This issue’s home sanctuary stirs the imagination, inspires dreams, and sparks fantasies. Spiritual belief, and its connection to daily life, has guided this home’s creation. One might say that this home retreat is the fruit of divine guidance.

When you walk into the Montecito, California, home of Joann and John Rothman, you enter a realm filled with serenity and oneness with the elements of nature. The main interior space is a tranquil garden infused with the healing energy of flowing water, natural stone, light, and carefully chosen flowers, plants, and trees.

The central park-like oasis of the rock waterfall and pool, the slate pathway, and the simple stone bench invite you to sit down and take time—time for quiet reflection, time to walk the garden paths of your heart and mind. The adjoining rooms are awash with the soothing sounds of a trickling brook and waterfall; ficus trees rustle in the gentle breeze that comes through the open doors and windows; abundant natural light filters through the atrium skylights; and prisms of colored light from hanging cut glass and crystals sparkle, dance, and kiss the sitting Quan Yin, who gracefully imbues the space with her wondrous energies.

With the extraordinary talents of Santa Barbara landscape designer James Boschert, of Gardens Unlimited, the Rothmans turned their main living areas into an enchanting and magical indoor garden. “My idea was to connect the rooms with slate stone paths,” says Boschert. “In landscape lore, there is something called a ‘desire path.’ It is the path that is naturally traced through years and years of walking a certain route through the land because that’s the way you want to get to a place. To create your own path of desire through your garden is a powerful metaphor, because it symbolizes being able to follow your heart’s path.”

John Rothman, who once lived in a Frank Lloyd Wright house, has always loved Wright’s architecture, particularly his use of stone and glass. Many of the touches in their home were inspired by Wright’s famous house, Fallingwater (the Edgar Kaufmann house): the cut-stone pillars, the fireplace, the windows set into stone, and the interior garden. The Rothmans also brought in ideas from their travels around the globe—the boulders in their living room were inspired by a hotel in Mexico, and their collection of exceptional and rare pottery from around the world is also on display.

Joann believes that as their family has evolved spiritually, the house has evolved both physically and spiritually. “This [reflects] an evolution of many years. It has entailed being open and free enough to have earth, plants, boulders, and water flowing through the house. We wanted to bridge the gap between our inner realms and our outer reality.”

To choose the boulders placed in the main living area, Joann went up into the mountains outside of Santa Barbara. She looked at every boulder on the property and soon felt she “knew” them all—they became known to her as “The Stone People.” She chose each stone for its uniqueness and personality, including the last, most important one with its natural seat shape that a person can comfortably sit on.

Joann hosts healings, meditations, lectures, and workshops at their home, during which she places candles, incense, and flowers all around her house and pool. She tries to create a space safe enough for people to express the inmost realms of their souls . . . allowing their inner beauty to shine forth. Joann has always made her homes into sanctuaries—but this one is most profound, she says. “It is a deepening of spirit. The deeper I go within myself, the deeper I express it in our home. Our home is a mirror of our personal growth.”

Maintaining balance and equilibrium in an ever-changing and confusing world is a challenge, yet what’s becoming tasteful and stylish these days is creating environments that inspire, heal, and are infused with love. Everyone can use the backyard balm of a calm and soothing garden brought inside the home, for there’s also an intrinsic benefit to being in nature. The Rothmans have created rooms that assist in accessing the spirit, spaces where they can become more in tune with the realms of body, mind, and soul.

Houses are alive, and they need to be loved and cared for like living creatures. The Rothmans’ home sanctuary was created out of spirit and love, and it returns spirit and love to Joann and John, their family, and their friends—an intimate and mutually satisfying partnership of sanctuary and lifestyle.