After remodeling their midtown cottage three times, Lorraine and Keith Reichel had reached a point where their home no longer fit their evolving desires. Lorraine was interested in a clean, warm, and modern home on a single level; roomy but not too big. Keith wanted a bigger garage and, more importantly, a proper wine cellar, where he could grow his hobby and expand his collection. Both of them wanted a grander view. Together they found it all in the foothills above Santa Barbara.
When the real estate market failed to produce the right house in the right spot, the Reichels decided to start from scratch. After pinpointing a homesite razed in 2008 by the Tea Fire, Keith struck up a conversation with Giffin & Crane co-founder Geoff Crane, who he knew from the gym. Geoff called architect Bill Harrison of Harrison Design. As they all walked the one-acre parcel, Keith remembers, “Bill made a few sketches and said, ‘Keith, if you don’t buy this property, I will.’ That gave us some incentive to go for it.”
“We fell in love with the views,” adds Lorraine. “The site and those views really told us what to do up here.”