Eucalyptus Hill Outdoor Living

A second phase of construction is underway at this private residence nestled in the Eucalyptus Hill neighborhood of Montecito, CA.

comprehensive site plan

The landscape program for this phase consists of a new swimming pool and spa, overlook deck, retaining walls, terraced gathering spaces, a water feature, and curving stone steps to address the challenging terrain and existing mature trees.

view from the new ADU looking over the pool, with new retaining walls at left

CJM::LA worked in tandem with Design Studio 34, JRS ID, and Hall Contracting to ensure the materials palette of a new Accessory Dwelling Unit harmonizes with the landscape and site design to complement the inherent natural beauty of the property.

terrace, pool coping and ADU materials

This thoughtfully crafted landscape transformation will allow the owners to entertain family and friends in a variety of elegantly inviting outdoor spaces.


VENTURA BOTANICAL GARDENS

For the past nine years, Associate Principal Nicole Horn has served on the Ventura Botanical Gardens (VBG) Board of Directors. The mission of the VBG, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, is

to create and maintain public gardens for the preservation, education, cultural contribution & enhancement of the entire community.”

 

Over the next few decades, the VBG staff and community of volunteers will transform 100 acres of underutilized public lands into a unique, and special botanical garden. The gardens will showcase the five Mediterranean climates of the world with plant species specifically adapted to thrive in our local environment.

Nicole has led the design and implementation of several installations and sponsorship sites over the years, including a gabion seat wall gathering space, a Baja-inspired collection display wall, new trails, and a new basket-inspired structure (still in the conceptual design phase).

Conceptual sketches, plans and sections for upcoming new projects:

Next time you’re in Ventura, head up the hill behind City Hall to see the Gardens and help support conservation and education. We love plants!


Happy New Year 2024

Happy New Year from our family to yours!


Courtney, Nicole, Cameron, Arturo, Jianhua, Janet


ARCHITECTOURS 2023 | FEATURING SB BIERGARTEN

Each fall the AIASB hosts a self-guided tour to celebrate architecture in our community.  This year, the CJM::LA team hosted our recently completed SB Biergarten property along with our collaborative partner DMHA Architecture.

From the AIASB: This year’s tour features projects in various communities near downtown Santa Barbara. The projects include newly completed residences on the Mesa, as well as mid-century and cottage-style accessory dwelling units. In addition, tour-goers will also have the chance to visit multi-unit senior and veteran housing projects, Drift Hotel, and SB Biergarten. The spaces demonstrate the beauty of Santa Barbara’s signature indoor-outdoor lifestyle and the diversity of our local communities.


SB Beer Garden 2023

On Saturday we celebrated our TEN YEARS in business at the SB Botanic Garden‘s annual Beer Garden event.  It was a beautiful day at the garden – with a full creek, California poppies in full bloom and incredible food, drinks and music throughout the garden.  If you are ever in Santa Barbara for this event, it’s not to be missed!

Courtney, Jianhua, Christina, Janet, Arturo


Celebrating the Women of CJM::LA

This International Women’s Day, we’re celebrating all of the women of CJM::LA – both past and present. In the past ten years, we’ve had the privilege to work alongside such incredible team members – both within our design studio and within our expanded community of vendors, suppliers, collaborators, contractors and clients.
As a certified woman-owned small business, we are proud to have women leading both our ownership and operations, bringing insight and creativity to our growing team.

COURTNEY JANE MILLER

As the principal landscape architect and owner of CJM::LA, Courtney has led our creative team for ten years.  She combines the the thoughtfulness of a technical mind with the creativity of an artistic one, and loves to dig into the history the properties she designs as well as push the boundary of the expected.  Along with Nicole Horn, Courtney leads the creative vision for CJM::LA.

NICOLE HORN

Nicole joined CJM::LA in 2016, and has brought expertise in urban planning, resource management and landscape architectural design to the CJM::LA team.  As associate principal and director of operations, she promotes transparency and collaboration across all aspects of our work.  Nicole pushes herself and others to take risks, innovate and surpass conventional design roles and traditions.

JANET SHOTWELL

Janet joined CJM::LA 2014 as office manager and bookeeper.  She loves to make connections within our community while also keeping all aspects of our studio running smoothly.  Janet holds degrees in Historic Preservation and Architectural Technology, and brings this knowledge base to her work at CJM::LA.  She is the glue that holds us together!

AIKO STRASSER

Aiko recently joined CJM::LA as a project manager, and brings experience in mixed-use, hospitality and institutional projects to her role as part of the production team.  She believes in a whole-systems approach to design with a focus on social, economic and environmental equity.


Happy New Year 2023!

Jianhua, Janet, Courtney, Arturo, Aiko, Nicole, Cameron

Sending peace and abundance for 2023.  Happy New Year from our family to yours!

 


Santa Barbara Beautiful Awards 2022

We are thrilled to announce that our team was recognized by the Santa Barbara Beautiful organization for three outstanding properties at the 2022 Santa Barbara Shines! awards ceremony.

UNITY OF SANTA BARBARA | 2022 Commercial Property Award


This project transformed an existing lawn at the front of a historic mid-century modern church building into an inviting courtyard and entry garden.  Designated as a Structure of Merit by the City of Santa Barbara Historic Landmarks Commission, the existing building was constructed in 1958 in the mid-century modern style.  Our team designed the courtyard and gardens to complement the architectural design of the building and pay homage to the mid-century era, while addressing the functional needs of the Unity organization.

MAYEE PLAZA | 2022 Multi-Family Residence Award


This mixed-use infill housing project in the downtown core of Santa Barbara transformed an existing asphalt parking lot into a new multi-story development including 26 apartments and ground-floor commercial office space.  Our team designed a community courtyard in the space between the new building and the existing historic Louisa Ygnacio House to accommodate residents of the new apartments as well as employees and guests of to the commercial offices on the ground floor.  The decomposed granite, native California plants and Santa Barbara sandstone elements were selected to compliment the design language of the nearby Santa Barbara Historical Museum.

CABRILLO BALL PARK | 2022 Public Open Space Award

Together with the City of Santa Barbara Parks & Recreation Department, the CJM::LA team renovated an existing ball field on the Santa Barbara waterfront to address improved community programming, stormwater management and circulation.  A circuit walking trail with exercise equipment, better lighting and biofiltration plantings provide a sense of enclosure while maintaining important sight lines for public safety.


Happy New Year 2022!

Santa Barbara Residence | Santa Barbara, CA | Completed 2021

As we kick off the new year, the CJM::LA team is looking forward to focusing on our collective creative practice and developing deeper relationships with our many collaborators.  We are grateful for the support of our clients and the design community!

Happy New Year from our family to yours!


New Projects On the Boards

We’re excited to share more about the design process via our On the Boards page!  Click through the galleries to view process sketches, illustrative plans and architectural renderings which help tell the story of how our projects move from concept design to reality.

Mattei’s Tavern

Ocean Meadows


CJM::LA + AIASB Design Charrette 2020

At CJM::LA we seek out opportunities to create positive change in our community. The 2020 Design Charrette organized by the Santa Barbara Chapter of the American Institute of Architects aimed to Reinvigorate, Reinvent, Reimagine, and Repurpose our downtown with housing, energy, and life.  Both Courtney and Mariella from our office joined the charrette to work with local architects, planners, designers, students, citizens and professionals to develop a new vision for the design of our downtown core to lead us into the next 100 years.

Courtney collaborated with team B whose focus was on the downtown open spaces including the state street promenade, parks and plazas. Here are highlights of team B’s presentation of a new shared pedestrian promenade integrating stadium seating, stormwater, outdoor dining and public art.

Courtney’s words chosen to inspire a lively promenade and community

Courtney’s plan and elevation of what a complete street in Santa Barbara could look like

Mariella collaborated with team 6A whose area of focus were the blocks between Figueroa, Carrillo, Anacapa and Chapala streets; encompassing the transit center, local eateries, banks and other essential infrastructure to our downtown core. Here are some of their design ideas that revitalize the transit center; integrating bus, bicycle and ride share, adding housing, retail spaces and open space to form a highly functioning and invigorating entrance to downtown Santa Barbara.

in person collaborative sketching with Dee Carawan and Tai Yeh 

a quick sketch of Mariella’s used in the virtual design collaboration process

Dee Carawan’s final drawing of the transit center block

Thank you to all of our team members and to everyone who helped participate and organize this historical collaborative effort. You can watch the full recording of the design team presentations here.  The AIASB