When a family approached designer Betsy Burnham to reimagine their Montecito vacation home in a way that would honor its classic heritage, Burnham, who was raised on the East Coast but settled in the warmth of California’s embrace, was up for the job.

The home had been well-loved by the previous owners for some fifty years, but it was dark, outdated, and in need of structural intervention.So before any color palette was considered or piece of furniture commissioned, Burnham and her team got to work reconfiguring the space with consultation from an architecture firm.The existing ceiling heights were challenging to work with, so they installed massive steel windows on the ground floor to drench the space in sunlight and employed clever plaster arches and detailing throughout to add character and the appearance of elongated height.

The clients were very involved with the process.Finding ways to add quirk and personality to a classic and dreamy home without overdoing it was one of the family’s primary goals.“I love color and pattern, but [since] the intention was for this to feel like a vacation home in the lightest, cleanest, most beach-adjacent way, we went for comfortable upholstery and more monochrome styles,”the designer explains.