Words by Loureen Murphy
Long before high tech, amidst our region’s orchards, a 1937 adobe sported the latest in brick tech—12,000 “Bitudobe” blocks, comprising clay soil plus stabilizer. Over the decades, as newer innovations blossomed around it, the venerable home languished. Though its story could have ended in demolition, love saved and transformed it for the future.
Upon encountering this remarkable residence, the buyers recognized their forever family home. The classic adobe features—rugged wood beams, tile floors, wrought iron hardware—resonated with their beloved Mexican heritage and invited their whimsical touch. But its authenticity rendered it too rustic for 21st-century living. The homeowners depended on the corner fireplaces for heat, open windows for cooling, and basically camped indoors, living and working within the aging walls. To remedy this, they reached out to Fergus Garber Architects (FGA) about renovations.
Knowing their clients’ yen to preserve the home’s historic character while updating, Catharine “Cath” Fergus Garber, FGA’s founder, and Olivia Delbono, the project’s lead architect, spent the first few months assessing the full scope, then proceeded with sensitivity and savvy.
They addressed leaning walls, old, leaky plumbing and exposed electrical wiring, all obvious fixes. The surprise came when pulling up the original terra cotta floor tile revealed bare ground below. No foundation, no slab. A down-to-earth home, quite literally. Keeping the home’s signature look, Olivia and Cath hid all the new infrastructure, including heating and AC, beneath a new slab and tile as well as above lowered ceilings. Likewise, they achieved earthquake stability by drilling from the top down and inserting steel pins through the adobe bricks.
No question, the 1937 terra cotta roof had to come off, Olivia says, but “We reused the old tiles as much as possible, placing the historic tiles at the front to be seen street-side.” Solar panels now bask discreetly on the roof’s back slope.
Cath says one of the greatest challenges lay in the more subtle craft of creating adequate lighting. “We wanted to cut into the adobe as little as possible.” Illuminating client-architect conversations prompted a balance of sconces and lamps with natural light. In various rooms, artisan-crafted light fixtures complement the old.
The clients loved crossing eras and styles while staying true to the house, so Olivia and Cath engaged local and Mexican artisans to create new pieces and replicate the home’s non-salvageable ones. Painted cabinets bear brush marks, “charming imperfections,” as Olivia calls them. A Napa artist hand-painted a kitchen island and built-in hutch with flowers, highlighting its carved features. They also restored an interior mural depicting an ancestor panning for gold.
The couple display their contemporary art pieces from the custom picture rail in the dining room. There, and in bedrooms, antique-style tassels hang from vintage-inspired draperies from textile masters Zack + Fox. Custom-designed rods and finials, with a hand-hammered finish, harmonize with the home’s native hardware.
In the courtyard, a custom Talavera tile mural, based on a 1930s picture of the house, resides over the potting bench, with the current family dog added to the timeless image. Below the mural, an old stone sink sits on the salvaged-wood bench itself, which will grey with time, adding to the “always been there” effect.
The most dramatic makeover, the garage-turned-ADU, sparkles like a gem. Its sunlit kitchen, specifically designed for the wife’s baking, warms under strategic skylights. Behind the custom oven, the Moroccan backsplash tiles bear subtle inconsistencies conveying their handmade status. Cath says that though the unit still appears garage-like from the front, a more beautiful and functional door now hides two electric car chargers. On the other side, large French doors open to the back, blurring the indoor-outdoor divide.
Another practical change: the Halloween-loving homeowners wanted a second front gate to create an easy flow for trick-or-treaters and visitors of their festive October 31 display. Their community spirit has already proven a big hit with neighbors of all ages.
In 1937, the cutting-edge builders created a house that likely outlasted their intentions. Today, the renovated adobe embodies affection for the past, joy in the present and hope for the family’s future. No longer surrounded by orchards but an active neighborhood, the home is further embraced and nourished by a kitchen garden and flourishing fruit trees.
Cath calls the project, “a perfect job for us” because they love working hand-in-hand with their clients as they did here. “People choose to work with our firm, not because we have a specific style, but because we have a good collaborative style.”