Design duo the ‘hommeboys’ lay out their plans in Sonoma

Forty thousand Instagram followers know them as “the hommeboys,” the interior design duo that offer all things for the home, be it building from the ground up, decorating or designing custom furniture.

Media savvy, their work has been featured in many publications, including Real Simple, Sunset, Elle Décor and the New York Times’ T magazine; their 2019 wedding at Scribe Winery was written up in Martha Stewart magazine.

Here’s the thing to know about the Hommeboys – while their name is growing they live right here in Sonoma, where they designed the new Valley Bar and Bottle on the Plaza and are finishing up a 5,000-square-foot spec house in Glen Ellen that goes on the market soon.

Like most everyone, the Hommeboys, otherwise known as Austin Carrier, 31, and Alex Mutter-Rottmayer, 29, are happy to say goodbye to 2020 and maybe a little more thrilled than most about the prospects for 2021. They are finishing up a complete gut remodel of a vintage Airstream, finishing a tasting room for Marine Layer Wines, and are about to launch a line of custom furniture they’ve been working on for years.

They will also stage the Cliff House, the house in the Mayacamas they built in conjunction with Alex’s father’s long established construction firm, Rottmayer Design & Build, when it goes on the market, hopefully, in February. Then they will work with Rottmayer again on a custom home fire rebuild.

And they are constantly at work on their Hommeboys branding, tending to social media and creating new designs to photograph for their fans.

“We use our place as a test kitchen, always trying new things out,” Mutter-Rottmayer said, referring to their meticulously designed, freestanding home built above a workshop on his parents’ multi-acre eastside estate.

They use certain brands they love over and over in their designs, including Emtek hardware, Velux skylights and Hudson Valley lighting, highlighting the brands on their Insta and bringing in additional followers. When they stage the Cliff House property, on 16 acres with a panoramic view, they will also use pieces from Sonoma stores – French antiques from Chateau Sonoma and custom-made pieces from Pinocchio Furniture.

“We love the idea of selling the home turnkey. We want to create a property where someone will come in and love everything about it,” Carrier said.

The couple met in 2012 at Evergreen State College in Washington where Mutter-Rottmayer earned a chemistry degree and where Carrier graduated after first studying architecture at Pratt and the Art Institute of Chicago.

While in Washington the couple ran Soul Brothers Organic Farm in Olympia, where they raised pigs, goats, chickens and rabbits. Remembering the area as “the rainiest place on earth,” Mutter-Rottmayer said, they returned to his native Marin County and joined Rottmayer in 2015. They have helped build four estate homes since then, one in Tiburon and three in Sonoma, including Mutter-Rottmayer’s parents home and the outbuilding where they reside, the family leaving San Anselmo behind in 2016. They break ground on the next Glen Ellen project soon.

“We are putting down roots in Sonoma,” Carrier said, although they agreed that it’s been tough during the pandemic not to get into San Francisco for the social life.

They are very enthusiastic about a coffee table they designed that has nine rows of legs; the prototype graces their living room. Their entire 800-square-foot home can be viewed online on their website at hommeboys.com, with Carrier welcoming viewers at the door for a video tour.

The couple has their sights on buying a larger home in the future. Keeping their current abode constantly updated and fresh, and photographing it for all to see, is their current passion.