Meet Brooke and Steve Giannetti – Soulmates, creators, caregivers and business partners. While Steve attended architecture school at the University of Maryland, Brooke invested her time in decorating their own home and helping Steve’s clients with their interiors. Thirty-five years and counting, and they are still a husband-and-wife team.

 

After living in Los Angeles, California, for over twenty-five years, the couple decided to move to Ojai, just northwest of Los Angeles, where they designed their dream homestead, Patina Farm. “Living on Patina Farm, we realized that the spaces we created were inspired by and connected to nature, allowing us to feel more peaceful and present in our lives,” says Brooke and Steve.

 

About seven years ago, Steve began designing a home for a client in the Nashville area. He was moved by the natural beauty as well as the friendly community. Over the next several years, Brooke and Steve visited many times and, with each visit, felt a stronger pull to become part of the Leiper’s Fork community. It became so strong that they thought it must be part of their destiny.

 

So, Brooke and Steve packed up their farm animals and headed east.

 

“When we started our life on Patina Farm, we slowly began adding animals. First, a few miniature donkeys to graze on the land, then a couple of mischievous goats, next, some docile baby doll sheep – they all added their personalities to our days,” says Steve. “When we started looking into applying biodynamic principals to our land, we realized that all of the animals played essential roles in the process…our sheep, goats and cows grazed the land and provided manure for our compost, our chickens spread the manure and kept the insect population at bay, our donkeys kept predators off our land and our pigs ate all of our table scraps.”

 

Before they knew it, Brooke and Steve had a farm full of life.

 

Patina Farm, Brooke and Steve’s previous family property in Ojai, California, will always be one of their favorite projects. Brooke explains, “Our own homes always provide us with an opportunity to delve deeper into our design philosophy. We test our theories and push our designs to the next level. At Patina Farm, we wanted to see how many ways we could connect the indoor and outdoor spaces. We used the same material palette and connected the spaces with big windows and doors,” says Brooke. They incorporated antique building materials like reclaimed barn beams and antique French limestone mantels to make their home feel like it had been on the property for generations. Through Patina Farm, Brooke and Steve discovered their love for biodynamic farming and living with farm animals.

 

Though they felt a deep connection to their homestead in Ojai, Leiper’s Fork was calling.

 

Since its construction, many years back, the new Patina Home & Garden storefront has been a gathering place for the community. The building has served as the town’s general store, post office, and, more recently, an antique store. Many memories have been had there, and it will not end here. Brooke and Steve share, “We want to discover local makers, farmers and creators to learn from 

and allow them to share their knowledge and products at our new shop.” The couple hopes for Patina Home & Garden to be an authentic place to gather – interpreted in many ways.

 

Nature, History, and Community.

 

Inspired by historical architecture and the unique lives of their clients, Brooke and Steve strive to design spaces that are not only beautiful but feel intentional and personal. “We pull inspiration from Nature (the location of the project); History (the stories our clients share with us about their life); Community (the dreams our clients share with us about how they want to connect with the ones they love).”

 

Brooke and Steve call their design style “Patina Style.” They explain, “We love natural materials and how they age with use over time. We incorporate as many antiques as possible in our design projects because they add their own stories and history to the spaces we design.”

 

Patina Meadow is the new property Brooke and Steve are designing near their store and homestead in Leiper’s Fork. “We have so many dreams for Patina Meadow. We plan to build a demonstration barn which will include a pottery studio for community classes and a gathering space for other farm and culinary classes.” They also hope to add rescue animals to their existing animal family. “We want to offer forest walks to discover the healing properties of the forest. Of course, we remain open to discovering what the future holds for us and Patina Meadow as our dream evolves.” 

Brooke and Steve are also renovating the 1850s log cabin on their new property, paying homage to the original structure while opening the spaces to the views of the animal pastures and forest surrounding it. Brooke and Steve will live in the cabin while designing their new home on the property.

 

Patina Home & Garden is open and awaiting guests to gather. Follow their journey on the Velvet and Linen blog at giannettihome.com and on Instagram at @patinahomeandgarden.