Designing Duo Moves to Capitola

Patch caught up with Laurie Matthews at Verve, a hip spot for Capitola coffee connoisseurs. Matthews moved her family to town to take advantage of the beautiful weather, laid-back atmosphere and the surf.

Capitola-Soquel Patch: Where do you live?

Laurie Matthews: Capitola; we just moved here three weeks ago. We love it here! We’re surfers, so it’s perfect for us.

Patch: Where are you originally from?

Matthews: I’m from Montana. I lived in San Francisco for six years, and then moved to Austin with my husband where we designed and built a house for his parents for a year. Now we are working on a house for my parents, who live in Seattle, WA, but we didn’t want to live there, so we decided to move to Santa Cruz to work on the project.

Patch: Tell us a little about your family.

Matthews: I’m an architect and my husband, Torin, is a contractor and architect. We met in school, and now we’re married with two young children, Amelie and Chase, and run our own design and building business—Etter Matthews Design and Construction. We actually started our business accidentally, because we were approached about doing several projects.

Patch: Do you implement green building practices in your work?

Matthews: Definitely. My husband worked with a firm in Berkeley that utilized green building practices, so he has a lot of experience.

Patch: What do you like about Capitola so far?

Matthews: It’s a great mix of people. People are easy going and accepting. The pace is slow compared to San Francisco. It’s a great place for a family like ours.

Patch: What are your plans now that you’re in Capitola?

Matthews: We will be working on my parents’ project for about six months and hope to pick up other work—design and building projects—while we are here.

Patch: Between your work and children, do you get much time to surf?

Matthews: We do, because we are job sharing. Our daughter goes to Santa Cruz Montessori School, so we alternate with our baby, Chase. When Torin goes surfing, two or three hours every day, I am with Chase and then I take two or three hours and either surf or do something else.