The Story Behind the Studio
Behind their middle names, William & Elyse are Kenneth and Kristin – a husband and wife duo building beautiful spaces together, inside and out, in the slow and sunny Santa Barbara area and beyond.
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Together, we've built a practice around the belief that the places where people live, gather, and work deserve to be designed with genuine care, crafted with great attention to detail and attuned to our everyday wellness.
Our ethos grows from a shared reverence for architecture with soul and interiors with story. We believe it's in the structural decisions, material choices, and design considerations that most people will never consciously notice, but will always feel that shape the beauty and integrity of a well designed space that will live on for years to come.
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Our clients tend to be people who feel the same way – families ready to build what they've always imagined, business owners who care about every corner of the space they're creating, and homeowners ready to make their house a home - heirlooms, stories, and all.
If you're ready to create a space that will be loved for generations, we'd love to work with you.
Get to Know Us
Kenneth William
Co-founder & Principal Architect
Ken came to architecture because he believed the built environment shapes what people think is possible – for themselves, for their families, for the places they call home. That belief has never left him.
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What draws him to this scale of work is the intimacy of it. The decisions are personal. The stakes are real. When a client invites him into the project of making their home, he takes that seriously – down to the detail that most people will never consciously name but will always feel.
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Working alongside Kristin, he brings the technical rigor that makes a building excellent. She brings the design instinct that makes it feel like home. That balance is the practice.
Kristin Elyse
Co-founder & Principal Designer
Kristin began her design career in architecture, and that foundation shows in everything she does. She understands structure, composition, and the details that make a space feel intentional. But what drew her deeper into interiors was something more personal: a belief that the spaces where we live and gather have a beautiful way of reflecting who we are and how we want to feel.
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Her design sensibility is rooted in a simple belief: that home should feel like a reflection of the life you're building and the stories you carry. She's also deeply passionate about wellness, and believes home is where that practice begins – in the light we let in, the materials we choose, and the way a room invites us to slow down.
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For Kristin, what matters most is that you walk into your home and know you're exactly where you belong. Over more than a decade, she's brought that same quality of attention to coffee shops, boutiques, and family homes alike – because she believes every space deserves to be made with that kind of care.
© 2026 WILLIAM & ELYSE | ALL RIGHTS RESERVED