The house is oriented to facilitate natural breezes and abundant light in the interior spaces. The architectural style blends traditional elements with contemporary lines and features, incorporating clean gable roofs, dormers, and deep overhangs on the southern side, along with modern materials like standing seam roofs, exposed steel beams, and blackened steel pergolas. The design and construction process began on a flag lot with specific building area and height limitations. The natural topography, including a steep hillside, guided the project's layout and building envelope. The hillside allowed for a walkout lower level on the west side of the home, while the rising eastern topography enabled an expansive deck that transitions into a terraced landscape. The interior spaces, particularly the great room, dining room, kitchen, and kitchen seating area, are laid out in an open floor plan with vaulted gable roofs. Fireplaces are strategically placed to define different entertaining zones within this open layout. The primary bedroom is situated on the lower level and includes a private patio with views. In the mornings, eastern light filters through eucalyptus trees, creating a serene environment. Misha Cooper was responsible for the interior design, blending the homeowners' existing furniture and heirlooms with new pieces. The ADU features a shed-roof design and is built into the hillside. Its concept allows it to function as a covered porch when open and a cozy den when closed. The ADU's walls are made of board-formed concrete, with two large bi-folding doors that connect the interior to an outdoor patio, pool, and hot tub. Initially planned with a green roof, the ADU's roof was adapted to use large stone cobbles due to fire restrictions, which proved to be a low-maintenance and aesthetically pleasing alternative. The roof was designed to extend the landscape created by Bosky Landscape Architecture. The homeowners express satisfaction with the design and its integration of indoor-outdoor living, which also accommodates their dogs, allowing them to freely move between the house and the outdoor areas. This emphasis on livability and connection to nature was a central goal of the project, deemed successful by both the clients and the architect. #SantaBarbara #RanchHouse #IndoorOutdoorLiving #Architecture #HomeDesign #ADU #CaliforniaLiving #SustainableDesign #SantaBarbara #RanchHouse #IndoorOutdoorLiving #Architecture #HomeDesign #ADU #CaliforniaLiving #SustainableDesign