Breezy Outdoor Living in Newport Beach

When this streamlined, modern house a mile from the Newport Beach coast was finished, neighborhood passers-by”stopped their cars in the street, ran up and peeked in the front windows,” says architect Paul Davis. “The owners discovered this very funny initially and finally got a little tired of itbut now the house has settled into the neighborhood nicely.”

The neighborhood is mainly composed of new homes that take up the entirety of their unique websites, so Davis made a more inward-looking home. A tall stucco wall and quiet back courtyard provide plenty of privacy in the outside spaces. Plenty of both porches and patios provide access to the bright outside from each area.

at a Glance
Who lives here: Two with 2 teenage daughters
Location: Newport Beach, California
Size: 3,400 square feet; 4 bedrooms, 5 baths
That’s intriguing: Davis and one of those customers were college roommates.

Paul Davis Architects

Patios and porches on each level, large sliding glass windows and doors and a very simple material palette emphasize the link between indoor and outdoor spaces. “I think the house is somewhat like an Italian mountain town — from inside it, you look out at equally lovely adjacent components along with your friends and outside places you discuss. It all feels incorporated and lovely,” says Davis.

Outdoor furniture: Richard Schultz 1966 Collection

Paul Davis Architects

The exterior of the chief part of the house has grey steel-troweled stucco with a subtle texture. This rectangular building makes up the heart of the home, and additional structures coated in red cedar plug right into it.

The house is fortunately sited right next to an alley, which is where the garage and driveway are situated. “This way, there’s no need to feature the garage and driveway as major parts of the look and role of the house’s most important facade,” says Davis.

Photograph by Clark Davis

Paul Davis Architects

To keep prices down and also to work with the household’s modern design, Davis stuck using simple, straight lines and boxes for the architecture. Polished concrete flooring on the main floor are slick but durable. Light oak hardwood floors was used upstairs in the master suite and in the downstairs kids’ rooms.

Hardwood flooring: Gaetano Hardwood Floors; front door paint: Tawny Day Lily, Benjamin Moore

Paul Davis Architects

The husband loves to cookso the family needed a kitchen where they could do some serious cooking however nevertheless have the room to spend some time together. Interior Designer Cheryl Burke designed the spacious kitchen workspace to include a sturdy island using a Staturio Venato marble countertop. The island faces a casual dining area where the family eats almost all of their foods.

Paul Davis Architects

Big sliding doors in the kitchen open both walls in this area. Like most of the other chambers, the kitchen gets natural light from all sides. Full-height glazing allows light to pour in from the southwest, filtered by bamboo along the property line. A partition separates the entrance hall in the kitchen but does not reach all the way to the ceiling, allowing light to enter from the front of the house.

Paul Davis Architects

Davis chose a light-color palette for those furniture and materials so that the family’s possessions and accessories could provide the most important color points. Vibrant publications and knickknacks make visual attention on a white full-height bookshelf in the living area.

Paul Davis Architects

A small fireplace turns the living area into a snug and comfy hangout spot during the winter. During the summer, the doors in this area slide entirely open.

Chandelier: Flos Sarfatti Suspension Lamp; lighting: Kenneth Brian Vick, Lightopia

Paul Davis Architects

The main staircase opens just beyond the formal dining area. A powder room and a cupboard are tucked beneath the stairs — their doors are concealed, integrated into the paneling.

The staircase is a key source of lighting in the house. It’s housed in a glass-face box that rises above the roof, leaning southwest. This glass box behaves as a periscope, representing light down into the home.

Paul Davis Architects

The master bathroom is one of Davis’ favorite rooms in the house. Limestone flooring, marble countertops and oiled teak cabinetry all glow from the light that floods the space through the massive skylight. The team installed this double-layer skylight over the whole shower and tub. The ceiling well is smaller than the skylight frame so that the view in the shower is pure skies.

Davis installed a laundry chute from the vanity here for convenience. The alignment between the top and lower degrees made setup easy.

Tile: Arctic White, Waterworks, installed by Andrea Latini, Euro Laguna Marble

Paul Davis Architects

The main courtyard, in the rear of the home, sits in front of a glowing orange wall, which adopts a tiny storage building for tools and beach gear. “We like the daring chunk of colour, which is kind of a manifestation of the red entry door,” says Davis.

Paul Davis Architects

Southern-facing roof decks across the top of the main structure take advantage of the region’s plentiful sunlight. There are no direct ocean views, but the home still gets glowing light and clean ocean air.

Paul Davis Architects

The roof decks are screened out of neighbors by a two-story natural-color stucco wall. The wall is a seamless part of the property’s layout; it provides adequate privacy without feeling awkward.

General contractor: Rick Henricksen, Pridemark Contractors
Interior layout: Cheryl Burke

Photography: Art Gray

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