Summer Jensen of Hawk & Co. and Chris Brandon of Brandon Architects brought to life the client’s vision for a contemporary beach home with a soft palette. The design narrative weaves contrasting clean lines with the organic forms of the cliffs and rolling waves, creating a harmonious balance.

Biophilic accents integrated throughout invite a constant connection with nature, making this home a unique retreat. Jensen’s commitment to wabi-sabi principles is seen in the home’s sustainable finishes, carefully selected to mimic the colors of the beach and headlands. The subtle accents of steely blues and greens of the ocean, beiges, and browns coordinated with the shade of the sand and cliffs beyond create a natural and calming environment. Even the landscape pebbles were color-matched to the local stone found along the beach for environmental harmony.

Throughout the project, a Feng Shui master reviewed the home to ensure optimal energy flow. Given that the entire back side of the home features automated sliding glass doors, the team focused on preventing the “good energy leaving through the back door”. Through adhering to Feng Shui principles, the goal is to keep the energy entertained and stay within the home, resulting in success, fortune, love, and family longevity.

To achieve this, many of the expressions representing nature were abstracted: a bonsai-filled foyer floats through the entry windows, obscuring where Nature stops and the home begins. This leads the eye to the double-height metal slat screen. The vertical line represents a deconstructed forest for the home’s Earth center at the Dining Room. Once inside, shiny surfaces such as smoked mirrors and luminescent chandeliers glitter in the sun and direct the perspective upwards to the second story to keep the energy within the home.

The embrace of nature does not mean that the home’s design eschewed technology. Instead, Jensen utilized it to enhance livability. At the pool deck, outdoor tvs are concealed within automated wall panels. In the primary bedroom, an acoustically lined raised floor cleverly conceals a recessed TV lift, which keeps the ocean views from the bed unobstructed.

The theater is the ultimate hideaway, boasting state-of-the-art equipment complemented by amphitheater-inspired angled fabric panels. Other technological highlights include automated sliding glass doors on every level, LED knife edge coves throughout, and Laminar RGB-colored fountains at the pool.

Category:EnvironmentsYear:2024Designers:Summer Jensen, and team: Yoram LePair, Brandon Jensen, Alan Hsia, Hawk & Co, Laguna Beach, California, USAArchitects:Chris Brandon, Brandon Architects, Costa mesa, California, USAContractor: Darrell Plauche, RDM Contractors, Costa Mesa, California, USA