Inside Best in the West: New Life with Old-World Soul
- 5 days ago
- 6 min read
Updated: 3 days ago
A Carmel Valley whole-home renovation led us to ask: Can authenticity be thoughtfully created?
There is a common belief that homes with character are found rather than made. We admire those shaped by generations of living because they feel honest. Their materials have aged gracefully, their architecture carries a sense of permanence, and every room seems to tell a story.
But perhaps authenticity has less to do with age than we imagine. This home challenged us to ask a different question. Could a builder-grade house become innately authentic? Could careful decisions, honest materials, and a clear understanding of how the client wants to live create the same sense of belonging we so often associate with historic homes?
We believe the answer is yes.
Before the Design
A Palette Rooted in What They Love
Every meaningful home begins with understanding the people who will live in it.
For this Carmel Valley whole-home renovation, our process started not with finishes or floor plans, but with discovery. We asked about the client's interests, the rooms they used most, the rituals that shaped their days, the flowers and greenery they were drawn to, and even their favorite beverage. Those details may seem small, but they reveal how a home should feel and what it needs to support.
One of the most defining references to emerge early on was a painting the clients loved. Its muted warmth, earthy depth, and quiet sense of soul became the emotional starting point for the home. Rather than choosing a palette in isolation, we pulled from the tones and feeling of that piece, allowing it to guide the colors, materials, and atmosphere of the entire project.
“The palette was not chosen in isolation. It was uncovered through discovery, beginning with a painting the clients already loved. That piece gave us a deeply personal foundation for the warmth, depth, and quiet resonance that would shape the entire home.”
- Lylah Healy, Principal Designer
That approach shaped everything that followed. The terracotta, walnut, marble, plaster, and aged finishes were not selected simply for their beauty, but for the way they echoed the warmth and character of the artwork while supporting a home designed for real life.
What began as a builder-grade Tuscan house became an opportunity to create something far more personal: a home with old-world soul, grounded in what the clients love and reimagined for the way they live today.
Designing for Life
Every design decision was made to support the way the clients live.
The clients wanted a home that felt warm, personal, and deeply considered, but never precious. Their dogs are part of the rhythm of the house, including a Labrador who jumps in the pool and runs back inside without hesitation. That kind of daily life shaped the design as much as any material or architectural reference.
We chose finishes that could age with character, not demand perfection. Terracotta underfoot, warm woods, natural stone, plaster, and living finishes brought depth and soul to the home while allowing it to be used fully and comfortably.
This is where old-world influence felt especially relevant. The most enduring homes are rarely untouched. They gather marks, movement, memory, and evidence of the life lived within them. For Best in the West, the goal was not simply to create a beautiful home, but one that could welcome wet paws, lingering dinners, quiet mornings, and the everyday rituals that make a house feel truly personal.
Material Study
The material palette was chosen to bring depth, warmth, and a sense of permanence to the home.
Terracotta, walnut, marble, plaster, and aged metal finishes were selected for the way they hold character. None of these materials are meant to feel flat or untouchable. They are meant to shift with light, soften through use, and develop a quiet patina over time.
Authenticity was essential to the spirit of the project. We were not trying to create a perfect home. We were creating a home with resonance: one that could feel refined and grounded, but still welcome the rhythm of everyday life. In that way, the materials became part of the story. They gave the home its old-world soul while allowing it to remain fully connected to contemporary California living.
"Materials should not only be beautiful on installation day. They should continue to gather meaning through the life lived around them."
The Quiet Details
The most memorable homes are often shaped by details that do not ask for attention.
In Best in the West, those moments were designed to feel natural to the home rather than decorative. A marble backsplash that quietly conceals function. Cabinetry that balances storage with warmth. Hardware that feels substantial in the hand. Plaster, wood, stone, and metal coming together in a way that feels layered, but never overworked.
These details matter because they change the way a home is experienced. They create ease. They reduce visual noise. They allow the larger architecture and materials to breathe.
For us, restraint is not about doing less for the sake of simplicity. It is about knowing where a detail should speak, where it should soften, and where it should quietly support the whole.
"Restraint is not the absence of detail. It is knowing which details deserve to be felt."
Old-World Soul, California Ease
The goal was never to make the home feel like another place or another time.
Instead, we wanted to bring forward the qualities that make old-world homes feel enduring: honest materials, warmth, texture, proportion, and a sense that nothing is too precious to be used. Those ideas were translated through a California lens, creating a home that feels relaxed, open, and connected to the way the clients live today.
That balance became the heart of the project.
The home needed depth without heaviness. Character without imitation. Beauty without formality. It needed to feel rooted, but not frozen in the past.
"The home needed depth without heaviness, character without imitation, and beauty without formality."
From the Studio
This project reminded us that authenticity does not always come from age. Sometimes it is created through care.
A home becomes personal when its choices are connected: to the people who live there, to the life it supports, and to the materials that give it depth and meaning. For Best in the West, the transformation was not about adding more. It was about listening closely, editing carefully, and allowing the home to become more itself.
That is where the soul of the project lives.
Looking Back
The most meaningful homes are rarely defined by a single room or a single material. They are remembered for the life they support: the dinners that linger, the dogs running in from the pool, the morning rituals, the flowers brought inside, and the familiar paths through the house that become part of daily rhythm.
Looking back, Best in the West began as a home with potential, but not yet a story. Through thoughtful design, it became something more personal: a home shaped by the people who lived there, rooted in what they loved, and designed to support the life unfolding within it.
Authenticity is not always inherited. Sometimes, it is thoughtfully created.
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