Change happens slowly in Sonoma, a small town in the heart of California wine country. The local architecture is a mix of older farmhouses and Mission-style homes, and most of the original downtown buildings stand, frozen in time. That’s what drew designers Austin Carrier and Alex Mutter-Rottmayer to the area 10 years ago. ‘There is a level of authenticity that is missing from a lot of other places,’ says Austin, adding, ‘we have truly fallen in love with the landscape and community.’
The couple, who are the founders of Hommeboys Interiors, live on a family compound surrounded by vineyards and oak-studded hills. ‘We started by building a residence for Alex’s parents at the front of the property,’ Austin explains. ‘Then we moved on to what would become our home, studio and showroom.’
What began as a derelict barn lacking any architectural details was transformed into a beautiful live-work space. ‘It really was a leap of faith,’ says Austin, adding ‘we created a small office area, building desks for employees we did not yet have. We were building for the future, for our vision for Hommeboys.’
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The duo converted a storage space into a conference room and the garage-turned-woodshop became a showroom, but while the interiors are new – albeit incorporating colours and materials from the surrounding landscape – they took care to maintain a more traditional barn exterior.
Because their home, studio and showroom are all connected, it was important for the rooms to serve as inspiration for visiting clients. The opportunity to display materials, finishes and colour combinations has helped to build up clients’ confidence. Now, Austin and Alex’s team has a fully functional kitchen and bathroom downstairs, whereas before a portion of the couple’s home acted as an extension of the studio.
While they appreciate having that boundary between their work and private lives, Austin admits in reality it’s impossible to separate the two – and in fact, they’re fine with that. ‘Design is such a huge part of us, it does not feel like work. Creating together is one of the great joys of our life,’ he says, smiling. ‘We are always exchanging ideas, so our home is evolving because it’s where we try out concepts and materials.’
The couple lived in the barn through the renovation, which began upstairs where they turned a few dysfunctional rooms into their private residence. By knocking out the wall in the upper storey and vaulting the lower level to create a more expansive entrance, they were able to install a spectacular curved-plaster staircase with limestone steps. ‘We have always wanted to create one and had yet to have a project that allowed for it. Having the opportunity to build one for our own home was a dream,’ says Austin.
This element inspired the rest of the project, but installing it wasn’t without its challenges. ‘Alex was very ill with Covid and later realised he had missed a stair tread,’ recalls Austin. ‘We had to build an entirely new staircase on top of the old one.’
Moments like that could test the strongest of relationships, and as partners in life and work, such a personal project could be challenging. But these two actually found designing their own home to be easier than working for a client. ‘Our tastes and skills have grown and changed together,’ explains Alex. ‘We have built a level of trust and respect in each other’s opinions and expertise. If anything, we challenge each other to push the design further.’
Alex and Austin, who describe themselves as ‘social people but simultaneously homebodies’ end each working day with a soak in the Japanese-cedar hot tub built beside their vintage Airstream, which is parked outside. ‘These moments of peace,’ they say, ‘help to create the balance.’ hommeboys.com
