London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Oct 09, 2025

Once Neglected, This Montecito Compound Is Now a Blissful Retreat

Once Neglected, This Montecito Compound Is Now a Blissful Retreat

Tour antiquarian Lee Stanton's history-filled home.
He was eight years old.


It was the first time Lee Stanton’s mother took him antiquing. “I was the only child at home at the time, so in order to maintain my interest while we were shopping, she got me started on collecting too,” he recalls. He began with vintage toys, then tramp art. “As my taste would mature, she would quickly shift my attention to another collection,” Stanton adds. When his mother was busy, he’d spend time with his grandfather, a woodworker who restored old furniture. Later, he started joining his older sister, an interior designer, on her regular buying trips to Europe.

It seems almost inevitable, then, that Stanton would end up an antiques dealer himself-albeit as a second act, after a successful career in publishing. “It was kind of something I inherited,” he explains from his weekend retreat in Montecito, California, about an hour and a half from his home in Los Angeles. Built in the 1940s as an artisans’ compound, the sprawling property is itself rooted in history, making it the ideal backdrop for the current iteration of Stanton’s ever-changing collection.

Originally comprising four Spanish-style adobe casitas that shared a communal kitchen (and a communal pay phone), the home was in disrepair when Stanton and his partner, Israel Serna, bought it four years ago. One of the structures had been lost to a fire, two were haphazardly combined in the ’60s to form a single home, and one was an art studio. “It had been really neglected,” Stanton says. “Before I started fixing it up, I brought a big-name designer friend from L.A. to see it. When I mentioned that I didn’t want to rob it of its quirky energy, she told me, ‘Oh, honey, you don’t have to worry about losing any funk in this house!’” he notes with a laugh.



Over the course of a year and a half, he restored the structure, pulling from both the house’s lore (handmade tiles pay homage to the ceramicists who once lived there) and his own (a restaurant in Japan where he spent a memorable evening inspired the design of the kitchen island). Once complete, he filled the rooms with a carefully edited array of furniture (mostly 19th-century European) and art (a trio of collages made from his haberdasher grandfather’s fabrics).

“I’ve come to relish the process of taking something old and making it feel new while still preserving its integrity,” Stanton says. “Antiques tell a story, and so does this house.”

Living Room




Stanton incorporated salvaged architectural elements-like this fireplace from a historic estate in central California-throughout the house. Furniture: Lee Stanton Antiques. Rug: Woven.

Kitchen



The ceiling fixture was constructed from antique mechanical parts. Counters: honed granite through Stone Source (island) and Cambriaquartz (surrounding). Sink: Kohler, with an Axor faucet. Furniture and art: Lee Stanton Antiques.

Dining Area




A collection of antique architectural models sits atop the 19th-century dining table. Rug: Woven. Furniture: Lee Stanton Antiques.

Gallery




A hallway connects what was formerly two separate casitas on the property. Applying stain to the original terra-cotta tile flooring added extra character. Furniture: Lee Stanton Antiques.

Main Bedroom




Handwoven linens from Pat McGann Gallery and textile art by Daniel Pontius fill the bedroom, which is painted in a limewash from Sydney Harbour Paint Company. Furniture: Lee Stanton Antiques. Rugs Woven. Picture light: RH.

Sitting room




A pair of twin beds double as seating for visiting guests; the vintage pillow fabric was repurposed from early-20th-century British soldiers’ uniforms. Furniture: Lee Stanton Antiques. Rugs: Woven.

Dining Terrace




“I wanted to maintain the humble and eclectic nature that evolved on the property,” says Stanton, who frequently hosts guests with his partner, Israel Serna. Furniture: Lee Stanton Antiques.


Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
France: Less Than a Month After His Appointment, the New French Prime Minister Resigns
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Sarah Mullally Becomes First Woman Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
US Prosecutors Gained Legal Approval to Hack Telegram Servers
Macron Faces Intensifying Pressure to Resign or Trigger New Elections Amid France’s Political Turmoil
Standard Chartered Names Roberto Hoornweg as Sole Head of Corporate & Investment Banking
UK Asylum Housing Firm Faces Backlash Over £187 Million Profits and Poor Living Conditions
UK Police Crack Major Gang in Smuggling of up to 40,000 Stolen Phones to China
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Trump Proposes Farm Bailout from Tariff Revenues Amid Backlash from Other Industries
FIFA Accuses Malaysia of Forging Citizenship Documents, Suspends Seven Footballers
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
A Dollar Coin Featuring Trump’s Portrait Expected to Be Issued Next Year
Australia Orders X to Block Murder Videos, Citing Online Safety and Public Exposure
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
OpenAI and AMD Forge Landmark AI-Chip Alliance with Equity Option
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
×