Casa del Herrero, the “House of the Blacksmith,” is one of the most fully developed and intact examples of Spanish Colonial Revival architecture in America. Designed by George Washington Smith and built between 1922 and 1925 in Montecito for St. Louis industrialist George Fox Steedman, it was designated a National Historic Landmark in 2009. Steedman continued to refine the house and gardens for a decade after completion, bringing in architects Lutah Maria Riggs, Edwards, Plunkett & Howell, and Floyd Brewster, along with garden designers Francis T. Underhill and Lockwood de Forest Jr.

Architectural photographer Matt Walla photographed the estate for Casa del Herrero: The Romance of Spanish Colonial, published by Rizzoli in 2009 with text by Robert Sweeney and an introduction by architect Marc Appleton. Walla returned to the estate over the course of a year, photographing the house, courtyards, and gardens through every season and in changing light. That depth of coverage was central to the book’s success. It has gone through multiple printings and is considered a classic on California Spanish Colonial Revival architecture.

Today Casa del Herrero is a historic house museum and botanical garden on East Valley Road in Montecito, run by the nonprofit Casa del Herrero Foundation and open for docent-led tours. It is the only National Historic Landmark in Montecito. At the heart of the estate is Steedman’s blacksmith workshop, where he forged metalwork, garden furniture, and silver. Walla returned to photograph that work for The Steedman Silver, by Robert Sweeney, published by Tailwater Press, making him the photographer of both books on the estate.