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stone, custom shutters, exposed beams, iron details, and hand-painted tiles. "Many of these items were handcrafted by artisans in Mexico and reflect age-old traditions," Parisi notes. "My design challenge was to honor the wonderful cultural soul of the home yet lighten the aesthetic and also create more of a flow between spaces so that it functions for a modern lifestyle." e home's original floorplan was problematic because the only way to go from room to room was via a long interior hallway, with small doorways as each room's entry point. Parisi and her team replaced interior doors with wide openings framed with exposed beams to bring in natural light and to erase boundaries between rooms. Some walls were removed, replaced by arched openings and passages flanked by antique iron doors. Parisi also edited architectural details that although beautiful were excessive and gave the home a "busy" appearance. "Updating the finishes was an exercise in refined editing," she says. "e goal was to freshly interpret the Spanish Colonial style to reveal the elegant beauty of the architecture." at meant removing fussy décor, finding new sources for handcrafted items, and collaborating with artisans. "e challenge was to blend old and new while retaining the original flavor of the architectural genre." Multiple patterns on counters and backsplashes were eliminated for a more cohesive look. She also added dark wood flooring while keeping the original clay tiles in some rooms, replacing them with new tiles made in Mexico as needed, and staining them to look like leather. In the kitchen, Parisi kept the hand-painted tiles on most backsplashes and hood areas but selected solid surfaces for counters. A new island with a prep sink replaced the existing peninsula island. "I must have known a hacienda-style home was in my furniture," the designer reflects, because she furnished her home with many of the pieces she has found on "collecting jaunts" over the years at antique shops and flea markets, including a carved Spanish chair. Furnishings are a mix of Spanish and South American antiques, primitive Mexican chairs, comfortable eclectic upholstery, and handcrafted accessories. Lilian Rice once wrote: "I found real joy in Rancho Santa Fe" — a feeling that Parisi shares. Rancho Santa Fe offers "a soft embracing sense of nature, the blending of cultures, a sense of history," says Parisi. "I believe [Rice] also felt that and spoke to that with her architecture. I also see that editing was an important part of her design. ere is a simple purity of line and form. at is why it is still relevant today." 858.449.7813, stephanieparisistudio.com Handcrafted iron gates create an elegant point of entry to the home's front patio << @ranchandcoast RANCH & COAST MAGAZINE NOVEMBER 2023 57