KHTS Radio Santa Clarita Radio – Santa Clarita News
Family and Friends Make the Sturgeon’s House a Home
By Margie Anne Clark
What could be lovelier than a home set amidst the luxury of Robinson Ranch, with a majestic view of rolling green hills, enhanced by such welcoming amenities as a shimmering backyard pool and spa, relaxing patio furniture and an inviting cozy interior, designed with a warm Tuscany, Mediterranean flair?
For Julie Sturgeon and her husband Steve, owners of this beautiful single story 3,635 sq. ft. home in the Robinson Ranch Estates, the true beauty of their home is a direct reflection of their love of family and friends, coupled with being happily involved in the community they call home. For our KHTS AM 1220 inaugural edition of SCV Distinguished Home, I caught up with this energetic couple, who gave me a fabulous tour of their unique home and active lifestyle.
“People make a house a home,” agree Julie Sturgeon and her husband, residents of the Santa
Clarita Valley since 1980. “Our home is where the family entertaining is done,” says Julie. “ We are usually the destination for holiday and special family event dinners. We enjoy the company of friends, casual conversation, and laughter.”
With plenty of room for indoor and outdoor gatherings, the Sturgeon’s home is nestled on 27,608 sq. ft. of property with the added bonus of an outdoor kitchen and wonderful views of the 12th fairway. Other luxuries include stone flooring with mosaic inlays, a cozy fireplace, extensive crown moulding, a specially designed wine room with iron and cherry wood built-in, custom paint, shutters, a beautiful large master bedroom with a fireplace, and a built-in stone shower adds to the comfort of their home. At the heart of their home is an incredible kitchen with granite, along with stainless steel appliances, and a butler’s pantry. The spacious home has four bedrooms and three baths.
Built in 2004, the home easily accommodates their family’s ever-changing, busy lifestyle.
“We have two children Adam and Nicole, who both attended Canyon High School,” explains Julie. “Adam graduated from California State University, Long Beach last year with a bachelor’s in Criminal Justice and he is currently working for the City of Long Beach. He owns a condo in Westminster and loves life there. Nicole recently moved back home and is in her senior year at California State University, Northridge, majoring in Kinesiology. She plans to obtain her Master’s in Occupational Therapy. Currently, Nicole is a pool manager with the city of Santa Clarita. She has been in the Lifeguard program with the city for six years now.” she adds.
A dynamic couple, the Sturgeons are also proud of their involvement with the valley’s educational and cultural scene and are among the valley’s movers and shakers who attend and contribute to various social and charitable functions. “Our home has become the headquarters for The SCV Theatre Project advisory meetings,” enthuses Julie, who serves as a founding member of Santa Clarita’s newest theater organization.
As part of the couple’s ongoing philanthropic work in the community, Julie currently serves
on the board of directors of College of the Canyons Foundation and the Betty Ferguson Foundation. Julie and fellow BFF board of directors’ member Diana Cusumano are serving as this year’s chairs for the BFF’s annual Woman of Honor gala, an elegant black-tie soirée held annually in July honoring outstanding women for their service to the community.
Steve serves on the Child and Family Center Foundation Board as well as the Child and Family Center Board. Julie is proud of her husband’s accomplishments.
“He has been committed to assisting the organization in anyway he can to improve and expand the delivery of mental health services to our valley,” explains Julie, noting that Steve served a trustee for the Sulphur Springs Elementary School District for five years and has served on the William S. Hart District School Board for the past eight years. He currently serves on several committees for the California State Board Association.
Julie was one of the founding board members for the Michael Hoefflin Foundation, serving as it’s treasurer for 10 years along with many other roles, and served as the PTA president at Sulphur Springs Elementary School.
In addition to her busy volunteer life, Julie is a CPA with a private practice in Santa Clarita, serving the community for the last 17 years. Equally as busy, Steve serves as the President of AVM Technologies, Inc. — a software development firm that focuses on the real estate industry.
After winding up a full day of work and volunteer duties, Steve and Julie enjoy retreating to their home, where they enjoy luxury and comfort with a style all of their own.
Read on as Julie shares with us a few details about how the design and décor of the home came about in our SCV Distinguished Home Q&A.
Q: What are your favorite colors and how are those integrated into your home?
A: I like using black in unusual ways and blending it with metals and natural stone. Earth tones are especially pleasing to the eye and create a relaxed environment. With a neutral palette, it’s fun to bring in a vibrant color such as red, orange or yellow to create drama in a room. Steve is color blind to a degree so texture and tone of the room is important to him
Q: There is such a lovely custom-designed feeling to your home. Who built it?
A: Lennar/Greystone built it. Even though it is a “track” home, we’ve added so many features that it is almost semi-custom.
Q: Did you use an interior decorator and if so who did the décor for you home?
A: I used decorators sparingly. However, Trish Acker was extraordinarily talented in helping me decide on the colors to paint. Up until this home, we always painted all the rooms Navajo white. Trish encouraged me to be daring but not too crazy. My window treatments were created by Luiz. He and I brainstormed until we would agree on the look. I didn’t want to distract from the beauty that nature brings into the rooms so the style is fairly simple and flowing.
Q: Are there any special amenities in your home that were custom-made?
A: The flooring is a tumbled travertine checkerboard. It is unusual and recommended by Danny Faretta from Empire Marble. In addition, Danny was able to obtain some one-of-a-kind medallion mosaics to complement the flooring. Paul at Cabinet Care spent hours with us converting a boring tech center into a wine bar complete with bronze wine racks handmade by his father. Robert’s Iron Works designed the iron doors and framed in the openings to our Formal Living Room. Tom Ewart installed the crown molding throughout our home.
Q: Your backyard is absolutely gorgeous and the view spectacular. Tell me a little bit about how it all evolved and how did you arrive at the design for the pool?
A: All Valley Pools and Spas whom we affectionately call Santiago built the pool. Julie & Santiago (Marischal) designed the location of the pool, waterfall from the Jacuzzi and the stacked stone. Santiago took great care to satisfy our mutual goals. Doug Richan of
Richan Landscape and Steve designed all the landscaping and backyard lighting. Doug did an outstanding job of making the most of the hardscape and surrounding terrain. We all contributed to the design of the barbeque/bar area.
Q: What do you most enjoy about spending time in your backyard?
A: Almost everyone agrees that our view is one of the best over the 12th hole of the Valley Course at Robinson Ranch. We have seen a family of deer nibbling away under the oak tree up the course. A full view of the mountains makes it serene in the evening. We wake up early and sip coffee watching the beautiful colors of the sky as the sun comes up.”
And what could be more blissful than that! Thank you Steve and Julie for sharing your SCV Distinguished Home with KHTS AM 1220!
For a look at other Distinguished Homes, click here!
