Sunny Disposition

San Diego at Home

A retired Seattle couple updates a traditional Rancho Santa Fe home to suit an active lifestyle

FORMER SEATTLEITES Valerie and Phil Ramey dreamt for years of living in sunny Southern California. That dream came true with the purchase of a home on a quiet, secluded spot in Rancho Santa Fe, surrounded by orchards and blue skies.

Although comfortable to live in, the Rameys’ new home —an early 1970s California ranch-style house—needed updating. The couple was moving on to active retirement, and their teenage son needed more space to call his own. To design and steer the project, the homeowners hired Cheryl Hamilton-Gray, a 25-year veteran of interior design. She had worked on a previous remodeling project with them, and they had found a comfortable fit with her interpretation of their taste and eclectic style.

The Rameys aren’t the only ones who appreciate the work of Hamilton-Gray Design. The Carlsbad company recently won two national awards for residential design at the 2007 National Kitchen & Bath Association competition. In 2003, Interior Design magazine named her one of the country’s top kitchen and bath innovators. And her work has been featured extensively in national magazines, including Better Homes & Gardens, Woman’s Day and Traditional Home.

Hamilton-Gray began the Ramey project with the remodel of the pool area, including the addition of a new spa. She finished the pool and spa with Malibu tile and the surrounding hardscape with Elk Mountain flagstone. A pool-area bathroom and outdoor fireplace were also added.

The Rameys hired North County architect Don Looney to prepare construction drawings for the addition of a bedroom suite for their teenage son, as well as the expansion of the kitchen, dining room and gym.

“As original Rancho Santa Fe homes generally borrowed styling from various architectural eras and countries, we did the same in the redesign of our California ranch with Spanish Revival flair,” Valerie Ramey says.

“Instead of being architecturally themed, we kept it contemporary, yet traditional, by focusing the design on being warm, casually comfortable and timeless,” says Hamilton-Gray. “The mood reflects the homeowners’ love for color and embraced the beautiful light and country climate of the Ranch.”

To create a stately entry, ceilings were lifted and vaulted. Room functions were redefined, and the dining area was relocated to the front of the home, in the former family room. A galleria was added to separate the dining area from the family room, creating a media wall on one side and an art wall on the other. From the family room, sliding glass doors disappear into pockets to allow seamless access to the outdoor living space.

The team applied tumbled travertine in various sizes to complement the outdoor flagstone. They also chose distressed white oak planks of varying widths for the living room floor. In the entry and galleria, travertine was installed in a diagonal pattern and bordered by 3-inch-wide oak strips. This became a rhythm in the design, echoed in the master bath with contrasting limestone strips bordering large, creamy limestone tiles.

Custom fireplaces were designed with precast limestone surrounds, incorporating unique handmade tile. Surfaces and finishes were chosen to work with the Rameys’ large, colorful art collection. Materials were carefully selected from sources here and abroad to create a unique and eclectic composition—a look the Rameys wanted for their ranch-style home.

To create an imposing feature in the living room, Hamilton-Gray suggested using reclaimed beams. The recycled beams not only complemented the details on the ceiling but also added to the distressed look of much of the woodwork throughout the home. The beams were used in the family room and kitchen, too, with interspersed panels finished in chalky driftwood adding interest.

In the kitchen, cabinets feature carvings of olive branches and other images. All cabinetry was custom-made by artisans at three local studios: McAvoy Cabinets, Quality Custom Cabinets and Soule Cabinets.

Testament to the team’s commitment to finding just the right materials, a custom zinc countertop graces the kitchen island. Pre-distressed with an acid, the zinc countertop emulates old French bistro bar tops.

“The zinc was one of the materials Valerie and Cheryl searched high and low for,” Phil Ramey says. “In fact, they were constantly looking for unusual items to replace boring ones. I really thought the project would never end. But I can’t complain. It was worth it.”

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