Portrait by Christiaan Blok

From Detailed Drawings to Stone
and Mortar, Design/Build Guru
Barry Smith Brings Dreams to Life

When Barry Smith picks up a pencil or pen, the instrument can bring grand homes to life. “It starts here,” he explains, pointing to his head. “Then it comes down my arm and travels here,” he says, smiling and pointing to his hand. “Then, something looking like a door or a window or a room appears on paper.”

The sketches resulting from this magical process are beautiful enough to frame. “I draw the house and every single thing that goes with the house, including fountains, the flowerpot holders, gates, shutters, courtyards and chimney tops,” Smith relates.
 

Photography by Werner Segarra One of countless details designed by Barry Smith for a north Scottsdale residence, the heart-embellished iron gateway to the entry courtyard establishes the home’s romantic ambience and handcrafted appeal.

This Master of the Southwest remembers how, from an early age, he loved to sketch. “I was a dismal student, especially in reading and writing, but I knew I could draw,” he recalls.
 
Inspired by his lifelong memory bank, Smith draws Mediterranean-style architectural details with historical accuracy. “I was born in England, where many romantic country homes were abandoned after World War II,” he comments. “I played in and explored those homes with my boyhood friends. We saw their giant kitchens, master bedrooms, servants’ quarters and wine cellars.”

Smith’s family moved to California when he was a teenager, and he soaked in the vast array of 1920s Spanish Revival-style homes around the Hollywood area. Later, military service took him to France, Italy and Spain. For Smith, it was architectural utopia. “I volunteered for all of the community service there I could, and I would restore the old buildings,” he remembers. “We would go to back-country villages and paint centuries-old churches and hospitals.”