An artisan tile setter installs terra-cotta clay floor tiles in an artistic way to achieve the look and feel of an old historic Montecito estate. Patterns and techniques from the 1920s and 30s can be incorporated into your own project for that timeless aesthetic you seek to create.
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Listen in as I describe how this project came about as you scroll through the photos below.
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“Hi guys, see and listen to the ideas planned for this new Spanish staircase built in Montecito California. Go behind the scenes with me as I describe the project in further detail. The task at hand, back in the day… was the homeowners at the time, purchased a 1970s, basically a piece of junk 1970s tract house that sat square in the middle of a bunch of historic Spanish style homes. The house didn’t even start out as a Spanish house, but they wanted to end up with a Spanish Colonial house.
So, there were endless details that went into the project. I’m just showcasing this staircase for this blog episode. But a brand-new staircase was built, kind of a sweeping staircase with classic iron railings and clay Spanish treads. And even the floor you can see at the bottom of the one photo- which is the “squares and picket” design, which is also a classic Spanish Colonial Revival floor pattern. So, these were all things that were discussed on the early beginning of laying out all the different floor patterns, and I’ll link to some of the other blog posts that I have on Spanish flooring.
But I also included a shot that I took at Casa del Herrero, the famous historic mansion that was designed by George Washington Smith and the owner of the house (George Fox) Steedman. And I took a bunch of photographs on one of the tours that I took, typically when I was working as a consultant, I would go to this estate… and you know it’s a paid tour, but I would bring different clients there.
And on this particular day, I shot this photo of this exterior staircase going up to the arched French doors. But I include it in this post just to give you guys a visual. This happens to be… if you scroll down to that image- happens to be a Spanish brick staircase. But some of that detailing was incorporated into the interior of this house, and it’ll be quite obvious, there.
And of course, I’m continually sharing Artisan shots– all of the many talented people that were involved in this project. And… so enjoy, and please peruse the rest of the website. You can type in different things, keywords into the search box, if you’re not interested in the staircases, but looking for something else”—Jeff Doubet, September 3, 2025
The artisan tile setter is carefully installing thin strips of terra-cotta clay stair treads. They were made from 12″ x 12″ terra-cotta tiles, cut with a tile saw.
After the thin pieces of stair tread were installed, the 5 X 5 clay stair risers were placed. A double picket and squares pattern was installed for the main foyer floor.
I wanted to share this photo I captured at the Casa del Herrero estate in Montecito, CA. It helps illustrate how you can observe historic installations and incorporate similar concepts into your own project.