NEWPORT BEACH HOUSE

One of few remaining beach houses from the 1940’s, or clients (from the Bay Area) asked us to adapt their Newport Beach house for year-round use for friends and relatives. They wanted to sleep many, include one indoor common space, and put almost everything else—cooking, eating, bathing—outdoors. Retaining the character of the original house, we developed the garden as a series of outdoor rooms that can flexibly accommodate the unexpected. Exterior materials record adaptations to the original structure—siding is oiled and left to weather, windows and doors are painted blues and greens and the occasional yellow. In contrast to the subdued exterior, the interior is mostly white with a few areas of intense color.