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The Beauty's in the Details
By
Melanie Chatfield
Photography by Wayne Capili, Interface Visual
& Wayne
Holden
Dennis Britton
knows the details of design-inside and out.
His forty-year design and building career
was launched when he was studying art and
decided to take on the remodel on his own
home. "A couple saw it and asked me to
design a house for them," says Dennis, "and
my career took off from there."
He has designed and crafted everything from
residences to restaurants and especially enjoys
complex, detail-oriented projects. And he sure
found one in Shari and John's vacation home.
"We've wanted a vacation house on the
coast for a long time, a place that was a quick
trip from our home in San Jose," says
Shari. "We and several friends rented
houses next to one another in the Santa Cruz
area for many years. Now we can bring everyone
together in our beach home."
The original home,
built in the 1950s, was purchased by Shari
and John in 1999. When they decided to transform
the dated and closed-in structure into a
modern and more open house two years later,
they hired Dennis. "Dennis
brought our vision alive," John and Shari
agree. Given the home's
location, perched above the rocks overlooking
a popular surfing spot in Santa Cruz, Dennis
proposed designing the interior to appear
as if the ocean had once been inside it. "Flying over tidelands in Alaska,
John and I saw the effects of the water there
and loved that idea," recalls Dennis.
This was achieved through the use of concrete
heavily textured and imbedded with fossils,
beach glass, shells and aquarium sand. He employed
a unique (water trowel" plaster technique
to imbue walls with a soft suede look, easing
the visual transition from interior to exterior.
This tide-washed, organic look is juxtaposed
against sleek, contemporary details and an
abundance of windows.
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