The Michael S. Smith Pass Off

This is a long, crazy story. One that a faithful reader spurred, after asking me to do a "Look for Less" post about a house she'd found online. A little digging for photos revealed a deeper story that was too good to pass on, and a story book Beverly Hills Flats cottage that may very well be my dream house.

It's the long and tangled story of two insanely wealthy families who have passed incredibly expensive real estate back and forth like a stroller their children have grown out of. And it's all been decorated by Obama White House designer, Michael S. Smith

After some thought, I have decided to keep the names of these families private. I will simply refer to them as Family 1 and Family 2. Family 1 has enlisted Smith to design multiple houses, including one that Smith wrote a very popular book about: Building Beauty: The Alchemy of Design, and another which would be the first they'd pass off to Family 2 - a Portuguese style Quinta (traditional manor house) in the exclusive Santa Barbara suburb of Montecito.

Elle Decor / Henry Bourne

The house was designed by Tichenor and Thorp with Ferugson and Shamamian, and was featured in Elle Decor in 1999, House Beautiful in 2000, Santa Barbara Magazine in 2002, and in Michael Smith's books Houses and Elements of Style, along with the Dianne Dorrans Saeks book Santa Barbara Living. 

Family 1 and Family 2 are very close. Related not by blood, but in business - which can be closer. When the matriarch of Family 2 visited the Quinta after it had been built and decorated, she said that it was "the most beautiful house she'd ever seen in my [her] life." And it's easy to see why: 

 Elle Decor 1999; Photo by Henry Bourne via

Elle Decor 1999; Photo by Henry Bourne via

Elle Decor 1999; Photo by Henry Bourne via

Elle Decor 1999; Photo by Henry Bourne via

Elle Decor 1999; Photo by Henry Bourne via

Elle Decor 1999; Photo by Henry Bourne via

Elle Decor 1999; Photo by Henry Bourne via

Elle Decor 1999; Photo by Henry Bourne via

Elle Decor 1999; Photo by Henry Bourne via

Elle Decor 1999; Photo by Henry Bourne via

Elle Decor 1999; Photo by Henry Bourne via

Elle Decor 1999; Photo by Henry Bourne via

Elle Decor 1999; Photo by Henry Bourne via

Elle Decor 1999; Photo by Henry Bourne via

Elle Decor 1999; Photo by Henry Bourne via

From Santa Barbara Living Principal Photography by Lisa Romerein

From Santa Barbara Living Principal Photography by Lisa Romerein

From Santa Barbara Living Principal Photography by Lisa Romerein

From Santa Barbara Living Principal Photography by Lisa Romerein

From Santa Barbara Living Principal Photography by Lisa Romerein

via 

A reader note: This house is the house I was asked to do a "Look for Less" post on, and I will share those pieces in a second post in a couple of days.

Shortly after catching her breath, the matriarch of Family 2 called up Michael S. Smith and asked him to oversee the decoration and decor of her new home, a mansion in the swanky Beverly Hills Benedict Canyon. While work was happening on the house for Family 2 in Beverly Hills, Family 1 decided that it was time to move on from this masterpiece, into a sprawling compound on the ocean in Malibu. Without hesitation, Family 2 bought the house with all contents, even flatware, for just shy of $20 Million in 2002, and continue to own the property today. 

Family 1 moved from the Quinta to Malibu, while holding onto property throughout California, New York City, and London (all of which Michael S. Smith was hired to decorate). When Family 1 liquidated, it seemed they looked no further than their friends, Family 2. They sold their Brentwood Georgian mansion of 8,600 square feet to Family 2 in 2014 for what remains one of the highest prices on record in that neighborhood, $33.7 Million. 

Family 2 now has that house on the market, and I have a well-researched guess that they did not buy this one fully furnished. Unfortunately, there is no way to see what it might have looked like under Michael S. Smith's direction for Family 2, because the house has been staged and furnished for sale by the very popular Los Angeles based, Meredith Baer. Still, it's fun to look at a Before and After, so I'm going to show you the pictures I was able to find of the house when it was sold to Family 2, along side those of the house as it looks today. 

Fam 1 Photo by Tim Street Porter via

Fam 2

Researching this post was a chore. Fun, but sort of cryptic. I figured that Family 2 had bought the house fully furnished, like the house in Montecito, and assumed that furniture had likely found a way to a different home. However, I found that in September 2018, pieces of furniture were sold at a Christie's auction in New York for more than $3.2 Million dollars from three homes owned by Family 1, just after they bought a NYC co-op at Manhattan's wealthiest address: 740 Park.

Fam 1 Photo by Tim Street Porter via

Fam 2 

Fam 1 Photo by Tim Street Porter via

Fam 2 

Fam 1 Photo by Tim Street Porter via

Fam 2

Fam 1 Photo by Tim Street Porter via

Fam 2

Fam 1 Photo by Tim Street Porter via

Fam 2

Fam 1 Photo by Tim Street Porter via

Fam 2

For those of you interested in antiques, I highly recommend looking over the items that were a part of this sale. It's an education in and of itself. The sale was noted as interiors from three homes between California and New York. The first, this Brentwood house. The next, pieces from the NYC apartment of Family 1 that was sold in 2017, the third their massive beach front Malibu compound that sold to billionaire Russians who weren't named, and continue to stay anonymous behind a well-guarded LLC.

At this point, Family 2 had created their own property portfolio, and it was a beautiful one. They'd hired Michael to decorate it all, and in an Architectural Digest about their home in Benedict Canyon from 2009, the matriarch of Family 2 let slip that she was currently working with Michael on a small project for her parents.

Turns out, the LLC that Family 2 purchased most of their real estate under bought a small cottage with a guest house in the Beverly Hills Flats, and it became a labor of love for the matriarch (who had a new found love for design thanks to Smith) and her architect on the project, later business partner Brad Clark. Together, they would overhaul the house, hire Smith to decorate, and Christine London to tackle the yard and gardens. When I found pictures of this house, which presumably was the "small project" for her parents, I immediately saved all pictures. This was, and is, my idea of perfection. 

Reader Note: You may remember that there were a collection of these prints on the walls of the Montecito Quinta:

The home is currently available for rent, here. Note: no pets. $15,000 per month! 

Nearly every designer hopes for clients who are so happy, they'll refer their friends. Very lucky designers get clients who have multiple homes, and ask them to tackle more than one. But there are very few, maybe only a handful, who have the luck of Michael S. Smith. Two clients, with multiple homes each, who seem to collect high-end real estate as a sort of sport; competing with one another for bragging rights - perhaps with Michael S. Smith their judge. 

At the very least, it was fun to get to connect the dots, and find this stunning Normandy style cottage I hope you all love as much as I do. 

If you're interested in more from Michael S. Smith, I recommend his books:

If you're a fan of the Santa Barbara architecture and lifestyle seen in the Quinta, there's an entire book of beautiful houses that you'll love here: 

I also urge you to come back when I have the "Look for Less" post up about the Quinta. While it's not easy to find pieces that are near exact, I have found pieces that are staples of the design - beautiful things, including this lantern: 

These really cool stencils, to replicate the tile look on the walls of the Quinta without the expense and construction, especially if you're in a rental - like me! 

And this beautiful table nearly identical to the one in the Quinta's guest house, for less than $65!

And before we finished up, I have to let you know that in all of my research I happened upon Smith's favorite candles and home scents, take a look: