A Loomis couple marries farmhouse ease with contemporary style.
ALL GOOD MARRIAGES require a bit of give and take. So it goes for Jamie and Bill Webster. She grew up in the Bay Area and wanted to live in a place with plenty of amenities (like shopping). He grew up in rural Oklahoma and wanted to be surrounded by land. The couple compromised, building their dream home on five acres in Loomis, a charming foothills town that’s close to the action but feels miles away from the bustling city.
With three children, they needed a house that would provide spaces for coming together as a family as well as places where everyone could retreat for some privacy. So they enlisted the help of interior designer Kristen Fiore to get everything on their wish list, including an open floor plan, a ground-floor master plus a guest suite, a large pantry and a mudroom where the kids could drop off their school and sports gear.
Fiore describes the 4,000-square-foot house as “contemporary rustic.” It has classic farmhouse elements like a wraparound porch, wood beams and sliding barn doors. But there are touches of mountain cabin design in the family room’s vaulted ceiling and exposed wood trusses, along with a jolt of industrial modern from the brushed-steel stair railings. “We didn’t go all-in on country,” says Bill. “It’s a country-ish design.”
Fiore used modern materials and a sophisticated color palette of creams and dark naturals to avoid farmhouse clichés. In the kitchen, the upper cabinets have wire mesh inserts—reminiscent of chicken wire but more subtle—that give the space glitter and pattern. In the master suite, a see-through fireplace is framed on the bedroom side with a large border of copper trim and, on the bathroom side, a similar border of hot rolled steel.
The house overlooks Penryn Valley and is surrounded by four acres of natural brush. Bill built a barn for the family’s animals: three Nubian goats and two mini donkeys that the couple “won” in a local charity auction. “You know you’ve come to Loomis when you bid on mini donkeys,” says Jamie with a grin. She loves everything about it: the beautiful sunsets she can see from her kitchen window, the homecoming parade on Taylor Road, the close community. “I’m beginning to become a country girl.”
Interior Design: Kristen Elizabeth Design
General Contractor: Neighborhood Construction Inc.
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