The Road to Butterfly Beach

A designer and his family put down roots in idyllic Montecito, California,

- Amanda Sims Clifford

BREAKFAST ROOM

A custom banquette at the family home of designer Jeffrey Alan Marks, upholstered in Rogers & Goffigon Orkney Inlet fabric, wraps around three walls to create the ultimate cozy nook for mealtimes. Paint: Strong White (walls) and Cornforth White (ceiling), both Farrow & Ball. Wall paper: Chateau Linen, Phillip Jeffries. Sconces: The Urban Electric Co. Table and chair: Richard Wrightman, the latter in Keleen Leathers suede.

JAMES ASPEN MARKS knows a fine piece of pottery. At just two and a half, the daughter of celebrity designer Jeffrey Alan Marks has broken her fair share, but that doesn’t stop her dad from displaying his favorites on low shelves within the toddler’s reach. “I say, ‘Let’s experiment, let’s feel it and touch it.’ She is very tactile and loves to feel everything,” Marks explains. Such is the parenting—and decorating—philosophy at the home Marks shares with his husband, Gregory, and daughter, a historic American Colonial Revival snuggled between the mountains and Butterfly Beach in Montecito, California.

STAIRWELL

“I wanted you to feel like you were in an old boat ladder hallway,” says Marks. Chandelier: Lindsey Adelman. Runner: custom, Mitchell Denburg Collection.