Bold Moves

BOLD MOVES In Del Mar, a neglected

’70S BUNGALOW

becomes a contemporary family dwelling filled with BRIGHT punches anchored by NATURAL WOODS and endless ocean VIEWS

Feature (tbd)

KARYN MILLET Written by LEILANI MARIE LABONG Photography by

In the dining nook, the banquette is finished in LELIEVRE Illusion fabric in graphite from STARK; the Balloon pillows are FORNASETTI. A LINDSEY ADELMAN fixture hangs over a KNOLL Eero Saarinen table and Platner chairs.

Feature (tbd)

In the kitchen, Revolver stools by LEON RANSMEIER FOR WRONG FOR HAY from THE FUTURE PERFECT. The whiteoak chevron flooring is from DUCHÂTEAU and Laser White marble from TUTTO MARMO. Overhead, a SERGE MOUILLE three-arm light fixture supplements the natural light.

Feature (tbd)

Feature (tbd)

In early 2014, en route to a weekend getaway in Palm Springs, Jennifer and Jason Davis, then of Rancho Santa Fe, took a rainy detour to see a pre-market 1970s house in Del Mar, hoping it would be the family home they had been searching for.

At first glance, it wasn’t. But somewhere between the dilapidated exterior and the dense, overgrown landscaping, they still managed to envision, says Jennifer, “a spectacular, personality-packed house” that even their three teenage daughters would find cool. “We walked through

Clockwise from top: The bed is custommade by KELLY HINCHMAN. The walls are covered in Swirls paper by ROBERT CROWDER & CO. and the area rug is Tracery by KELLY WEARSTLER FOR THE RUG COMPANY. In the entry hangs a ceramic wall piece by MQUAN. In the living room, a HERVÉ VAN DER STRAETEN fixture hangs over a PEDRO FRIEDEBERG chair.

Feature (tbd)

From top: The outdoor patio hosts EMU RETROUVE white wire chairs with SCHUMACHER Chiang Mai fabric, a GEORGE SMITH outdoor Chesterfield sofa, and a fireplace from DESIGN WITHIN REACH. The custom brass railing is balanced by an APPARATUS STUDIO Pivot Sconce and 9 Moving Lips lenticular photo group from BLACKMAN CRUZ.

the forgotten, tree-house-like space and felt something,” says Jennifer, a creative consultant. Three hours later when the couple pulled into their desert hotel, they were in escrow.

Jennifer’s longtime friend, interior designer Kelly Hinchman of San Diegobased Studio H Design Group, readily grasped what she calls “the potential of such a funky, run-down disaster of a house.” A lengthy gut and remodel resulted in a midcentury-inspired exterior of cedar cladding with a sophisticated matte-black steel fascia—a quiet facade that belies the home’s gutsy interiors.

A black, life-size pig by Moooi greets visitors to the den, a playful space where Jennifer and Jason, a real-estate investor, watch reality competition shows on matching Eames lounges covered in richly hued Jim Thompson Malachite fabric. In the living room, a gold Hand chair by Pedro Friedeberg occupies a quiet corner, its palm open as if to receive the chrysalis-shaped Hervé Van der Straeten pendant suspended above. To echo the netlike composition of the bronze light fixture, the draperies in

the space are made from the wide-open weave of Cat’s Cradle by Donghia.

In a modestly sized 2,400-square-foot house, such a heavy dose of design could have been overpowering, were it not for a few savvy maneuvers: Several outdoor decks, complete with panoramas of the Pacific, increase the square footage by nearly half and disperse the home’s eccentricity. And much of the upstairs decor, down to the dramatic blue marbled wallpaper in the master suite, is inspired by the ocean, providing a natural counterpoint to the more lighthearted pieces.

Finally, Hinchman smartly set the fearless tableau within a neutral envelope of whiteoak chevron floors and white tongue-andgroove ceilings. “This keeps the house fresh,” says the designer. “And the punchy parts punchy.” • Clockwise from left: Fibreclay pots by Australian-based DESIGN TWINS. The Davis family (front to back): JENNIFER, JASON, PEYTON, 14, ALEXIS, 17, and OLIVIA, 16. JANUS ET CIE lounge furniture with a side view of the Pacific.

Feature (tbd)