After Trading NYC for California, This Couple Created a Home That Is the Epitome of Coastal Luxury
Warm oak, oxblood tile, antique furniture, and wrought iron details bring depth and soul to this relaxed Californian family home
Perched in the hills of Zuma Canyon, Malibu, this 1960 Spanish-style home has all the hallmarks of classic Californian architecture – terracotta floors, exposed wood beams, wrought iron detailing, and sweeping views.
But rather than turning the property into another polished 'modern Mediterranean' makeover, Los Angeles-based studio Breland–Harper approached the renovation with a lighter touch, creating a house design that feels layered and deeply connected to its landscape.
'The home is best described as a layered interpretation of Spanish Revival through a contemporary Californian lens,' explains designer Michael Breland, who looked to everything from vernacular Mediterranean architecture to the shifting tones of the canyon itself for inspiration. The result is what can only be described as an elegant take on Californian casual.
Living Room: From the hall, you're instantly greeted with views out to the ocean via the patio doors. Inside, the interiors are layered with natural textures and collected antiques, perfectly capturing Breland–Harper’s signature balance of relaxed Californian ease.
One of the most compelling things about this home renovation is that it never feels as though its original architecture has been polished away in pursuit of something trendier. Instead, Breland–Harper treated the property almost like an ongoing conversation between past and present.
'Rather than overwrite the features, we saw the project as an opportunity to reinterpret them – honoring the spirit of the original architecture while evolving it into something more personal and layered,' Michael explains. 'The house already had a certain soul; our role was to bring clarity and depth to it.'
That sense of soul comes through in the home's Spanish Revival roots that were intentionally allowed to remain front and center, filtered through a more contemporary, liveable lens. Even structurally, the team resisted the temptation to completely rework the home, choosing instead to make quieter adjustments that improved flow and strengthened the connection between inside and out.
Dining Room: The dining area also embraces the home’s indoor-outdoor philosophy, with linen-draped doors opening directly onto canyon views and a simple palette of vintage warm wood, soft plaster, and natural textures.
That softer approach feels especially fitting for the clients, a young family relocating from New York who were drawn to California living.
Materials and tones were chosen to echo the surrounding landscape, while a mix of antiques, handcrafted details, and tactile natural fabrics gives the home its distinctly soulful character.
'The setting had a profound influence on the interiors,' says Michael. 'We drew from the shifting tones of the surrounding landscape – the dry chaparral, the greens that emerge seasonally, and the distant blue of the Pacific,' he adds of the color scheme of the whole home.
Kitchen: Oxblood tiles, dark petite granite stone, unlacquered brass, and warm oak cabinetry create a rich backdrop for cooking and conversation.
At the center of the home – both physically and emotionally – is the kitchen, a space Breland–Harper approached less as a showpiece and more as the 'open hearth' of the home. While many contemporary kitchens lean cool and overtly functional, this one embraces something altogether moodier: rich materials, deep color, and an atmosphere that encourages people to linger.
'You arrive at the home through a landscaped approach that transitions from cultivated orchard plantings into a softer, more naturalistic garden,' Michael explains. 'Entering the home, the kitchen sits at its heart – conceived almost as an open hearth, rich with materiality and atmosphere.'
Rather than drawing from a traditional decorating palette, the materials were chosen for their connection to food.
'To capture the sensuousness of culinary experience, materials were selected for their patina and colors that were evocative of food,' he continues. 'An interplay of oxblood tile, dark stone countertops, natural oak cabinets, brass fittings, and earthenware vases conjures moodiness and atmosphere.'
Living Room: At the heart of the living space, a custom hemp rug from Mansour zones the conversation space, styled with a Clara Porset Butaque chair, manufactured by Luteca. A painted 19th-century chest sits in the corner next to the large sofa.
Stepping down from the kitchen into the living room, the ceiling height expands, the palette softens, and almost immediately your eye is pulled outward toward the terrace.
'The living space balances custom pieces with antiques and mid-century elements, creating a dialogue across time,' says Michael.
'The hand-painted tiles at the fireplace are particularly meaningful,' he continues. 'They were commissioned from craftsmen who have been producing tiles since the 1920s, tying the home back to a longer tradition of making.'
'There’s also a strong interplay between custom-designed furniture and carefully sourced antiques, including an 18th-century Spanish table paired with a Clara Porset butaque – moments that create a sense of dialogue across eras,' he adds.
Living Room: Looking across the wrought-iron banister, the custom-made fireplace tiles, fabricated from 18th-century Portuguese originals, anchor the room. The cozy armchairs are draped in slipcovers made from Rose Tarlow's Tuscania Linen.
'The living room and its connection to the terrace best capture the spirit of the home,' says Michael. 'It’s where the architecture, material palette, and landscape all come together. The space feels equally suited to a quiet moment or a larger gathering, which was central to the way we approached the project.
That easy relationship between indoors and out is felt everywhere in the space. The terrace functions almost as an outdoor room, mirroring the intimacy of the interior seating areas, so gatherings can spill outside effortlessly depending on the time of day or occasion.
It’s a home designed to flex constantly between quiet retreat and entertaining; as Michael explains, the spaces were conceived to accommodate 'multiple scales of gathering', feeling 'as intimate for two as it is ample for 20.'
Bedroom: Warm oak millwork, tactile linens, and filtered light give this guest bedroom its calm, understated atmosphere. Under the window sits a custom armchair, upholstered in Loro Piana's Bangor Linen, a reclaimed walnut desk, and a handcrafted 19th-century Chinese Mijiu jar repurposed as a lamp.
While the lower level of the home was designed around gathering and movement, the upstairs spaces take on a noticeably quieter rhythm.
Michael describes the upper rooms as being 'more subdued, with softer palettes and filtered light creating a sense of retreat,' and that sense of calmness is immediate the moment you enter the bedrooms.
In this bedroom, built-in oak cabinetry frames the entrance to the adjoining bathroom, adding structure while keeping the room feeling uncluttered and serene. Beneath the window, vintage-inspired furniture and collected ceramics prevent the interiors from feeling too minimal against the chalky linens, warm woods, and soft upholstery.
Primary Bedroom: The primary suite pairs a restrained neutral palette with layered natural textures, while a custom wrought iron four-poster bed, hand-knotted silk rug from Mansour, and an 18th-century Italian bench bring texture to the scheme.
With sweeping views across the canyon framed by gauzy linen curtains and pale plaster walls, the primary suite feels intentionally softer – almost monastic in its restraint – while still carrying the warmth and texture that runs throughout the rest of the house.
'Natural materials like linen, hemp, rattan, and wood repeat throughout, creating a tactile continuity,' says Michael. 'There’s also a consistent dialogue between handcraft and refinement, which helps tie all the spaces together without making them feel overly controlled.'
A custom wrought iron four-poster bed introduces a subtle architectural structure to the primary bedroom. 'Wrought iron was a key unifying element, appearing in everything from structural details to furniture and lighting,' Michael adds.
Nursery: The nursery balances family practicality with the home’s layered Californian aesthetic, pairing muted sage shelving, custom ottomans in Rose Tarlow's Lucido Library Green leather, and a custom daybed styled with throw pillows from Pat McGann.
The nursery takes a similarly gentle approach, proving that family spaces can still feel design-led. Rather than leaning into overtly playful motifs, the room is grounded by the same earthy palette and layering seen throughout the home, helping it feel connected to the wider interiors rather than visually separate from them.
'The palette moves between earthy depth and soft neutrality,' Michael explains. 'These moments are balanced by lighter, more breathable spaces elsewhere, where neutral tones and natural textiles allow light to diffuse gently.'
'The contrast was intentional: grounding the home in material richness while preserving a sense of openness and calm.'
Bathroom: Terracotta herringbone floors, zellige wall tiles from Mosaic House, custom Carrara marble, and aged unlacquered brass fittings fr give the bathroom its warm, old-world charm.
Like the rest of the home, the bathrooms avoid cold minimalism and instead lean into warmth, tactility, and quiet luxury.
Nothing competes for attention in this family bathroom. Sure, the freestanding bath might be the main character, but sitting beneath a curved brass shower rail draped with linen curtains, the natural finishes stop everything from feeling overly pristine.
Even the vanity, with its slim brass legs and open shelving, strikes a careful balance between elegance and ease.
Powder Room: Tucked into this little nook, Breland–Harper chose chic Moroccan wall tiles from Badia Design to bring intrigue to the small space. The sconces are a custom design from Revival Antiques, paired with an unlacquered brass faucet.
The powder room may be bijoux, but it perfectly captures Breland–Harper’s approach to layering color, craftsmanship, and atmosphere.
Wrapped in glossy green-and-cream checkerboard tile and illuminated by warm lighting, the space feels almost like a hidden jewel box within the softer neutral palette of the rest of the home.
That mix feels timeless rather than trend-driven – rooted in the architectural feel of the home but handled with a lighter, more contemporary twist.
Living Room: Back in the living room, the line between indoors and out is blurred, framed by light drapery. A custom cocktail table made by Petersen Antiques sits at the center, styled with a 1950s Pierre Lottier leather chair.
What makes this home feel so distinctly Californian is the way the architecture, interiors, and landscape are allowed to bleed into one another.
Rather than treating the garden as something ornamental or separate from the house itself, Breland–Harper approached the surrounding two-acre site as an extension of the overall home.
'The landscape progression is something that unfolds subtly over time. As you move away from the house, the formal garden begins to dissolve into a more natural, rewilded environment.' Michael explains. 'It’s a quiet gesture, but one that reinforces the home’s relationship to the broader ecology of the canyon and the Santa Monica Mountains'.
Patio: Designed as a natural extension of the interiors, the terrace pairs relaxed custom teak seating from Munder Skiles, flagstone tiles, and soft neutral upholstery with sweeping views.
The real magic of this home is its atmosphere. It manages to feel layered while still having space to breathe, elegant without feeling formal, and deeply connected to its setting without relying on obvious cliches.
Every material, antique, and architectural detail seems chosen not simply for how it looks, but for how it contributes to the overall feeling of ease that runs throughout the home.
Perhaps that’s why the project feels so timeless. Thanks, in part, to the clients who were 'interested in embracing Spanish Revival elements, but in a way that felt fresh and livable,' as Michael explains, but of course, also Breland–Harper's blend of historic references – inspirations ranged from golden age California interiors to vernacular Mediterranean architecture – reinterpreted through a contemporary, relaxed lens.
Simply put: it's a house designed for long dinners, slow mornings, and Californian-style indoor-outdoor living.
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