Jeff Doubet Spanish-style ADU and Accessory Structure Designs in Santa Barbara, California

black and white photo of classic Spanish style architecture in Santa Barbara, California

For those seeking classic Santa Barbara Spanish styling ideas for your ADU, accessory structure, home or sheds, Santa Barbara Home Design provides fresh and compelling designs.

Santa Barbara Home Design founder Jeff Doubet specializes in designs that have a timeless look and feel-

Welcome to this project highlight page.

My name is Jeff and I would like to teach you about how you can achieve an Old World feel within your next project.

Some of my most memorable design projects are collaborations with clients who travel Europe and have a natural interest and desire to design and build the look into our local Santa Barbara area.

1.5 story Spanish style building with attached large outdoor fireplace in Santa Barbara, California

1.5 Story Spanish style building:

This newly built, original Jeff Doubet design of a Santa Barbara Spanish-style Accessory structure was carefully planned to have the aesthetic of a historic property.

The project was a successful collaboration between the property owner, Jeff and a team of independent General Contractors and trades.

1.5 story Spanish building with large fireplace in a decomposed granite and old olive trees courtyard landscape in Santa Barbara, California

AFTER PHOTO

The completed open air courtyard and the old world, accessory Barn structure.

Sited about 50 feet from the main house, the separated buildings create a natural view corridor through the new courtyard and to the agricultural valley, below.

Oversized rustic wood outdoor table and a Spanish style entry door with stone step landing in Santa Barbara, California

This image illustrates how a brand new structure can have an Old World feel when the right materials and finishes are incorporated.

The owners have great taste with Spanish Revival style outdoor patio furnishings and antiquities they have collected over the years.

The authentic sandstone entry step compliments the simple decomposed granite used throughout the courtyard.

Rural Santa Barbara gravel driveway lined with olive trees and with mountain views in the distance

Situated on a private knoll-

The owners have cultivated 14 acres of land in the foothills of Santa Barbara.

A beautiful, organic Olive Ranch.

Young woman and man hand picking organic olives in an olive grove in rural Santa Barbara, California

The couple had always dreamt of creating an accessory structure that would add to the ambience of their property.

Something that would compliment the rural, old world European feel they have established with the land.

Close up photo of organinc olives and tree branch in Santa Barbara California

A close up of their organic olives.

a group of mismatched teak chairs and an old table in an olive grove in Santa Barbara, California

A group of mismatched teak chairs and an old table up in the olive grove.

Two boys picking organic olives in a grove of olive trees in Santa Barbara California

Two young boys helping with the olive harvest at the ranch.

How to create authentic Spanish Home Designs in Santa Barbara, California

Mallorca Spain old historic stone buildings with cypress trees in the background and foreground

Designing inspiring new Spanish structures and landscapes in Santa Barbara, California often begins with the study of historic homes and structures in Spain. Or at least that's how I see it.

I believe remarkable new projects in Santa Barbara and Montecito, CA are those that tap into the soul of the original, romantic designs of 100 and 200 years ago.

Here is a photo I captured on a trip to Mallorca, Spain.

Jeff Doubet presenting a conceptual design rendering to a client and his general contractor in the foothills of Santa Barbara, California

Early in the design process, the owner shared photos of overseas family trips and ear-marked coffee table book pages.

He also had collected other images he thought conveyed the aesthetic and design he sought to create in a new barn structure.

A hand drawn conceptual design rendering for a Spanish barn accessory building by Jeff Doubet in Santa Barbara, California

Here is the early design concept I sketched for the vacant lot portion of the property.

It was later improved by simplifying the architectural details and landscape.

We didn't include the entry stoop at the main entrance. Also, the sandstone capped walls were never built, and the fountain I sketched became a sandstone trough style, instead.

framing a Spanish style building in Santa Barbara, California

The walls go up!

The high quality structure was framed with double walls on a brand new foundation.

This double wall technique achieves the "thick wall" aesthetic of the historic homes that were often built with stone or adobe.

The foundation forms for the foundation of a Spanish Colonial Revival style building in Santa Barbara, California

Earlier in the construction process:

The strength of all good things in life are built on a strong foundation.

Here, the wood forms for the extra strong concrete footings and slab are being established.

Matthew 7:24 hand written note by child in Santa Barbara, California.

The owner and his son prepared a Bible that would be buried in this foundation.

The son placed his hand written note within it.

The General Contractor helped them put it in the rebar near the front entry.

The Bible was then covered in plastic just before the GC poured the concrete foundation over it.

Bible placed in between rebar before a concrete foundation is poured

You can find this encouraging word in Matthew 7:24 in the New Testament of the Bible (the most popular book in the world right now).

Here are other encouraging verses I have collected over the years.

Stone mason setting sandstone steps at a Spanish style building in Santa Barbara, California

Design details for Santa Barbara, California ADU's and Accessory Structures.

Rustic sandstone step landings and garden walls are popular local Santa Barbara and Montecito landscape upgrades. They are most often hand built on the project site.

One way you can get an Old World look and feel at your own property is to ask your stone mason to keep the hand hewned stone work rustic, and the grout lines messy.

Mention to them that you would like to mimic the look and aesthetic that is found in the streets of old European villages (like the one in the photo, below).

Authentic Spanish wood doors deeply set into a stone and plaster wall with lots of clay pots and plants around it in Mallorca, Spain

A photo I captured in Mallorca Spain while traveling and studying the unexpected.

Perhaps like you... I have always been fascinated with authentic textures of old stone and plaster.

Spanish Colonial Revival Front Door entry with decorative cast stone and plaster surround in Santa Barbara, California

The front door to the main house includes a rustic, hand scraped wood door with dark stain.

It has a cast stone and plaster frame detail around it to add to its charm.

The design for the hand crafted lighting on the new barn was derived from the original pendant lantern shown in this photo.

A friendly sparrow has decided to nest in a safe spot inside it.

3 friends sitting at old teak dining table and outdoor dining in a Spanish courtyard in Santa Barbara, California

A teak outdoor dining table sits beneath an old olive tree in the middle of the newly created courtyard.

Decomposed granite was used as the patio surface.

DG is a common material used in Santa Barbara and Montecito. It is easy to adapt to landscapes and is in keeping with an Old World feel.

a large Spanish Revival outdoor fireplace in courtyard in Santa Barbara, California

Oversized outdoor fireplace

As the sun sets, the owner stokes the newly crafted, oversized Spanish Revival fireplace.

It is now a main feature of the courtyard.

He really wanted it to have a feel of a special place in Argentina where he and his family enjoy vacationing at.

Santa Barbara Home Designer Jeff Doubet with a client at a finished project

Here, the project owner and I have a friendly chat near the end of the project.

I appreciated the back and forth of our design collaboration.

Since 2003, I have seen a trend in that the projects I like to design for clients always turn out nicer than originally hoped.

I attribute this to the good taste of homeowners and their own intuition in bringing in additional details that make their place extra special.

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