In Manhattan Beach, California, there’s a modern white stucco house that wears a sophisticated city look with a casual Southern California feel. The house, which is used as a vacation home by a couple with grown children, was part of a newly completed development when the owners asked Johnny Moallempour of MJM Interior Design to bring the blank canvas to life.
“We wanted the interiors to feel elevated yet approachable,” Moallempour says, adding that he and the couple had worked on several other houses. “The design embraces the California lifestyle through indoor-outdoor living, natural light, layered textures and relaxed elegance.”
The finishes and furnishings had to be durable enough to withstand the couple’s active grandchildren and their lively dog as well as the harsh oceanfront environment. The design decisions also had to respect the modern architecture of the house.
The 4,000-square-foot home, which is on a narrow lot and whose front has a view toward the ocean and coastline beyond, has three levels. Two ensuite guest bedrooms are on the first floor, the primary suite and another guest bedroom comprise the second floor, and the open-plan kitchen, living room and dining room crown the residence. With these parameters in mind, Moallempour created spaces that showcase and subtly reference beach life.
The color palette – soothing blues, creams and light greys that say ocean – is as cozy as a summer shawl. And the custom furnishings, many of them with rounded edges, add an extra layer of comfort. “I always ask myself how a space will emotionally affect someone when they walk in,” he says. “This home was designed to feel serene, welcoming and restorative.” When people walk into the living room, their eyes are drawn to the dramatic black-granite fireplace, flanked by windows with black metal frames and built-in oak cabinetry. “The clients love a cosmopolitan lifestyle, and I used the fireplace to introduce a sense of edge and anchor the room instead of everything blending in,” Moallempour says.
It’s accented with a large artwork whose dark background makes it disappear into the granite. Sand in the painting’s pigment adds texture and hints at the beach, while its compelling image, of a diaphanous fabric floating freely in the breeze, has a 3-D quality. The space is rounded out with a light taupe and gray sofa with softly curved arms, a pair of curvaceous swivel chairs with sun-tolerant cerused oak backs and a trio of circular coffee tables whose glass tops give glimpses of the blue and white custom rug whose design was inspired by drops of water falling into the ocean. The black hue is repeated in the base of the kitchen island, whose chairs are upholstered in a blue-dotted fabric with a soft white background that is the same color as the natural quartzite of the island countertop, backsplash and hood range.
In the dining room, the curved-corner walnut table is grounded by a black base. The chairs, whose backs are caned, carry the beach house theme forward without hewing to tradition, and the spun-glass chandelier shimmers like the sun on the water. “The dining room creates a space within a space,” Moallempour says. “It’s distinct yet still connected to the living room.”
In the bedrooms, Moallempour balances chic with comfort, creating chambers that are polished yet livable and deeply personal. In the primary suite, the bed rests comfortably under an abstract artwork of water-like hues. It’s augmented by a curved bench that resides at the footboard and a pair of walnut nightstands on X-shaped bases whose front drawers have a slight wave. The blue and white bespoke carpet “looks like waves when you’re sitting on a boat in calm waters,” Moallempour says. “Its color shifts like the sunlight reflecting across the water.” A custom rug and custom wallcovering that looks like a mural of the sky give a guest bedroom a feeling of movement, and the nightstands in yet another bedroom, made of walnut and oak, were inspired by driftwood. “I wanted the forms to feel softened and organic,” Moallempour says, “like driftwood naturally shaped by sand and water over time.” In yet another bedroom, the horizontal pattern of the wallpaper plays tag with the blue, dark gray, light purple and white stripes of the drapes, leading the eye to the outdoors.
The clients are so thrilled with their new home that every time they stay there, the wife texts Moallempour to tell him how much she loves being there. Moallempour, too, is pleased. “We created a refined coastal residence that feels timeless rather than overly thematic or predictable.”