Architecture & Interior Design in Santa Barbara
Matter is a Los Angeles architecture and interiors studio designing homes across Santa Barbara — from the Riviera and the Mesa to Montecito, Hope Ranch, and the foothills above. We build houses that answer to the place: the Mediterranean light, the ocean and mountains held in a single view, and a region with a long architectural memory.
Santa Barbara asks a house to belong. The city holds one of the most considered design cultures in California — its Spanish Colonial Revival heritage is protected, and review is rigorous. We begin every project with a Discovery Session that translates how you live into a written Concept Brief, before a single line is drawn. What follows is a home tuned to its setting — sited to the light and the view, drawn with proportion and restraint, and detailed in materials that meet the coast and the foothills and only grow more beautiful for it.
We work fluently within the region's review — the Architectural Board of Review, El Pueblo Viejo, and Montecito's own oversight — interpreting requirements early and holding the design steady so approvals move without eroding the idea. Whether the language is Andalusian, Mediterranean, or quietly modern, the aim is the same: a home that reads as though it has always stood there.
Every decision earns its place. Plans, materials, and daylight are drawn, tested, and refined; then we see the work through construction, detailing, and oversight — until the space is real, resolved, and yours to live in for decades. We are not designing houses to sell in a year, but homes for generations, meant to hold a family's life and leave something lasting behind.
See more of our work in selected projects. We also design homes in nearby Ojai and Malibu.
Book a Discovery Session →Frequently asked
Do you design homes throughout the Santa Barbara area?
Yes — from the Riviera, the Mesa, and downtown to Montecito, Hope Ranch, and the foothills, including coastal and view lots.
Do you work within Santa Barbara's design review?
Yes. We design and document with the Architectural Board of Review and El Pueblo Viejo requirements in mind from the first sketch, so approvals move without compromising the design.
Can you work in a Spanish or Mediterranean idiom?
Yes. We work in the region's traditional languages as fluently as in a quieter modern one — always drawn to suit the site and how you live.