Fall - 2022

128 C A R M E L M A G A Z I N E • F A L L 2 0 2 2 Creating Your Own Wonderland Vance and Jay Killens’ Designs are in Sync with Nature B Y B R E T T WI L BUR Photo: Rick Pharaoh I nterior designer Vance Killen and her husband, home builder Jay Killen, recently celebrated 50 years of marriage.They spend part of their time based out of Carmel,Vance’s hometown, and the rest on the island of Oahu.Their harmonious relationship seemed destined to be, as they crossed paths multiple times in their lives, eventually finding com- patibility in work and love. “Jay, who grew up in Pacific Grove, worked for my parents when I was a teenager,”Vance says. “My father, Howard Brunn, started lots of stores in Carmel…My mom, Courtney, was an interior designer. She created the Ventana Big Sur [hotel] interiors, collaborating with architect Kipp Stewart…I get sentimental feeling how magnificent they were in our lives.” With a background in home design and building, Jay teamed up profes- sionally with Vance in the 1970s, when Vance was finishing art school. “It was such a pleasure to design with someone who had a vision,” Vance says. “Architecture and houses are the biggest palette for art I can imagine.When people say, ‘My child can’t make a living in art,’ I say, ‘Well, Jay and I started as artists and Jay started building houses.’” People loved the Killens’ remodels and new builds between Carmel and Hawaii, and soon the couple found themselves being asked to do more and more projects. The outdoors becomes part of the interior at a house built on a sand dune in Carmel. Designer Vance Killen chooses materials that reflect that natural environment, letting the beauty of the elements take center stage.