A Tuscan-Style Home with Rustic Touches





Nye started with the Elizabeth Eakins rug in the "elegant but incredibly comfortable" living room, pulling out the colors for the upholstery and pillows. The wing chair is covered in a hand-blocked linen from Hazelton House; the Rose Tarlow Celestial sofa is covered in Morgan velvet by Michael S. Smith. Walls are ivory.

As an homage to the signature lime-washed paneling of David Adler and Frances Elkins, Nye lightened the den's somber mahogany to this mellow café au lait. Club chairs in a Cowtan & Tout linen velvet gather around a Crate & Barrel coffee table that Nye customized with a tufted leather top. "I really am a believer in high-low," he says, "even if the term has become a cliché."



Subtly layered colors and sculptural shapes make up a Joe Nye "moment of richness" in the master-suite vestibule of a new Santa Barbara house. An 18th-century Continental Italian faux-bois cabinet is flanked by 17th-century Spanish Colonial chairs. Portuguese needlepoint carpet from John Iloulian.

<>

An archway frames the living room vista from the entrance hall. An 18th-century Italian table from John J. Nelson Antiques holds a pair of twin 19th-century French oil lamps, which light a sofa beyond.