Jeff Doubét Santa Barbara Home Design Before and After project photos
Jeff Doubét shares Before and After photos of various home renovation projects designed and built in the Santa Barbara, California area.
Jeff is the author of the coffee table book Creating Spanish Style Homes : Before and After - Techniques - Designs - Insights
NEW for 2024: If you are familiar with this project and website, check out my newest work-
SPANISH HOME DESIGN PHOTO BLOG with dozens of new projects and hundreds of photos not on this website.
The Jeff Doubét Creating Spanish Style Homes Photo Blog is an offshoot of my coffee table book which has been selling around the world since 2018.
New Construction Spanish:
Directly above: Project owner and Designer Jeff Doubet enjoy their friendship and a fireside chat after the newly built project.
Situated on a private knoll, the new building has built to have a timeless and historic feel to it... something the owner and his wife had dreamed of creating for their 14 acre organic olive ranch in the foothills of Santa Barbara.
Santa Barbara Spanish style fixer upper home renovations with Before and After photos
Beautiful examples of how to transform Santa Barbara fixer upper homes and properties.
Looking to purchase a home in the area but want to buy something that will need vision and sweat equity to bring it up to it's full value?
Perhaps you already own a home, but are feeling uninspired by what can actually be done with it?
Please scroll through these Before and After Jeff Doubet designs to learn some of my pro tips and tricks for improving local Santa Barbara homes and landscapes.
BEFORE PHOTO for project below:
This Santa Barbara homeowner wanted a design to freshen up the facade of his 1960's tract home.
Switching out cold and drafty aluminum windows and changing out the asphalt roof was a start, but we did more.
AFTER:
A Small Spanish One Story
What Changed:
Roof eaves were cut back and a thick plaster cornice detail added.
A modest tower entry with medallion and an arched opening for a new door was constructed.
A 2 piece Mission tile roof was installed.
Sandstone garden walls were constructed and a Cherokee Creek flagstone walkway installed.
BEFORE PHOTO for project below:
A local Santa Barbara realtor was working with an investor who wanted to flip this Montecito, California home.
It had really good bones and a nice floor plan. We added a lot of cost effective Spanish Colonial Revival architectural details.
See FULL STORY AND 26 PHOTOS OF THE TRANSFORMATION AT MY NEW BLOG
AFTER:
A Small Spanish Cottage
This completed small Montecito Spanish home would go on to win a National design award.
What Changed:
1.5 inch thick wood shutters
Clay pipe vent details, sandstone rocks as borders, plaster columns with stone caps, a new lightning rod and a Spanish style fountain all enhanced the new landscaping.
BEFORE PHOTO for project below:
A historic West Beach, Santa Barbara 2 story with a little bit confusing front facade.
Where is the front door?
What are the two doors on the balcony?
Mostly a concrete driveway and garage doors.
FULL STORY AND 18 PHOTOS OF THE TRANSFORMATION AT MY NEW BLOG
AFTER:
Two Story Spanish with covered loggia
What changed:
Garage door relocated
1st story bedroom addition
Covered loggia above new bedroom
New quatrafoil window
New arch top windows
New entry stoop with tile roof
Stone cobble driveway
Open staircase to upper deck
BEFORE PHOTO for project below:
A 1970's Plain Jane single story house in the foothills of Santa Barbara, CA.
An odd view deck above the garage
Gopher infested dirt yard
Fake brick patio
Basic aluminum doors and a mis-mash of door styles
AFTER:
A Single Story Spanish courtyard home
What changed:
Exterior plate height changed to 10 ft from 8 ft.
New red tile roof
New 8 ft tall doors and larger windows
Secret garden arch structure
Chimney towers with arched openings
Addition to the garage
Courtyard with red brick patio and large fountain
My Conceptual design services included upgrading the floor plan, elevation renderings and landscaping.
On pages 40 - 49 of my book, I share a wide variety of construction photos of how Casa Corazon was built.
A great collaboration with the owner and his team of Artisans. Click here to see wide variety of photos of the completed project.
BEFORE PHOTO for project below:
Boring front door and entry
Basic aluminum windows
View deck above garage a mismatch with architecture
Outdated solar panels on front of house
White plastic gutters
AFTER:
The front of Casa Corazon
What changed:
Front door was relocated to a newly designed entry tower section (previously the garage).
Multiple outdoor covered patios were added
Exterior plate height increased from 8 ft to 10 ft
New, used red brick patios and pathways
New doors and windows, stucco etc.
BEFORE PHOTO for project below:
A modest, single story Santa Barbara home near East Beach.
The owner had purchased a tear down, just steps from the favorite local Santa Barbara beach.
Story poles are installed to show future mass, bulk and scale of the proposed project.
I highlight this design commission on pages 52 - 53 of my book.
I show a variety of the design iterations created as the project went through the different design phases and the Santa Barbara Architectural Review Board and Planning Commission process.
AFTER:
A new Santa Barbara Spanish Colonial Revival duplex
As mentioned, conceptually designed by local Santa Barbara home designer Jeff Doubét.
The owner assembled a wonderful team, including an architect friend of mine I introduced to them. An architect I greatly respect and who is great at taking my design concepts and assembling them in to working drawings and processing them through the technical planning and permit steps.
The property owner also hired a very talented General Contractor to build it.
What changed:
For this tear down home...
Basically, everything.
The small existing home was demolished to make way for the new basement foundation.
A small section of an existing garage wall was left, in order to keep it grandfathered in to where it sits on the property line.
BEFORE PHOTO for project below:
Author and local Santa Barbara home designer Jeff Doubet has been helping clients visualize the potential in their fixer upper properties since 2003.
This Montecito fixer is in a wonderful neighborhood, it was just lacking a high end look and feel it deserved.
AFTER:
A completed Spanish Hacienda style home in Montecito, California
What changed:
The front entry gates were reinvisioned as an arched opening with red tile roof above.
A courtyard fountain and natural flagstone patio draws the visitor to the new iron and glass entry door with petite tower.
Oversized hand made iron lanterns
New landscaping
BEFORE PHOTO for project below:
A custom built hillside home in the heart of Santa Barbara was in need of a new roof.
Other simple modifications to the architecture, as well as a classic red tile roof would bring new life to it.
AFTER:
A Santa Barbara Spanish hillside home
What changed:
New carriage house garage door
New entry tower with plaster door surround
2 piece barrel tile roof
New integral color exterior plaster
New landscaping
BEFORE PHOTO for project below:
A modest Montecito Spanish style cottage had good bones, including an authentic 2 piece mission style roof.
The paint colors were dated, but not a lot would need to be changed.
See FULL STORY AND 26 PHOTOS OF THE TRANSFORMATION AT MY NEW BLOG
AFTER:
A Montecito Spanish Cottage
What changed:
New white windows and French doors were installed.
A new clerestory window was added above large living room window.
New landscaping included a Spanish style fountain
Sweet and French lavender, coastal sage, white iceberg roses, and rosemary were some of the plants incorporated into this Montecito landscape design.
BEFORE PHOTO for project below:
The homeowner was seeking ideas for a Spanish Colonial Revival pool cabana design that would compliment their main house.
They had a general layout for the function of the space, but wanted a concept design for how it could look.
AFTER:
A Santa Barbara Spanish Pool Cabana
A Santa Barbara style pool cabana design by Jeff Doubet and built by the property owner and General Contractor team.
What changed:
The new Spanish pool cabana was built on the dirt lot section to the left side of the pool in the above BEFORE photo.
Spanish Style Homes Design Resource
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Creating Spanish Style Homes : Before and After - Techniques - Designs -Insights
I have shared a few examples of my design projects throughout this website.
In my book, I share a much wider variety of designer tips and tricks for making your Spanish home remodel a success.
If you would like an entertaining and informative look into what goes into designing and building a high end, custom Spanish style home and landscape-
I believe my book provides you with a direct quality resource you can use to begin to understand the basic principles of what can be implemented into your own Spanish home design and remodel.
Thank you for your support!
Designing renovations for Santa Barbara California fixer upper homes and properties:
As a local Santa Barbara home designer and consultant who specializes in Spanish style homes and landscapes, I also enjoy implementing my basic design principles into other styles of homes and landscapes, as well.
Feel free to scroll through these examples. Also, check out the SITE Menu to learn of other pages on the site.
BEFORE PHOTO for project below:
For this Montecito fixer project, a top realtor in town was introduced me to a real estate investor who had just purchased it as a flip.
I love these types of design projects because it is easy to see that simply removing junk will make a huge improvement.
AFTER:
A Montecito Cottage with a French Country design
What changed:
A cheap aluminum shade structure was removed.
An oversized deck removed and replaced with a wide landing and steps down to a new gravel patio area.
New windows and doors, shutters
A fountain was added.
Lavender, boxwood hedges and citrus trees were some of the new plants...
BEFORE PHOTO for project below:
As of 2022, the entry price for a typical, tired Santa Barbara tract home fixer upper in a good close-in neighborhood with view starts at about $1.75mil
For retirees or empty nesters, these basic homes are all you really need- as much of the quality of life is in the perfect weather and natural beauty of the area.
Now, what can you do to fix up these types of homes?
AFTER:
A Santa Barbara style Cottage with shake siding
What changed:
New windows that also included a bay window as a focal point.
New, fire-rated cement shake siding
New landscaping up near the house
New front door with stone landing.
New paint color scheme that would highlight all of the improvements.
BEFORE PHOTO for project below:
The owners of this Campanil Hill, Santa Barbara home were seeking ways to improve the charm and aesthetics of a pool side shade structure.
They also felt that the existing arbor was too low, which was impeding their nice views.
AFTER:
A Santa Barbara Cape Cod style two story
What changed:
Old lattice pergol was replaced with custom designed copper roof pergola
New arbor behind it was rebuilt with oversized posts and better materials.
Nothing else was changed, yet the perceived value of this home went way up.
BEFORE PHOTO for project below:
Another typical tract home in Santa Barbara.
These types of homes were well built back in the 1960s and 70s but to save some costs, the developers would use single pane aluminum windows and doors.
AFTER:
A romantic Santa Barbara Cottage
What changed:
New wood windows and French doors were installed.
Fountain installed.
Simple landscaping upgrades included a large specimen tree to provide a new coziness to the yard (as well as shade)
A new exterior stucco was applied after windows and doors were installed.
A complimentary new exterior paint color scheme and thick wood shutters add to the charm.
BEFORE PHOTO for project below:
A custom home in Santa Barbara was overgrown in landscape and had a very bland paint color scheme.
AFTER:
A cheerful Santa Barbara Board and Batten and Stucco Two Story
What changed:
Mostly the exterior paint color(s)
Thick wood shutters and flower boxes
A traditional wood railing replaced the wrought iron railing.
Local sandstone was used for short garden walls
A simplification of the landscape plants
Trimming up the sycamore tree to better showcase the architecture
BEFORE PHOTO for project below:
This Montecito fixer home needed a lot of TLC, but as you can see...
much of the problem was the overgrown landscape.
Once that was cleared, it was much easier to see what we were working with.
AFTER:
A quality Montecito Cottage board and batten with brick accents
What changed:
New high quality windows with shutters
Redwood planter window boxes
Cupola
New porch details include substantial posts and tongue and groove ceiling
Fresh coat of classic white paint
New landscaping
BEFORE PHOTO for project below:
A realtor friend introduced me to the real estate investor he was working with.
The purchase- a neglected 1920s Santa Barbara cottage.
Much of the charm of this home was buried under the trash and overgrown landscape the seller had left behind.
AFTER:
A modest, but charming Santa Barbara Cottage
What changed:
Overgrown vines were removed to reveal a beautiful Santa Barbara sandstone porch foundation and column base.
A fresh color scheme chosen by the realtor turned out to be a really nice combination that helped all of the original details come alive.
Added simple, elegant new landscaping with new grass, a decomposed granite path, and some plants that were flowering in season all contributed to a quick sale.
BEFORE PHOTO for project below:
A 1970s style 2 story fixer upper home located on a beautiful bluff top location not too far from Shoreline Park in Santa Barbara.
The owners wanted to reimagine it as a Hacienda style home.
AFTER:
A Hacienda style oceanfront home in Santa Barbara
What changed:
Roof eaves were reimagined and diistressed rafter tails were added.
New window and door package
New wood garage door with arbor
A new 2 piece Mission tile roof, and integral color new exterior plaster finish
A Quick Flip SITE MAP for SantaBarbaraHomeDesigner.com
Click to navigate the most popular pages on the Santa Barbara Home Design site.
Informative pages with quality photos and designs for high quality Spanish style homes and landscapes!
Also be sure to check out my new
SPANISH HOME DESIGN PHOTO BLOG with dozens of new projects and hundreds of photos not on this website.
And the STORE + MORE page.
Thank You for taking your time to peruse some of my design projects for Montecito and Santa Barbara clients.
Please contact me if you would like to discuss the project you are contemplating.
Sincerely,
Jeff Doubet