Jeff Shelton Gets Big on Fig with New Design Book
If you’ve lived in Santa Barbara long enough, you know exactly who Jeff Shelton is. If you don’t recognize his name, you’ve certainly seen his work. For years, architect Jeff Shelton, this resident president of delightful buildings, has been lighting up the streets of Santa Barbara with smile-inducing structures that push the boundaries of architectural possibility. A book is now available for folks who want to dive deeper into the design process and have a little of this architecture in their own home. The Fig District is a 192-page project (spearheaded by Mattie Shelton of Shelton Huts — who also happens to be Jeff’s daughter) featuring a handful of Jeff’s buildings that are within walking distance of his downtown S.B. office. I recently caught up with Jeff over email for a sneak peek into the process of creating this new book.
When did the idea for The Fig District start marinating in your brain, and what was the process of creating it like?
Marinating! Sounds peaceful and intentional. The Fig District is what we started calling the area within about six blocks of my office on Fig Avenue. I’ve been lucky enough to have designed several buildings close enough to walk to when I want to get away from the desk or just take a coffee break. They all have a similar context, on commercial lots in a city with a “Spanish Revival” design overlay. Upton Construction has built all of them, and in some way, they are a part of the same architectural language. When people started calling to ask where these buildings were located, I would send them a typed list. One night, I drew up a map and put it on a card, which made it easier; I could just hand out the card. Then I started giving tours for fundraisers, telling odd stories about the approval or design of each building, and I decided to make a “pamphlet” that I could hand out. When my family and I went to Montesquieu-Volvestre in southwestern France for three months, I started the so-called pamphlet while sitting at the Bar des Arcades.
