Julie Cavanaugh is an established presence in Los Gatos, California, where she leads the interior design company Design Matters. Julie Cavanaugh has completed luxury projects in locations ranging from Jackson Hole to Malibu, and coordinated a renovation project in a Sonoma Coast region known for its architectural impact.
A 2019 New York Times article drew attention to another Sonoma County location, Sea Ranch, a “modernist utopia” that has recently been catching up with the new century’s aesthetics. Envisioned in 1964 by faculty at the University of California, Berkeley, the development turned what had been a 5,200-acre sheep ranch into a residential community that derived its fundamental utility and aesthetics from nature.
The wood-crafted Sea Ranch design combined open interiors, slanted shed roofs, and overhead spaces with skylights, outlooks, and elevated sleeping areas. Innovative for its era, this aesthetic has earned Sea Ranch a place on the National Register of Historic Places.
While the development has grown over the decades to encompass 1,769 houses, it still offers residents a unique, immersive proximity to nature. In recent years, some homeowners have broken from the wood-clad aesthetic and opted for more modern materials, such as fire-resistant, low-maintenance, cement fiberboard. Others have used contemporary materials such as concrete and Cor-Ten in ways that take inspiration from the look and feel of old barns in the area. One common goal is to preserve the sense of solitude and closeness to nature, while designing structures that are in much closer proximity than the original developers planned.
Julie Cavanaugh 