Home tour: An opulent Californian coastal-style residence with interconnected spaces

“We actually designed a home on the property several decades ago, and the new owner wanted us to continue the vision with an additional attached property,” recalls Grant Kirkpatrick, founding partner of KAA Design Group.

He continues: “The client had requested a soothing, zen-like setting, and the team obliged with a property that used architecture, nature and materials as a way to transform your mindset as you come from a busier, more frenetic place to a place of calm and repose.”

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Surrounded by dense gardens with extensive plantings that buffer the residence from neighbours, there’s a transformation through the gate entry and passage up the walled auto court, leading towards an oasis of calm that unfolds past the bridge over the water.

Less as a series of rooms, but rather a series of interconnected spaces, satellites to the main house are the pool house and the guest house that doubles as a studio and office space atop the garage. The attached properties are anchored by a sprawling pool and koi pond in the heart of the heavily landscaped 12,000 sq ft site.

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The green wall adjacent to the front door leads the seamless continuity of the compound into the main building, the first indication of a spatial blurring between the outside and the inside.

Past the cantilevered glass door, the biophilic foyer greets all underneath a large, 16-foot-by-18-foot skylight, bringing in ample daylight to highlight the dramatic curving steel staircase that connects the three levels of the home with eight bedrooms and nine baths.

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Overhead, a clear glass walkway links the private spaces, consisting of the master bedroom with its distant ocean views, kids’ bedrooms, office and study room. Whereas downstairs, the kids’ playroom shares the social space area with the parents’ bar, which features a backlit onyx wall with the owners’ collection of antique African masks on display.

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The foyer opens out onto the open-plan dining and living areas, a low, double-sided custom console dividing the areas; as well as an en route pathway to the kitchen. 

The ceiling-height pocket doors in the living area drives the persisting flow outdoors once again, where a sitting area–an extension of the interior living room—is set partially below the waterline of the koi pond, creating a dramatic space for conversation.

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“Only one—nature,” says Kirkpatrick, when asked about the source of inspiration for the residence located along 1st Street. “The material and colour palette for the home is decidedly neutral in order to emphasise the verdant gardens—from the green wall to the tree inside. Everything was an effort to intertwine nature both around and inside the home.”

Warm limestone holds the property on rock-steady ground, expressed in cleft form on the exterior before transitioning into smoother, honed finishes inside. Counterpointing the stone aesthetic is a plethora of rich materials, such as steel and wood.

In the dining area, a custom table made of cerused oak is nickelled with an acid-etched aluminium centrepiece, an industrial interpretation of shagreen. While the similar wood choice framed the large, pocket doors in the living area, playing off the warmth in the adjoining kitchen, where Brazilian quartzite counters and backsplash accented the dark-stained cabinets.

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Lastly, fully custom and customised furnishings dominate the interiors, alongside walls dotted with abstract expressionist art pieces by the likes of Richard Diebenkorn and Robert Motherwell.

“Bespoke pieces including a custom daybed, side tables and coffee table define the space,” elaborates Kirkpatrick. “Moreover, comfort was assured through extensive sit testing and material explorations.”

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