Inside a Serene $18,500,000 California Estate by Architect Gordon Kaufmann

Hey Luxury Home Show, I'm Kate Blackwood at Villa Calafia in Carpinteria, California on the most beautiful sunny day. Villa Calafia sits on 16 acres in the very lush wooded area above Carpinteria. Before I show you the house, let's start the tour at the main entrance. Behind me we have the main house built by Gordon Kaufman, commissioned by the Wilburs, and over here the tower house, which I'll show you later, and we're coming up to the original beautiful gates of the entrance. Villa Calafia is almost 16 acres of pristine California wild preserved and never cut. So in essence, when the Chumash came, this is what they saw. These gates are to the main entrance. There is another entrance up above and two more down below. Remember this is 16 acres. So the original owners named this Villa Calafia, who is the mythical goddess of California. When you first enter the driveway, you come to the tower house, which has an amazing vantage to the entire property and to the water and the mountains behind. So entering the property, you see the tower house and you see all the details, the original cast pillars and original light fixtures and customed ironwork. These older roof tiles are what everyone covets, which are covered with sort of moss and mold and all the great sort of patina that we all look for and can't replicate. So the iron and these cast pillars were obviously done at the birth of the house, which was between 1927 and 1930. Villa Calafia was built by the very famous Gordon Kaufman, who also built Greystone Mansion in Los Angeles, the LA Times building, Santa Anita Racetrack, and he did two homes in Santa Barbara, and this is one of them. I believe Gordon Kaufman's favorite style was this Tuscan Revival. He obviously traveled extensively and fell in love with it and replicated it here and in so many of his homes, and that's what he was remarkable for. So as you enter the property, you see the motor court, which fits about 10 cars and it's enclosed and protected. Great for car collectors. There's another entrance up here and a house that was built in the 1960s by the current owners, and these houses were built in the 1920s. You start to get the feeling of the woods that encompass this entire place, and as you notice all the flowers that come in in a seasonal display. There's a river that runs through here in the wintertime. It's runoff, but it's channeled, and at places there are waterfalls, and it's really romantic. Kaufman's greatest achievements are, and notably, his arches and the way he blends everything. Originally, he designed the home for the Wilbur family. The Wilburs were an oil baron and his wife, who was a prolific historian and writer for California. The property stayed in that family until 1960, I believe, and then changed hands one more time, and then the current owners in 1964, the Lookers, and actually the Lookers put this doorway on. This was a breezeway, and they enclosed it just because it was easier for them. They had six children, so they needed, I guess, to enclose it, keep them in at times. This would be the best place to grow up. First of all, Carpinteria and Santa Barbara has the most amazing schools, but to live in this house and have horses and play tennis and be able to run from here 16 acres into the woods is really a dream. The Wilbur family never had children and instead focused on the arts. They scoured, as was popular at the time, for art all over Europe and brought it here, so we have some of that in evidence in some of the sculptures around the property, which we'll see. In the front, you have a place to just relax and enjoy the surroundings and all of these breathtaking flowers that have been carefully choreographed to bloom during different seasons. We have Bocce Ball, and this was obviously a creative place, and if you notice, these gates, all the ironwork seems to be so well thought out. This is obviously related to the front gates. California is famous for its oranges, lemons, all of its citrus, and there's room to grow anything you want on the upper end of the property. We'll take you there later. All of this rock is, you dig a hole and you find one of these rocks. They've all been mined from the property, so everything is made from its indigenous place. Nobody went out and brought in French this and Italian that, so it's a reminder that we have it all here if we want it. And now we're going inside. So this was originally the breezeway, and these doors weren't here, but if you notice the arches up here, this is very typical. It's an obvious Tuscan design, but something he brought back with him. The communication from the front to the back is such a special thing, and you get to incredible and extensive gardens. Here's a glimpse, but we're going to go inside first. So as we go through the archway into the entertaining rooms, you notice all these original floors, and we stepped into marble floors and original doors. All the original handles and details to coffered ceilings that have lighting to focus on all the art. Two sets of wonderful French doors that go off to the patio and communicate with the yard, and a beautiful fireplace. So all these details which are original, there's actually a door in here that we can't open because it needs to be unearthed, but it's a sliding door and we don't know if it's glass or what. Soon we will know. We go from this checkered marble to slate floors and wooden walls. This room was definitely a sunroom. I'm not sure what the original use was, but it's long been sort of a den slash where you dine room, but every door opens and gives you a feeling of the outdoors. The interior designer had the idea to bring in the horses and the horse life that you live here, because almost every property on this road has horses. So as per history, in the old days, kitchens weren't public. Only now they are in an entertaining way. So back here, tucked in, is a lovely kitchen that's actually quite ample that services the dining area. We have an original hood, but the kitchen was updated very recently. Interestingly, every window has these screens that you pull down, which are so coveted. I don't know why we don't do that in more houses today. So a breezeway is a pass-through, basically, and because the lookers decided they wanted to close it up, my guess would be for wind, warmth, whatever. This, which was originally built to, I don't know, protect as they are on the whole outside of the house, was left here. And it's kind of a cool thing to remember. This mosaic is original to the house, so my guess is it came from the 20s. I don't know where it was found, but it's pretty fun. And that these kind of things are all over the property. This hallway leads to two bedrooms in the downstairs, and all of the bathrooms are original. This has a funny safe that's still here. I don't know how to get rid of that. All the ceilings are very high, and every room has, again, a vista to the outside, whether it's doors or windows. Come and see this bathroom. All the marbles from the 20s and original. So again, this must have been open because the breezeway is there, so we have another grate. And this beautiful original lamp. Lots of closet spaces. And an adorable bedroom that, again, looks out everywhere. Original 40s glass. You can see the ripple in the windows, and a lovely fireplace. And this also is a similar piece to the one in the front. All the bedrooms in this house have their own bathrooms, and this one in particular has a standing shower and a tub separately, and a very elegant sink. So this is probably the most exceptional room because of the views and the fact that it's completely open. You can have it open or closed. The windows actually fold into that wall, and there is the ocean. But in the foreground, you see all the wonderful roof tiles that have been aged, and in this moist climate, it creates such a Tuscan feel. So up here is what I guess would be the master suite, and you have the primary in that direction, and this is where everybody would lounge and watch the sunset, be private, have a lovely time. This happens to be all original. It looks like somebody painted it at some point, but these are all over the house. As you walk down here, there's a changing room and the primary bathroom, which has a standing shower and a tub as well. So we're in the primary now, which has its own fireplace, and again has that feeling of being indoors and outdoors. That is the beauty of this place, is that feeling that you're outside but you're inside. Again, this is an original door, and we step up. So in the living room down below with the checkered floors, the ceilings are so high that this bedroom has a separation of space. You come down, and to our minds, this is a perfect place to have as your office. It has its own bathroom again, and it has this sort of secret getaway, the porch. Can you imagine having this tranquil place as your own? Again, so much detail. See the dog? All the water that comes through the drain pours out when it rains down here and goes down these old-fashioned drains, and you see all the copper that's now turned, but it has that wonderful patina, and the roof again, and all the detail. This is Tuscany in California. So earlier I mentioned the schools up here and why people come to Santa Barbara to raise their kids. We have CATE, which is the phenomenal boarding school, but it's also a day school that people covet, as well as excellent public schools, golfing, zoos. The art scene here is insatiable. The restaurants are amazing, and then just our wildlife. Down at the beach, we have actually a dog beach just below here, and when people are done playing polo, they ride their horses down to the beach and they swim in the ocean. Coming out of the house, you get to this grand porch, which, or terrace, I should say, which has evidence of the original owners and their collecting. I imagine their kids playing here, and there's a lovely swing down below. We believe this area would be the best place to just have an evening dinner, close enough to the kitchen, and this was original to both the Lookers and the previous owners, so I'm guessing it came from the Wilburs. So you're getting a glimpse of the tennis court over here, but first let's go to the Serenity House. There are many meandering paths all over the property, but my favorite is crossing this bridge. The Looker family was all about art, and they were huge collectors and patrons of the arts, and oftentimes they would invite an artist to come and stay and create, and this is one of the artists that they had come. He goes by the Shadow Man. He does this cat and many other things, and we have some more in the stables. You'll see. Welcome to the Serenity House. Again, another mosaic here. I'm not sure whether this was the Lookers or the Wilburs, but in any case, here it is. So this is the Serenity House, and it's inspired by Isamu Noguchi, who would do Japanese gardens. It was very famous. I don't know much about it, but I can just imagine that the current owners used it for massage or for exercise. It's definitely a serene place to be. I like that they mimicked the floors from the other house, and it has its own fireplace, and again, views galore, and a very sweet kitchen. So from here, you see the forest in thickness and the stables, but first let me show you downstairs. So here we have a very wooden atmosphere that reminds me of Japan, however, built with the native stone here. Also, these round windows, which actually feel very nautical, oddly. Follow me to the bathroom. Here we have a standing shower that, again, in keeping with this Japanese style, is very simple. And here we get to the porch, which is filled with pillars, and again, it's sort of a melding of the two themes of original Tuscan and Japanese simplicity. Coming down yet another path, we come to the stables, but to the side of the stables is an absolutely sculptural, cut-out-of-stone seating area with a fire pit. There are so many moments on this property, and this feels to me where everyone gathered to just have a beer at the end of the day and had a fire going and enjoy again the surroundings. So finally, we're at the stables, which were so well done and meticulously crafted. The stables were built by the lookers in the same style, and the extraordinary detail that they put into the stables is kind of the cherry on top. There's room for six horses, but obviously in a place like this, you could add more. Another piece of art on the wall here, and here is a simple place to hang tack, and there's a sink and another area to facilitate your horses. And out here, the horses aren't in there right now, but they will be tomorrow. Fantastic place to let your horses roam or ride them in the arena. And now we're going to make our way over to the greenhouses and the tennis courts. Also, another note is we have a mixture of trees here, and obviously the California wild oaks. These are at least 100 years old, and look at the size of that trunk. Again, so many moments to be had here. This is a sort of courtyard at the end of the long path that goes up to the house, and we have cypress and pine trees and more wild oaks, and we're almost at the greenhouse and the chicken house. This gazebo has been here for a very long time, and there are these sculptural cranes and a fountain, which actually has fish in it. And we come to the greenhouses, also very old. Yet again, another little treasure that someone brought here, which looks centuries old, really worn, but fabulous. I think that this property offers a real sustainable life. In other words, we have greenhouses, we have room for growing pretty much anything. California is so fertile, and below we have a chicken house. You could really be independent here. Now let me take you to the tennis court. The tennis court was built by the Lookers for their son, who was quite a good tennis player, and is surrounded by sort of a meadow and some sculptures. Here is the tennis court, and I want to remind you that this could be an Olympic-sized swimming pool, it could be a pickleball court, it could be pretty much anything your heart desires for whatever your motivations are. This property has acres to figure out and utilize. But obviously, because this tennis court is here, if you're not a tennis person, it could be whatever you need it to be. So I think in the 20s, if you had money, you were in line with sort of all of the Gettys, the Hearst, those collectors who intrepidly went to Europe and brought stuff back. And here's another example of something they brought back. Over there is a well that isn't a well, but they got it from somewhere and put it there. And it's just another beautiful moment on this property. So here we are at the swing that I mentioned earlier, and the feeling down here is really raw and natural. It's kind of a beautiful thing to walk from here up to this insane, beautiful Tuscan house and enjoy the property for all it's worth. You just can't find anything like this anywhere else. Again, another treasure on this property where you stumble on the most unusual things. It feels like an Easter egg hunt. And here's an egg. Again, another place to create a lounge moment with who I can only imagine could be the mythical goddess Calafia. So I don't know where this came from, and I don't know what year it is, but because the property was dependent on tractors and other vehicles, I'm guessing that it worked at some point. And now it's just, you know, a monument to having worked. But the oilman that originally built this place probably sorted out having his own gas. So as I mentioned earlier, we have three covered garage spaces, and we have three more here and two back there, all covered, and actually could have garage doors. I don't know why they didn't do that. And then all this space to park. For a car collector, you're good. So this is the woods house, and we call it that because we're deep in the woods. But by proximity, you have the garages here, the main house, and the guest house down here. You also have the river sort of rushing under when it rushes, which is usually in the winter. Also over here, we have two wells for the property that irrigate all of it. So if you ever decided you want to get serious about grapes or olives or anything besides the already mature avocados and citrus orchards that we have, you wouldn't have to pay water because it comes here for free. I think this house is inviting to people with extended family, or it's really wonderful for polo family who comes during the polo season and needs to house all the players and fit everyone and keep some horses up here and other horses down at the club. It's also got so much room to do a bigger main house. So this could be a real oasis for someone full time, or it could be a part time, you know, where it's your second home and you come from LA on the weekends, or from up north on the weekends. The climate here is so exceptional. So quite literally, you don't need air conditioning. No one has air conditioning here because you've got the breeze from the ocean, and it just never gets that hot. Before we finish, I want to show you the most special place. It's the view of everything. And here is the tower house view. We have ocean and mountain and woods. And you get a nice view of the woods house. This is a very special place that really has created art and art moments. Thank you so much Luxury Home Show for letting me show you around this magical estate. I had fun doing it and I hope you did too. Look me up in the details if you have any questions. Hey Luxury Home Show, I'm Kelly Daly of Casa Linda Interior Studio. Welcome to my home in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Around the island, we also have our dog station. I like to call it my little design studio up here.