Photography by Gavin Cater of Cater Photography, courtesy of Rita Chan Interiors, unless noted
At Remodelista, we brake for creative garage conversions. The latest is a Santa Ynez, California, multi-car garage in which one of the stalls now serves as a couple’s art studio.
It's all part of a full property renovation of a 1971 ranch house in Santa Barbara wine country by Dylan Henderson of Salt Architecture and Rita Donahoe of Rita Chan Interiors.
In addition to housing vehicles, the redesigned four-car garage holds a gym and art studio.
Architect Dylan Henderson designed the airy, new space, and Rita Donahoe fitted it with a wrap-around counter and built-in storage in marine plywood.
Wanting to warm up the space with patinated surfaces, Donahoe introduced an antique work table found at Santa Ynez General.
The drawers opposite the worktable were repurposed from a toolshed on the property and inserted into a new framework.
Henderson clad the exterior in shou sugi ban from Delta Millworks.
“The cupola was created to allow heat to escape and provide natural ventilation as the garage tends to get quite hot,” says Henderson.