The lap pool and glazed west elevation of the Broad Beach house at dusk

Work / Broad Beach Residence

Broad
Beach

Location
Malibu, CA
Type
Private residence

A house that had to work in the morning

The clients wanted a beach house that supported a daily routine rather than a holiday — training, recovery, swimming, and somewhere to eat afterwards without crossing the entire plan to get there.

That single requirement reordered the usual coastal hierarchy. Wellness and service spaces normally get pushed to the back of a beach house, where the view is worth least. Here they were given the same light and the same view line as the living rooms, then separated from the entertaining sequence so the two never collide.

A single circulation spine runs the length of the site with the ocean on one side. Wellness takes the north end, entertaining the south, and the pool terrace stitches them together outside.

482

square feet of gym, opening directly onto the spa terrace

644

square feet of outdoor spa, sauna and cold plunge

200

feet from salt water — which set the entire material palette

A large open living room with a circular sunken lounge and full glazing to the pool
The great room — a circular lounge sets a centre in a plan that is otherwise entirely linear

Drawings

Resolved in plan and elevation before a single finish was chosen

Which is why the timber ceiling runs continuously from inside to outside, and why the mirrored wall sits back from the glazing rather than opposite it — keeping the reflection on the room and off the ocean.

A dimensioned floor plan of the gym, sauna, bath, storage and adjoining outdoor spa area
Gym, sauna and outdoor spa — plan. 482 sq ft inside, 644 outside.
A dimensioned interior elevation of the gym wall showing mirrored panels and joinery
Gym — interior elevation, sheet extract.
A construction detail drawing of the pergola showing the curved rafter profile and spacing
Pergola — rafter profile and spacing. The curve is set by the sun angle at the hours the terrace is actually used, not by the shape it makes on a rendering.
A gym with a timber beamed ceiling, full-height glazing and equipment along a mirrored wall
The same room, built.
The outdoor spa terrace with timber pergola, built-in seating and planted screening
Outdoor spa, sauna and cold plunge.

Materials

Four materials, chosen to survive salt

White oak, honed stone, plaster and glass. The restraint is practical rather than stylistic: a house two hundred feet from salt water punishes anything that needs maintenance, and a short palette makes mid-construction substitutions far easier to judge on the spot.

Full specification on request

A bar with a stone counter, backlit shelving and a row of stools
Bar — stone counter, backlit shelving
A powder room with a hand-painted floral mural, stone trough basin and backlit circular mirror
Powder room — hand-painted mural

Photography

Built for the beach

The ocean elevation at twilight: two floors of glass above a lit, glass-edged pool
Ocean elevation at twilight
A lap pool running along the glazed ground floor toward the beach and palms
Lap pool toward the beach
The living room with its glass wall slid fully open to the pool deck and ocean
Living room, glass wall open
The kitchen: a long stone island under a floating stair, with the dining room and ocean beyond
Kitchen and floating stair
A dining room inside a curved wall of glass looking onto the ocean
Dining room
The primary bath: onyx-clad walls and a copper tub in a curved bay of windows over the beach
Primary bath
The entry court at dusk: an olive tree, lit steps and a framed view straight through the house to the ocean
Entry court at dusk
An upstairs sitting room with a sculptural rug and a gold-framed mirror, its glass wall open to the ocean
Upstairs sitting room
A bedroom with a timber-lined wall and floor-to-ceiling glass onto the terrace and ocean
Bedroom
The upper terrace lounge with curved outdoor seating above the beach
Upper terrace
The pool and spa at dusk, lit blue, lined up with the horizon over the beach
Pool and spa at dusk

Services used on this project

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