Ruby Hill
French Country Estate
French Country Estate —
A Complete Home, Reconsidered
A full-scope renovation of a traditional Pleasanton estate — kitchen, living areas, home offices, and bathrooms redesigned from the ground up for a family whose life had outgrown the original layout. The architecture was preserved. Everything else was transformed.
The Brief
The clients had just purchased this Ruby Hill estate — a home with genuine architectural character, but interiors designed for a different kind of life. With full careers, two young children, and a household that moves quickly, the original plan simply couldn't keep up.
The kitchen, dining room, living spaces, and home offices were all in the right places, but the connections between them felt effortful rather than natural. They wanted a home that worked the way they actually lived — from the first day.
The Design
We focused on strengthening the relationship between the shared living spaces while honoring the home's traditional French country character. A single wall was removed to open the kitchen and living areas, allowing circulation to become intuitive and connected. Lighting was layered throughout — ambient, task, and accent — to support both mood and function across the full day.
The kitchen became the spatial center of the home. White cabinetry with aged brass hardware, a generous walnut island with warming drawer and custom breakfast bar cabinet, handmade tile, and a brass pot filler were chosen for their warmth and resilience. A custom panel walnut bar with integrated beverage cooler and wine storage anchors the living area, framed by RH glass chandeliers in both the living and dining rooms. Rejuvenation lighting fixtures in the kitchen complete a palette that is warm, layered, and entirely cohesive.
Materials were selected not only for beauty but for longevity — natural stone, warm wood, and aged brass chosen for their capacity to develop character over years of real use.
Key Materials
- White custom cabinetry with aged brass hardware
- Walnut island — warming drawer and custom breakfast bar cabinet
- Custom panel walnut bar cabinets with integrated beverage cooler
- Handmade wall tile — kitchen
- Newport Brass fixtures throughout
- Rejuvenation lighting fixtures — kitchen
- RH glass chandeliers — living room and dining room
- Herringbone tile — walk-in shower and guest bathroom
- Azul marble — primary bathroom (phase two)
- Gold-finish ROHL fixtures — primary bathroom
Client Experience
"Her design drawings are so incredibly detailed. For any question the contractors asked, the answer was in the drawings. She made it all very easy — we didn't have to step out of our home."
"Ayse was always on time, going above and beyond. Our dream home wouldn't have been possible without her."
Homeowners · Ruby Hill, PleasantonThe Outcome
The renovated home now moves as a single, coherent whole. Light travels freely through the open plan. The kitchen accommodates a quiet Tuesday morning as comfortably as a gathering of twenty. The living areas feel refined without feeling precious.
Two years after the original renovation, the homeowners invited Studioayse back to redesign the primary bathroom — a second phase that extended the same sensibility into a more private register, and a reflection of the trust built through the entire process.