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While some former Angelenos
who build in Montecito opt for the McMansion look, Jack and Sheri
Overall decided to take an entirely different tack. Rather than construct
a towering, palatial edifice perched atop the foothills, the environmentally
conscious couple chose to create a single-story home that disappears
into the hillside when viewed from a distance. “We knew we wanted
a relatively small two-bedroom house on a big piece of property that
was natural. The site was very important to us,” says Sheri
of their home and its nearly nine acres with amazing views of the
ocean to she south and the hills to the north. The house, completed
in 2001 after tree years of planning and construction, is a clean-lined
contemporary residence – built from bleached mahogany and copper
– that seems to blend with the surrounding natural landscape
rather than impose itself on the environment.
Sitting the house gently on the land was of paramount concern, especially
to Jack, who at the time was on the board of the Montecito Association,
which in 1998 was still the town’s review board. When the Overalls
bought it, the property included excavations for a concrete pad for
a planned Tuscan villa. The Overalls dug eight feet deeper, putting
their house at a lower elevation. “A two-story Tuscan was going
to be visible, so I think when we came up with our plan, they [the
review board] were delighted,” says Jack.
Montecito residents for the past 15 years, the Overalls had never
built from the ground up before, but they were very sure of the style
of home they wanted. “There was no question about it being a
contemporary house that wasn’t going to close us in and was
going to let us experience the site,” notes Sheri.
The couple, now retired with two grown children living out of state,
relishes their time at home. Jack, an accomplished amateur nature
photographer, is a former entrepreneur who sold his two companies
– a Los Angeles-based printing business and a hobby how-to book
publishing house – at age 40. The pair is very involved n preserving
what is left of the wildlife and natural beauty of Montecito. Sheri
(a former French teacher) serves on the board of the Land Trust of
Santa Barbara County, while Jack is a board member of Santa Barbara’s
Community Environmental Council. Because they felt their new home
and the causes they champion should complement each other, the Overalls
searched far and wide to locate an architect – two years before
they actually found their dream sit, in fact – who could help
them create an environmentally friendly yet sophisticated home that
would fit their casual lifestyle, show off their art collection and
bring the joy of their surroundings into their everyday life.
The pair chose Andy Neumann, senior partner at Neumann Mendro Andrulaitis
Architects, who is known for his site-specific contemporary residences.
“It felt like we could communicate, like there was a give-and-take
between us and an ease in working together,” says Jack. “And
from the very beginning, he was interested in what we wanted,”
says Sheri.
Right from the start, Neumann pulled together his team of four, each
an integral part of the decision-making process. Neumann brought Dave
Mendro on board as the project architect, Isabelle Greene as landscape
architect and Sandra Canada as interior designer – all local
talents who have impressive track records and strong opinions. “It
was a team effort from the beginning,” says jack, who, with
his wife, was involved with every decision. Adds Sheri, “The
process is as important as the end result, so we threw ourselves into
it. We were here every day. We even went to Vincenza, Italy, to go
into the caves where the limestone for this house actually came from.”
[They were so exacting that they rejected the stone that the quarry
initially shipped to them in Santa Barbara. It was lighter than the
sample they saw in Italy.]
“We pretty much had in mind what we wanted for this house. Not
the specifics, but the glass, the wood and stone, that was well-defined
before we even talked to Andy,” says Jack, “and we liked
the idea of the pavilions we had seen on a visit to Bali.” Neumann’s
resulting design- with its peaked roof treatments – gives a
suggestion of that quintessential Balinese style.
Neumann admits “not all clients are as involved in the process
as the Overalls, but we pride ourselves on the fact that we listen
very carefully. What we do is always in direct relationship to the
site.” The spot was once a hillside overgrown with weeds, with
a dirt road leading to a semi-bare plateau scattered with scraggly
sycamore trees. Inspired by the property’s handful of handsome
oaks and its impressive rock formations, Greene suggested creating
a landscape entirely out of California native plants.
“She’s an artist. She doesn’t think like most people
do,” says Jack, laughing. “I don’t know how you
stick a 4,500-square-foot home on the side of a mountain and then
restore the site, but that was the overriding theme.”
“It was her concept to do an all-native garden and we’re
glad we were willing to go along. She’s also a master at placing
rocks. You should have seen her and Jack out there,” says Sheri,
with a chuckle. “I have to admit Isabelle’s a bit more
exacting than I am,” says Jack.
“We have gotten very out of kilter with how we care ecologically
for the land,” says Greene. “When you talk about native
plants, people tend to think rangy and prickly. As you can see with
the color and textural effects at the Overalls’, that is certainly
not the case. They are very generous in that they allow the botanical
garden society to visit the site and help change the perception of
what a native landscape is all about.”
Inveterate travelers who have a finely honed appreciation of landscapes
around the globe, the pair has made six trips to Africa alone, and
Jack has trained the lens of his camera on all sorts of exotic animals
and indigenous peoples. The walls of their home are covered in framed
photos of Jack’s work, including shots of an African cheetah,
Sumatran dancers and shoppers at a Guatemalan market. Still life paintings
by William Gaw and Sergei Bongart as well as landscapes grace many
focal-point walls throughout the house. The couple also collects handblown
glass works by artists such as Dale Chihuly and Lino Tagliapieta (a
noted master their daughter, who lives in Seattle, turned them onto).
The concept of beauty often comes up in conversation with the contemplative
couple Four years ago, they tood a trip around the world that focused
on great art and architecture. They enjoy not only the beauty of their
home and artwork but the harmony of the natural surroundings as well.
“We wanted to create something that felt comfortable, that invited
the outside in and had interesting surfaces and textures,” says
Jack.
“For me one of the special thins is watching the changing light.
I’m aware of how often I check to see what it’s doing,
either outside the house or coming in,” says Sheri. “I
think that the play of sunlight is something very rewarding and better
than I could have imagined it to be.”
“Playing on that,” remarks Jack, “I’ve never
lived any place where I’ve had the experience of having a curiosity
when I get up. What’s it going to look like today? I come to
the kitchen to put on the coffee in the morning and I have to look
outside. I get such joy just looking at it.”
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