CASA DE LOS PAJAROS
by Miriam Raftery
photography by Vincent Knakal

After a fire destroyed their home in the historic Covenant of Rancho Santa Fe, Paul and Elaine Newkirk moved to the Caribbean and spent a year traveling around the world. “There’s always a silver lining,”

Elaine reflects, standing outside a new home on the site of their former residence. Nearby, a bevy of quail reflect the home’s Spanish name, which means “house of the birds.”

Above the front door, an aptly chosen saying reads: “The road less traveled has made all the difference.”
Architect Brian Sipes designed the home to resemble a Caribbean hacienda, maximizing indoor-outdoor living. A spacious stone patio features two fireplaces beneath a wooden ceiling that fans outward, welcoming guests.

“The genesis of the home’s design was a round, stone structure reminiscent of sugar cane mills that the Newkirks loved so much on the island of Tortola in the British Virgin Islands,” says Sipes, who created a circular stone kitchen that serves as the home’s central hub. The designer balanced rich interior finishes with ample wall space to display the couple’s art and travel mementos, contrasting lustrous Brazilian jatoba wood cabinetry with rustic Honduran doors and rough-hewn stonework.

“We’ve been to every continent, including Antarctica. We love indigenous, primitive art,” Elaine says. A high school teacher, Elaine and Paul, a real estate developer, deliver supplies to missionaries, traveling to remote regions from the Amazon to the mountains of Nepal. 

Gesturing to a collection of Indian tribal carvings from islands off Panama, Elaine recalls her husband paddling a canoe to remote villages seeking additional carvings. “It’s fun to go places looking for specific art,” she says.

“You go down back alleys you wouldn’t go down, and it’s a way of meeting interesting people.” 

The new residence is twice the size of the original ranch home — spacious enough to accommodate a crowd — yet contains just one bedroom, plus a guest suite across the patio for the couple’s niece. “Every six weeks, we’ve had gatherings of 20 to 30 people,” Elaine says, adding that guests savor the outdoor living space. “Even during the rainy season, it [is] so much fun to bundle up in front of the fireplace.”

Having their original home go up in flames was painful. “You lose a lot of your identity,” Elaine reflects, “but it puts things in perspective.”

The homeowners recently acquired Charley, a champion-line dog, to replace a beloved pet lost in the fire. They have also drawn on their worldly knowledge to build a dream home for their future.   

“We knew where the sun rose and where the sun set,” recalls Elaine, gazing through picture windows designed to maximize views of Rancho Santa Fe, Santaluz, and distant mountains filtered through eucalyptus trees. “We built this to be forever.”   

GARDEN BATH: A claw foot tub tucked into a sunny corner window overlooks a walled garden filled with ferns and lilies; vintage-style cabinetry and flooring reflect the historic heritage of Rancho Santa Fe.

SIMPLE SUITE: Rustic ceiling beams and a sleigh bed inset into an archway provide rustic charm in a master suite that is elegant in its simplicity;