Behind the Build: Coastal Bluff Estate

MGAC was founded on a simple promise: to take the most interesting, ambitious project ideas and make them a reality. Getting there is a matter of countless small steps, conversations, and carefully-calibrated decisions, taking place between day one and that long-awaited delivery day. These are the moments that make a project. With our Behind the Build series, we take a closer look at the roads that lead to a final product, delving into the ways our talented, passionate team makes a project possible. Today, we revisit our work on this one-of-a-kind Coastal Bluff Estate.

In 2011, our team was enlisted to support the development of an ambitious Luxury Living project. Its plan was straightforward enough: a 14,500 SF main house with a subterranean parking garage and interior landscaped courtyard, plus 2,500 SF for an accessory building containing a gym, sauna, and game room. The real challenge? This was all planned on a steep hillside that had never before been built on.

What’s more, the home called for a high caliber of craftsmanship and nuanced technology applications that would require consistent strategic oversight. An existing project team, which included Donaldson + Partners, Magni Kalman Design, AHBE Landscape Architects, Winters-Schram Associates, and HLB Lighting Design, had laid the groundwork and secured permits. But the Owner recognized the build’s inherent difficulty required niche expertise; a partner experienced in venturing into the unknown and delivering the complex. We were all in.

AN UNRIVALED SETTING—WITH STEEP CHALLENGES

Planned on a beautiful but steeply sloped coastal bluff surrounded by a state park, expansive canyon, and coastline meeting ocean, this future family home would be afforded both sweeping vistas and incredible privacy. But before we could take advantage of the natural setting, the plot itself had to become buildable.

The two-acre property’s grade would need to be rebuilt for construction to safely begin. To get started, we reviewed a geotechnical report that had been drafted by the technical engineer already on the project team—but we immediately sensed that something was off. While it’s unusual for such a report to be unreliable, the foundation of this project was quite literally on the line, so we followed our instincts to secure a second opinion. Sure enough, a second engineer’s findings revealed an ancient landslide, a deeper level of unsuitable soil than was previously reported. Catching this before shovels hit the ground was crucial and helped us avoid a costly and dangerous error early on. Following an elaborate remedial grading process—involving the excavation and recompaction of tens of thousands of cubic yards of dirt—we were finally in a position to begin building.

RETAINING DESIGN INTEGRITY, AGAINST ALL ODDS

At the heart of many luxury living projects is the highly personalized and refined design of interior spaces and surrounding grounds, often by the hands of household names. This build was no exception, with the esteemed Donaldson + Partners team in collaboration with Magni Kalman Design spearheading the distinct modern-meets-organic design and Calvin Abe of AHBE Landscape Architects dreaming up the sprawling grounds. As project managers, a critical aspect of our role is ensuring their full and unbridled visions are carried through, from the broadest sense of how the spaces will set the stage for a client’s life, down to the specific sourcing and precise placement of high-end materials.

Great care was taken to blend contemporary design with the stunning natural surroundings and establish a seamless sense of movement between the spaces, from dark Ipe wood slatted screens that added architectural interest to the façade, to the upper level’s glass-enclosed landscaped interior courtyard studded with craned-in, mature olive trees. Even in a structural sense, the home is in harmony with the surrounding landscape, with the building terraced into the natural contours of the hillside, breaking up its overall mass while using its sub-grade structure to strategically reinforce the hillside.

SOURCING SPECIALIZED STONE AT SCALE

With its exterior walls, terraces, flooring, and fireplaces framed in varying finishes of light limestone, and its doors and windows, slats of dividers, and treads of the main staircase in contrasting mahogany, the home’s overall material palette borrows hues from the surrounding terrain—effectively bringing the outside inside. But in order for that vision to take shape, each material must be carefully sourced, shipped, and installed to a T.

In the case of the limestone, that process became an incredible undertaking. Early on, a project subcontractor had been given a deposit to manufacture all the project’s limestone, which needed to be quarried in Egypt and shipped across the ocean. For months, the subcontractor assured us that the order had been placed—but continued to shift the estimated arrival date.

Once again, we investigated further and discovered the order had never been placed. We immediately stepped into the procurement role and ordered directly through brokers, effectively restarting the process for something we thought had been a year in the making. With no time to waste, we proactively communicated and accelerated deliveries to shave off as much time as we could and were able to secure the essential stone to mitigate delays to the project.

But the challenges didn’t end there. Vast amounts of limestone were needed for this build, and the full order traveled overseas in seven containers in separate shipments, with each on the water for 61 days. When the seventh and final shipment arrived, the stone was so badly chipped due to poor packaging was unusable and needed to be entirely re-ordered. Until the last piece of stone from the final shipment was unpacked, we prioritized the delivery of this mission-critical material.

PRECISION UNDER PRESSURE

Powering this high-performance home required a refined mechanical system with long runs of ductwork. At the same time, the aesthetic-driven design left very little room in the floor / ceiling area for such a system. This presented a significant challenge, as the client understandably wanted to mitigate noise—something that only naturally become more problematic with longer runs and turns of ductwork. Careful coordination with the project team allowed us to map out precise routing and establish innovative methods that would integrate this system into the space available without compromising on noise levels or design.

One of the most eye-catching features of the home is its dramatic metal and wood screens encasing the two-story façade, which provide a measure of privacy when closed, but needed to open for cleaning and maintenance purposes. Achieving seamless functionality for these heavy wood screens on structural steel frames proved difficult, and we ultimately flew in a specialty company from Texas to make it happen with new motors and actuators. Today, the towering screens are a stunning and defining feature of the home’s exterior.

Our client possessed an extensive modern art collection, and entire elements of the home were designed around “art moments.” But, as is typical as projects progress, his perspective on the needs for this collection evolved over the course of the build. While we initially did not plan for art lighting, in time, we would add about a hundred additional recessed LED ceiling lights to spotlight it—while carefully navigating the home’s extensive ductwork. At this time, LED lighting was a burgeoning technology, and proper dimming required specific drivers that weren’t yet integrated into the lighting package. We collaborated with the project’s contractor, who also held an electrical subcontractor license, to set up bench tests that determined the perfect combination of lights and drivers to fully integrate with the home automation system.

Outside, extensive hardscaping also demanded a high level of detail and precision. A prime example is the property’s runnel—a narrow channel carrying water—that elegantly flows downhill from the home. The feature had to be constructed with a perfect grade for the water to move slowly and deliberately as envisioned by Abe. At night, the runnel is illuminated in soft light, creating a spectacular effect.

A BEAUTIFUL PLACE FOR LIFE TO PLAY OUT

The project came to completion in 2018, after years of dedicated work and problem-solving through unforeseen challenges—from unstable ground to material procurement problems to evolving design requirements. Throughout it all, we remained a consistent voice that ensured the original vision was never compromised. We are proud to have been part of an outstanding design and construction team that met that original design intent.

Today, every detail assembles seamlessly to create a stunning backdrop for lives to unfold for years to come. Our clients planned this home for their soon-to-be growing family, and had welcomed their three children across the course of construction. Knowing they will grow up within its walls, creating memories in a beautiful space we helped bring to life, will always be the most rewarding aspect of this storied build.