Simplicity isn’t always subtle. And a space meant to be pleasingly plain can turn out to be an exercise in sensory deprivation. Less can be more, but the line between more and less is easy to trip over. Yet in the right hands, a happy medium is a pleasure to behold.
A project of the California-based firm Studio Gutow, this Newport Beach home manifests an impressive assurance, a sureness of design spun of keen eyes, a command of space and a sophisticated sensibility. The work of Lisa Berman, principal and founder, and Melissa Rohani, director and partner, the coastal home could have looked much different. “When we first met,” shares Berman, “the client showed us images of what I would say was ‘trending’ on Instagram. Very laid-back California eclectic. After much conversation, exploration and actually touching materials, it became apparent that she had a more elevated aesthetic.”
A newer home in an established neighborhood, the house required a little cosmetic care to give it an individual character. Studio Gutow tweaked the floor plan, created a small addition, opened up the ceiling in the main living area and installed custom interior oak doors. A focus on materials was key to establishing a sense of substance and groundedness, underscored by a cohesive color palette of brown, camel, cream and green. While there’s nothing at all rustic about the home, there is an embracing earthiness to it, thanks to the Mexican tumbled limestone in the kitchen, a chocolate travertine fireplace mantel and surround, aged limestone floors in the living room and walls finished in Venetian plaster or walnut.
At 3,000 square feet, this is not a tiny house, but the orchestration of color and material and the relaxed disposition of the furnishings generate a marvelous intimacy and a kind of directness that transcends pure functionalism. “We find that people are really over open-plan living and want the security and comfort of smaller spaces,” observes Rohani. “We use vintage pieces mixed with the contemporary to help create this feeling of warmth.”
That sense of warmth stems in large part from wood and its varied hues. Wall paneling and built-ins are crafted in walnut, while furniture pieces range from a vintage Piet Kramer Art Deco cabinet in oak to a four-drawer French commode of the 1950s with sycamore veneer. Although the furniture selections are significant – Arthur Umanoff vintage barstools, Carlo Scarpa dining chairs, a Willy Guhl planter – because they are visually sympathetic and understatedly arrayed, they do not shout out their design bona fides as they might in a home comprised of more gallerylike spaces. The home abounds in custom touches, including a roomy dining banquette and a substantial illuminated mirror in the primary bathroom, framed in iron. Vintage Persian rugs, Fortuny and alpaca pillows on a mohair sofa and cotton velvet and linen headboards in the bedrooms – along with Indian silk woven throw pillows and blankets – add texture. Artwork – a landscape by artist and designer Tyler Hays, Pre-Columbian objects, and black-and-white photography – bring a worldly depth to these rooms.
Photography by Hugo Landa Garcia.
For more like this Newport Beach home, be sure to check out this liveable and chic residence from Monica Fried.
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