California Cool, London Chic Merge In A La Jolla Home

Mixing West Coast cool with London sophistication was the latest challenge for a design team working on a La Jolla, California, home–and they seamlessly delivered.

“The California ‘maker’ vibe is definitely in the house,” designer Anita Dawson says of her United Kingdom-based clients’ vacation home.

Not only is the sensibility evident in architect Mark Silva‘s choice of materials — stacked stone, ipe wood and poured concrete floors — it comes across in details like the handcrafted front door and a pendant made of bicycle chains.

In short, the home has a hand-built funky aesthetic, but the scale is nothing like your typical California beach shack.

“When you come in,” Silva explains, “you’re in the smallest area of the house. Then the walls and ceiling splay out by nine degrees.”

For the furnishings, Dawson mixed Scandinavian accent furniture, a fur rug and some classic midcentury modern pieces with industrial chic lighting in a way that telegraphs an updated and more stylish hippie aesthetic.

Take a look at the retreat’s hip interior.