Name: Nancy Neil & Ethan Brostedt
Location: Carpinteria, California
Size: 1600 Square Feet - 2 bed, 2 bath
Years lived in: 4 years
Nancy and Ethan's 1903 cabin features a wrap around porch and is situated on 80 acres. They rent the home from a friend whose family has owned the property since 1846. Because the home is so special and the grounds are magical, they don't have any plans on moving anytime soon. They plan on renting indefinitely until they can build their own home from reclaimed materials.
Looking at the home Nancy and Ethan created, it reminds me of all the elements that make a house a home - everything in their home is special and has a personal meaning. Can I move in... or at least come over to visit?
Apartment Therapy Survey:
Our Style: Our style is cozy and comforting. Most everything in our home was a gift, thrift or trade...and took time to acquire. It's important to both of us that it feels warm and inviting...a home, rather than just a house.
Inspiration: We are both very visual people with an acute attention to detail...me being a photographer and Ethan with his background in film...so we have definitely put effort into a visual vibe that is calming, interesting and unique. There are many years of love put into all that we own. We have many different friends who are constantly adding to the environment...with art, cooking and odds and ends of inspiring momentums. Our friends and comfort are the inspiration in our lives and in our home.
Favorite Element: Preservation: The fact that they kept the cabin portion of the house (built in 1903) in tact and in perfect condition when moving it here (to prevent it from being torn down for new development in town) is awesome. The wooden door with horseshoe was the original door to the cabin but was used in the master bath as the closet door. We are pretty attached to the fact that we live tucked away in an orchard close to the ocean. I'd say this is our favorite element. The house could be any type or size and we'd be perfectly happy because of the location.
Biggest Challenge: Um...parenthood is the biggest challenge when decorating any space. We constantly have to be aware of creating an environment where our toddler (and soon to be born) can feel free...it's not appealing to be in any space where you have to constantly supervise and keeps paws and mitts off of everything! Hence all the beautiful woven baskets filled with Ohle's toys in each room of the house...best investment ever!
What Friends Say: Oh well, this is easy. "This is my dream home, feels like home...etc. etc."
Biggest Embarrassment: None.
Proudest DIY: The best thing we did to this house was to bring a lot of light in by painting certain areas and ceilings bright white. The wood is super cozy, but can be very dark. We love that the floors are plywood! We never have to worry about scratching them, spills, or all the dirt our Australian Shepard drags in.
Biggest Indulgence: We splurge on cookware. I love to cook and Ethan loves to eat! Le Crueset and I have a certain understanding which no other cookware compares. I also can't say enough how amazing our Wedgewood Stove is...really.
Best Advice: We arranged our home with the help of our friend and expert...according to Feng Shui. Sounds silly...but really improved the feeling of the space tremendously.
Dream Source: When we do have to find a specific article or item...we love going to thrift stores, rummage sales and junk shops...this is where you find well-loved items with years of character.
Resources of Note:
FURNITURE
- The dining room table: Inherited
- Wire chairs on the porch: Inherited
- Redwood Bathroom sinks and counters: Hand crafted and installed
- Basket Table in living room: Botanik
ACCESSORIES
Most of the throw pillows, tapestries and all of the woven baskets filled with toys around the house: Botanik
BED
- We had our bed custom made from a design I created by a local green carpenter in Carpinteria: Greener Cabinetry
- Ohle's Danish Modern bed was a gift from a client
LIGHTING
- Old round wooden light by the dining room table: Botanik
- The spaghetti light in the living room and the green lamp in the bedroom: Whimsy Antiques (one of my fave stores in Carpinteria)
RUGS & CARPETS
- Bedroom rug: Mediterranee Antiques (Summerland)
- Rug in Ohle's room: Rummage
- Jute Rugs: Botanik
- Cow Hide: Gift
ARTWORK
- Over the bed, & green square in the living room: Nancy Neil
- Yellow wood block print: Zacarias Paul
- Woven piece: Calico Brown local artist
- All wooden scrap Art over the Toilet: Ethan (my hubby)
- Owl: Found thrift store
- Stone art piece: Julia Brown local artist
- Giraffe Plate: Rebekah Miles
Thanks Nancy & Ethan!
Images: Nancy Neil
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The kitchen stove is awesome.
Your place is utterly amazing. I love the kids' room. I am looking for ideas for incorporating a future baby and my son into one space.
Positively dreamy! I wouldn't move either.
Wowwwww!! So beautiful. Although I would imagine that place must be splinter city for the little one.
Magnificent.
Such a great vibe throughout. I particularly love the two bedrooms.
Yes, a feel-good home.
Lucky kids to grow up in it.
I also am a big fan of my Creuset cookware!
Very cute and cozy! Love the bedroom!
I love it! The wood is incredible, and I dig the comfortable, cobbled-together vibe. We had a quirky cabin like this when I was a kid, and I credit that place for a lot of my oddball taste in design and decor.
Rustic and so beautiful!!
Love the interior ceilings... might do something similar with my current remodel... feel free to take a look... midcenmod.com... Was it hard to get the sheetrock to meet the wood paneling and still have a tight seam? any type of sealant there?
Love the house. Don't love the incessant tilt-shift photography.
If you guys ever do move out, can my husband and I move in?
great house tour! although I did ask myself if the photos were edited with a sort of "instagram-esque" sort of filter as there are a few where the tints look a bit unnatural, although absolutely dreamy.
I LOVE THIS HOUSE. This is perfectly indicative of my dream home (and imagined life). Perfect perfect.
Glad to see I wasn't the only one irked by the tilt-shift-instagram-a-palooza. Lots of the pics were a little hard on the eyes, but the rooms look awesome!! I would LOVE that bedroom... Sigh...
I'm not loving the "rustic" walls, but otherwise, there are many beautiful touches in this home.
Very cozy and homey. I love that you've framed part of a Clark foam box!
Echoing what others have said...wow. This really does feel like a home that's full of love; the kind of place you'd want to raise a family. I love it!
wow. one of the nicest homes I have electronically seen. Nice work.
Were the photos taken with a Hipstamatic or Instagram iPhone app?
I love that place, I would really love to move there!
Thanks For all the sweet feedback. All of the images were captured using a Hasseblad and a Canon...both 50 mm lenses. Film. No tilt-shifts or phones were used. Have a sweet weekend!
Aw, I would love to live there. You guys have a lovely nest. I wish I could find a loveseat like the wood and black leather one you have.
Love the home and love the little geometric wooden lamp in the kids room and the mobile. What is the mobile made from and where did you get the lamp? Also love all the lighting fixtures, I love that they are all different. Also love that the pictures were captured on film, maybe that's why it looks different because we are all used to seeing digital these days.
Maybe, perhaps, my favorite ever house tour. The orange triangle is killing me. The very BEST of 70s interior design. What a great eye for color, and for creating peaceful destinations, this woman has.
amazed by the hand hewn walls - can really feel the natural contentment you guys have in this place.
It's a fairy tale home. Lucky kids !
Love some of the elements, but couldn't get past the photography looking like a very old BH&G magazine on Berkeley in the late 60's...
Love, love, love!! Especially the baby mobile.
beautiful home
Wonderful!
One of my favorite properties in Carpinteria! What a great job fixing the old cabin into a cozy family home. Love your aesthetic! Great photo's too Nancy!
A beautiful, warm, cozy home.
As for the feng shui, I'm pretty sure that a 30 lb. Le Creuset grill pan hanging over a doorway isn't contributing much harmony and balance to the household. I'd venture to say that it's downright dangerous -- especially with a toddler around.
Nice space. The window treatments drive me crazy, but then, it's not my house.
Not liking the dark wood areas of the house, too rustic for me but love the cookware and the brighter rooms, what a contrast.
Such a beautiful home! I'm wondering where you got the rug in the bedroom? I love it.
Walls are wonderful - everything is wonderful. Lovely home.
The photography is beautiful. Fantastic tour.
Too much "wood and rustic" for me but like the the pops of color throughout. Also, like the privacy of 80 acres.
Their home is homey beautiful artistic and is a place that real people would feel nothing but love and comfortable in. The cabin is as beautiful as Nancy and Ethan and ole are. Wether your old style or modern this place has it all. With Nancy and ethans artistic qualitys it all blends beautifully. I would give anything to live in the area they live. It's a little bit of heaven on earth!
Definitely cozy and comforting. Bright and warm too.
Ok. This is absolutely my favorite house tour thus far. I love every single bit of it. I am all caught up and feel just a little emotional. The art is amazing, the furniture and floors and walls and ceilings and light and everything...It's like I am looking at my happiest dream but in the form of someone's home. Love the mix of everything old and wiry and wooden and modern and woodsy and rustic. Thank you so much for sharing! I am full of inspiration!
I absolutely adore this cabin! What a great tour... definitely a favorite as well! Thank you!!!!
Love the Wood Work!
Such a beautiful place, AND it's situated on 80 acres? What a dream! You have absolutely wonderful taste. You have done a great decorating job. And, I thought the photos were beautiful. Not tilt-shift-y at all. And I'm a creative at an ad agency who sees tons of photos. I think your shots, and your home, are lovely!
Fantastic dream cabin! Too much wood and rustic??? It's a CABIN, people. Not an uptown loft, which is a style I also love btw. How can I combine them both?
Every picture was perfect and amazing. I'm wondering about the shelf above the bed in CA, though. When I lived there, I wanted to put a ledge shelf over my bed and my CA friends wouldn't let me! Now that I live in MN, I'm still nervous about heavy stuff over my head, and we dont' even have earthquakes!
As for the heavy pots hung in a cabin with a toddler...as a mom, I know there is NO safe environment for toddlers when no one's looking. (and I'm sure you are) The learning curve on what to climb, touch, taste, throw and what NOT too is quite steep in those years.
You all look very content and happy. What a great space you've created for your life!
Utterly magical.