MY ROUGH LUXE BIRTHDAY WEEKEND

Hello there!

I’ve just returned from what I’m calling my Rough Luxe Birthday Weekend. That’s because as I mentioned in a previous post, I along with my husband and 6 of our closest friends spent a wonderful weekend in the home of Cindy Hattersley, Interior Designer and editor of the fabulous Design Blog, Rough Luxe Perspective.

We left our home in Lake Arrowhead and really enjoyed our 5 hour drive to the Central California wine region of Paso Robles and environs.

It was a lovely day for a drive down our mountain.

Once we traversed the Grapevine, a mountainous pass outside of Los Angeles, the rest of the drive was through lovely pastures and farmland.

We saw sheep grazing…

and cattle out to pasture…

and a majestic Texas Longhorn…

and curious horses that came to say hello when we pulled over for a moment.

We even ran into some hungry turkey vultures who stubbornly blocked the road and finally flew away with their prey.

That was a sight to behold and a first for me!

In what seemed like no time we reached the lovely town of Paso Robles.  I wanted to stop at the famous Brown Butter Cookie Company to pick up some cookies wrapped in pretty little packages to use as party favors for my weekend house guests.

Cindy Hattersley’s beautiful vacation rental home is located near Lake Nacimiento, California, which is about 40 minutes from Paso Robles. Even though we were leaving our home in Lake Arrowhead to visit another lake house, it was all very exciting when Lake Nacimiento came into view.

The guard-gated community in which Cindy’s home is located is called Oak Shores.

It was especially exciting to finally reach Cindy’s house. I had seen it in pictures, both on her blog, Rough Luxe Perspective, and on VRBO.com, but nothing had prepared me for how truly lovely Villa Cantina turned out to be. As we stepped inside the front door I immediately knew we had made a great choice in rental homes for our weekend birthday retreat.

Her lovely living room was so inviting with two comfortable sofas from Best Slipcover, just made for relaxing.

The expansive living room opened onto a beautiful covered balcony where later that evening we would enjoy cocktails with a view. In fact, everyone agreed that this house had a million dollar view of the bucolic rolling hills for as far as the eye could see.

Adjacent to the living room was the dining room, perfect for our party of 8.

Don’t you just love the cow painting and old shutters that adorn the dining room wall? They reminded me of all the cows we saw on our drive to this beautiful country retreat.

The gourmet kitchen was complete with everything we could possibly need for the several meals we prepared during our stay. I loved the cement countertops which even incorporate a cement double sink.

Shortly after our arrival at Villa Cantina friends Lisa & Tony arrived loaded down with beautiful flowers and gifts.

Lisa, an interior designer herself, set about making beautiful flower arrangements which she placed around the home. I felt very honored and super grateful to have such wonderful and thoughtful friends.

Continuing with our home tour, let me show you the one, main-floor bedroom.

It’s one of a total of 5 bedrooms in Cindy’s home, 4 of which have ensuite bathrooms.

In Cindy’s home, instead of going upstairs, you descend downstairs where there are 4 more bedrooms and 3 bathrooms.

Cindy has decorated the stairway walls with an old pair of oars she found on Ebay, some canoe paddles from Crawford Antiques in Soquel, and a vent from a old Pennsylvania barn. Notice the round indention in the ceiling. That is a skylight which beautifully illuminates the stairwell.

This is one of the 4 downstairs bedrooms. The decorative pillows found throughout the house are from Kate Baker Slipcovers in Watsonville, California.

Cindy had very thoughtfully left small flower arrangements of beautiful Old English Roses on every night stand in the house.

I added my own welcome gifts consisting of a small pot of baby roses and the Brown Butter Cookies I mentioned previously.

This is the amazing Master Bedroom that Brad and I occupied during our stay.

It is complete with a fireplace and is flanked by two cozy rattan chairs. A small linen closet on the left side of the fireplace is enclosed with antique mirrored doors. And notice the whimsical hat display on the wall, just one of many charming accents found at every turn in this home.

One of the other wonderful features of the Master Bedroom was this inviting terrace, again with magnificent million dollar views where nature takes center stage. I also love how she draped the terrace which softened the space.

The ensuite Master Bathroom has every luxury you could want for. His and her stone vessel sinks, a deep soaking tub and a spa-like shower.

Cindy has used antique ceiling tiles in several places as wall ornamentation. She seems to be a master at collecting and gathering very interesting accent pieces and accessories.

Another lower-level bedroom had a black, white and beige color scheme. The seagrass carpeting and linen fabrics added texture and warmth to the room.

Also located on the lower level of the home was a beautifully landscaped side yard complete with a jacuzzi tub, dining area and impressive trickling wall fountain.

Cindy got the idea for this wall fountain here, where blogger/designer Kate Denham gives a step-by-step tutorial on how to make it. I only wish we had had more time to enjoy all of the special features in a home where there is so much to indulge in.

We loved our stay at Villa Cantina and can’t wait to return. Next time I’d like to bring my children and grandchildren for a family reunion, as this would be the perfect place to host such an event.

I do hope you’ll drop by Cindy’s blog by clicking here.  Please leave her a comment and tell her I sent you.

I hope you’ll stay tuned for more of my birthday weekend coming soon. I’ll share with you the “Last Supper” themed dinner I prepared for all my houseguests. What do I mean by Last Supper? Well, I decided for my BIG birthday I’d make a dinner of all of my favorite things, as if it were the last supper I’d ever eat. During dinner we went around the table and had everyone tell us what their last supper would consist of, course-by-course. It was a fun and delicious evening.

I’ll also be sharing with you our visits to 3 really great wineries, and take you with me to a fantastic picnic lunch.

Thanks for dropping in!  Do please leave a comment below.  I’d love to hear from you!

• If you’d like to read After Orange County every time a new article is posted, please “Subscribe” to the blog using the Subscription Box above.
• If you enjoyed this post, please help me spread the word by sharing it on your Facebook Page.  You can “Like” my Facebook Page here.
• If you enjoyed the photos, please “Pin Them” on your Pinterest page. You can follow my Pinterest Page here.
• Do you Tweet?  Please follow my Twitter Page here.
• Follow my blog on BlogLovin.com

All opinions expressed in this post are my own. Unless otherwise credited, all photos are the original property of Celia Becker @ www.AfterOrangeCounty.com and may not be reproduced without specific permission.