4 min read“The Golden Rules of Decorating” from House Beautiful’s October 1989 Issue:
Leave it to Billy Baldwin to point out that luxury should not be confused with grandeur. “To me, comfort is perhaps the ultimate luxury,” he once said. Decades later, design firm BAMO applied the same tenets to a Carmel-by-the-Sea refuge designed to feed the soul—and delight the eye.
It’s not every day that you shop for a house with your interior designer. But when a Palo Alto, California–based couple wanted to find a weekend home in Carmel-by-the-Sea, they knew that Michael Booth, a principal at BAMO who has worked with them for 30 years, had to accompany them.
The neighborhood, dotted with cottages, evokes a West Coast take on the Cotswolds, and they soon found a unique triangular lot with a two-story Tudor and a guest cottage straight out of a storybook. While the home had distinctly English character, the interior couldn’t support their needs; it made more sense to start fresh and build a home with the grace and patina the couple was craving.
To appeal to the clients’ Anglophile tastes, Booth, along with architect John Malick, committed to authentic details, including reclaimed oak beams, English stone roof shingles, straw-laced plaster walls, and handmade windows and doors. “It is impressionistic rather than literal, evoking the romance of the English countryside through a Northern California lens,” Booth says.
Inside, the great room functions like a boutique hotel lobby, with its exposed ceiling and architectural details seamlessly connecting the sitting area to the dining space to the kitchen. “We started with the great room and allowed the rest of the house to grow around it,” he explains. “That sense of intimacy became part of the luxury.”
Throughout, furnishings blend artistry with bespoke finds sourced from European and stateside purveyors. But rather than curating for elegance alone, Booth tried to envision how the house would have been lived in decades ago. “At its core, it’s not about replication, but about creating a lasting sense of beauty and meaning.”
FAST FACTS
Designer: Michael Booth, BAMO
Architect: John Malick & Associates
Landscape design: Howard Formby Garden Design
Location: Carmel-by-the-Sea, California
The Space: A two-bedroom, two-bathroom home across 3,000 square feet
EXTERIOR
The new-build home took inspiration from the fairytale-like quality of Carmel design history.
To capture the right sense of time and place, architecture firm John Malick & Associates employed local Carmel stone and imported roof shingles from England. Drought-tolerant grasses and plantings surrounding the home are native to the region.
Like the architecture, the landscape is intended to feel as though it has always been there. The path leading to the 1,200-square-foot guest house is lined with replanted 70-year-old olive trees.
GREAT ROOM
The duo of chandeliers was inspired by British architect Sir Edwin Lutyens.
The millwork is inspired by traditional English country houses, where beautifully crafted timber architecture becomes part of the character. Beyond, a panoramic de Gournay wallcovering depicts the redwood groves of nearby Big Sur, adding gentle color to the room’s landscape. A mix of chair silhouettes lends a collected, layered quality.
DINING NOOK
The open floorplan makes for effortless entertaining.
The home’s hand-hewn reclaimed oak beams continue into the adjacent dining room, which has an open-air feel that makes it the ideal spot for congregating during dinner parties.
KITCHEN
An archway connects the kitchen to the living space, keeping the proportions consistent.
Storage disappears thanks to cabinetry concealed behind touch-latch panels, keeping the room calm and uncluttered. Oversize Ann-Morris station lanterns anchor the island.
The island is topped with end-grain wood for extra durability. A Delft-tile backsplash adds a touch of heritage.
BREAKFAST NOOK
A partial cupola sets this space aside in an intimate, cozy way.
The partial cupola and the geometry of the floor echo the original cottage, reinforcing the home’s historical DNA.
BAR
A mirror backsplash bounces light when the piece is opened.
To reinforce the great room’s position as a central hub of the home, Booth incorporated a standalone bar, retrofitted into an antique armoire.
PRIMARY BEDROOM
A warm wood ceiling echoes the details from the main living space.
In the primary bedroom, muddy tones of olive, taupe, and brown bring an enveloping atmosphere. Layered window treatments elevate the cocooning effect.
PRIMARY BATH
Subtle arches throughout tie the room’s architecture together.
A muted chinoiserie de Gournay wallcovering was the starting point for the room’s entire feeling. “Looking through the windows, you see similar trees, so the transition between interior and exterior feels remarkably seamless,” Booth says.
GUEST ROOM
An antique-inspired bedframe plays into the home’s sense of history and place.
Straw-laced plaster walls, realized in an inky twilight blue, offer rich color and a “rustic smooth” finish that evokes a timeworn rural atmosphere.
GUEST COTTAGE BEDROOM
Vaulted ceilings lend a sense of airiness to the standalone cottage.
The home’s Tudor roots inspired the rich textures in this escape, from plaster walls to the barley twist detail on the antique bedside table from 1stDibs. “It’s a historical reference, but used selectively, so it never feels overly thematic,” Michael Booth says.
GUEST COTTAGE BEDROOM
The stone fireplace utilizes similar materials to the home’s exterior
A four-poster bed from Thomas Sellars Furniture and warm saffron walls enliven this space, while calling special attention to the pitched ceiling.
About the Designer
Michael C. Booth is the Principal at BAMO, an award-winning interior design firm focused on international residential and hospitality properties
