Finding the right place to live can feel like fate. For the owners of this Newport Beach beauty in particular, the meet-cute story involved a chance encounter mixed with a flash of love at first sight. While feeling lukewarm about purchasing another house, a lead about an off-market residence drew them to a property in Bayshores where they confessed their crush—that is, made an offer—within 30 minutes of setting foot on-site. While head over heels for the tranquil gated neighborhood (the beach is walkable, the schools excellent and the community tight) the homeowners’ infatuation with their find hit a snag when they considered the state of the existing residence. Cue the soundtrack’s proverbial record screech: “It had cement floors and very thin wood walls,” the wife recalls. “There was no way we were keeping it as is.”
The couple opted to start anew and quickly assembled a full team. Architect Eric Olsen dreamed up a three-story structure—brought to life by general contractor Matt McClure and project manager Tucker Joyce—while designer Marie Carson directed the interiors and landscape architect Chris Brown plotted the outdoor spaces. Most of the team had never worked together, with the exception of Olsen and McClure. Yet the fairy tale continued without a hitch. “It’s rare to work with several new collaborators for the first time and have everything click so seamlessly,” marvels Olsen of their easy rapport.
Limitations came in the form of area height restrictions and the lot’s odd shape (“Five-sided, at different angles,” Olsen remembers with a laugh) but those restrictions worked well for the owners, who favored intimacy over immensity. “We wanted a classic, timeless and functional house, with nooks and crannies and character,” the wife shares, noting that her taste leans away from anything grandiose. But the ability to entertain a crowd remained important—“We have people over constantly,” she says—as was the flexibility to house their still-growing family.
Olsen granted their wishes by crafting an expansive kitchen connected to a great room and maximized the height allowances via a third-floor family room and entertaining zone complete with a bar and deck. Private areas like the bedrooms are deliberately smaller to devote more square footage to the public spaces. (The bedrooms sprawl across the second floor, while a separate suite located across the lush garden offers guests the autonomy to come and go at will.) “As you head upstairs, the ceilings do get lower,” the architect notes, “but the house itself never feels small. It reads magnanimous and elegant.” To visually expand the cozier top level, Olsen banded it with wraparound windows that frame views of the bay, “filling it with light to make it seem larger,” he explains.
Under Carson’s discerning eye, the homeowners’ desire for ample areas that welcome a crowd and accommodate children emerged. The kitchen’s two islands can serve and seat groups, while the jewel-box dining room with walls in a smoky green hue backdrops frequent dinner parties. The living room’s deep window reveals and raised fireplace encourage lingering. And then there’s that third-floor family room, jokingly dubbed the Thunderdome by the owners, where an inviting wet bar, connected to a deck with a fire pit, is always party-ready.
Interior inspiration came from the immediate ocean surroundings—and from across the pond too. Carson looked to Heckfield Place, a stately hotel west of London, and to fabrics, furnishings and finds from U.K.-based designer and antiques dealer Rose Uniacke to shape her approach. Limestone and parquet flooring partner with substantial oak cabinetry and paneling in a nod to the classic elements of an English country home, while furniture covered in light neutral fabrics, the white-washed family room and a scattering of nautical touches that reference Newport Bay help to anchor these interiors in Southern California. “The owners gravitated toward an updated English country vibe, where there’s a presence of florals and patterns, but it’s not overwhelming,” the designer says. “We still wanted the house to evoke a sense of coastal chic, with an airy and relaxed atmosphere.”
Meanwhile, Brown’s landscape design drew inspiration from the husband’s memories of growing up in a nearby seaside community. “I wanted the gardens to hug the property with that same informal, comfortably coastal feeling,” the landscape architect recalls. Olive trees and wisteria vines frame the front entry, while the fragrances of lavender, star jasmine and gardenia pocketed throughout the garden waft inside the house and add to the ambiance.
Like any good love story, this one has a happy ending: “When I walked into the house the first time after it was completed, I cried,” the wife confesses. “It was a dream come true.”
