Our 5 Favorite Beachy Open Doors—From Naomi Campbell’s Kenyan Villa to Ellen Pompeo’s Malibu Midcentury
Photo: Douglas Friedman
A beach house can run the stylistic gamut, but more important than any particular aesthetic or color scheme, a great beach house should capitalize on the splendor of its prime location. In the best of such dwellings (some of which AD has had the privilege of touring), that waterfront vibe rides right off the ocean breeze and into the design of the home—whether that’s through grander elements, like Nyjah Huston’s view-oriented living room layout in Laguna Beach, or small thoughtful details, like the well-placed foot level shower spout that ensures guests’ tootsies never track sand onto the hardwood floor at Sarah Paulson’s Malibu home. Below, dive into five AD-featured properties that show off the numerous ways in which a house can serve its seaside locale.
Ellen Pompeo’s midcentury Malibu gem
Black book-matched marble with undulating veining is the most dramatic homage to the sea at Ellen Pompeo’s Malibu home. The 1979 structure, designed by renowned LA architects Buff and Hensman, sits on a bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean. The Grey’s Anatomy star and AD100 designer Martyn Lawrence Bullard brought the home down to its studs in their remodel and opted to give it far more floor-to-ceiling windows than it had previously in order to bask in those gorgeous views. “You can’t help but just sit and stare at the ocean all day when you’re here,” Pompeo muses in the 2022 Open Door tour.
Sarah Paulson’s pint-size hideout
Paulson was inspired to buy this Malibu weekend property after seeing how much her dogs loved visiting a friend’s home in the same neighborhood. What it lacks in square footage it makes up for with its easy access to the beach. Designed in collaboration with Amy Kehoe of beloved LA studio Nickey Kehoe, the home is brimming with tiny nods to the ocean. In the living room, a scalloped-edge table by Green River Project evokes the waves, while the kitchen’s sea foam green marble countertops were chosen because they reminded Paulson of water lapping up on the sand.
Tommy Hilfiger’s Palm Beach paradise
Coral stone features throughout the interior and exterior of Tommy and Dee Hilfiger’s waterfront Palm Beach home. The material feels on theme, given coral’s saltwater origins, and is also ideal for warm climates as it doesn’t absorb heat. Furnishings-wise, the couple mostly stuck to a blue-and-white color palette, embellished with rattan and bamboo pieces that play up the lush resort vibe. “I like the touches of bamboo also because it reminds me of living in the tropics,” the fashion mogul says in the 2022 Open Door video.
Naomi Campbell’s Kenya retreat
Located within a luxury resort in coastal Malindi, Kenya, supermodel Naomi Campbell’s retreat is built to best facilitate indoor/outdoor living. Many of the home’s airy structures aren’t enclosed with four walls, leaving at least one side open. They’re covered by makuti roofs, which are a kind of thatching made from coconut tree leaves. The emphasis on local tradition and craft runs down from these distinct roofs and into the spaces below, which are teeming with furniture and artwork by Kenyan artisans, including the hand-carved wood doors by award-winning artist Armando Tanzini.
Nyjah Huston’s Laguna Beach home base
When elite skateboarder Nyjah Huston moved into his modernist Laguna Beach home, the space was filled with strange color choices, as he tells it. Stranger still was the living room placement, which wasn’t located in the area of the home with the very best view of Laguna Beach. To better serve this vista, Huston, his mother, Kelle Huston, and interior designer Stace King refined the home’s color palette down to a less distracting monochrome. They also selected a comfy RH Cloud sofa, which is situated in front of that aforementioned windowed corner to make sure every guest can marvel at the view—as they should.
Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
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