For the husband-and-wife architect and interior design duo Steve and Brooke Giannetti, moving their life and business from Ojai, California, to Leiper’s Fork, Tennessee, came naturally. The pastoral landscape of the Southern town they had often visited paralleled the farm-like focus of their compound out west, a transition they document in their latest lovely book, Giannetti: Patina Homes & Gardens.
The couple purchased and began work on their Tennessee home, called Patina Meadow, in 2022. The property offered more space and the freedom to continue the work they’d been showcasing since 2008 on Brooke’s blog Velvet & Linen, projects that attracted such bold-faced clients as the actress Jennifer Garner. “The land includes a renovated 1850s log house and a newly constructed gathering space we call the Shed, inspired by old Tennessee tobacco barns,” Brooke says. “It’s the culmination of our design philosophy, reflecting our love of nature and history.”
The landscape of Patina Meadow, along with those of the other house projects featured in the new book, stands out due to the couple’s soulful approach; welcoming, billowy layouts; and agrarian influences, such as the gardens they designed in California that overflow with fruit trees, cutting gardens, and charming follies and greenhouses. That’s thanks in large part to their collaboration with their daughter, Leila, who inherited the creative gene from her parents and also helped open their first shop, Patina Home & Garden, just down the road in Franklin.
The family has embraced what the new Tennessee growing region affords. “One of my favorite parts of designing landscapes in the South is getting to highlight seasonal beauty,” Brooke says. “In California, we experienced some seasonal shifts, but they were much more subtle than here. In the South, we love using spring-flowering trees like dogwoods and redbuds, and their autumnal counterparts like October Glory maples to add drama and beauty during the transitional seasons. On the ground level, we’ve been enjoying planting daffodils and tulips to bring the landscape back to life in late winter and early spring, and we always love the classic Limelight hydrangeas that bloom so abundantly in summer.”
On a rare day when the couple isn’t working, you’ll find them walking their land and dreaming up new ways to bring people to the property for workshops and tours. “While we love the more manicured areas of our property, there’s something especially calming about walking through the woods and taking in the wild spaces,” Brooke says. “Their informal, untamed nature invites us to let go of the structure of daily life and feel a bit freer.”
