09/25/2026
I wanted the Malibu Villa to feel collected rather than decorated, a home where you can’t immediately tell what is new, what has been there for years, or where everything came from.
The architecture already had a strong Mediterranean spirit: generous arches, warm woods, stone, and that effortless connection to the California landscape. My instinct wasn’t to modernize it by stripping those elements away. Instead, I became interested in the tension between them — old architecture and contemporary design, refinement and imperfection, California ease and European craftsmanship.
We brought in collectible pieces and objects from Italy and across Europe, mixed with contemporary furniture, sculptural forms, aged materials, and pieces that simply had character. Some things are quiet; others are intentionally unexpected. That contrast is what gives a room its personality.
I think the most interesting homes are never from one period or one point of view. They evolve. They hold things you’ve found, things you’ve inherited, and pieces you fell in love with without knowing exactly where they would go.
That became the approach here: not designing a perfect room, but building a collection and allowing the house to tell its story through it.
