Crest Drive, MALIBOU LAKE, CA

After a Malibu Lake couple lost their house in the 2018 fires, they made the powerful decision to rebuild on the site of their former home. After collaborating closely on the new design and construction with architect Christofer Mercier of f.e.r. studio in Los Angeles, television composer Gary Scott and his wife, Laurie Schireson, were creatively exhausted and emotionally spent. The next step was finding a designer who had the design vocabulary and artistic sensitivity  to complete the vision for the interior and exterior spaces. Schireson says, “Our first meeting with Sophie was transformative—her talent and personality resonated deeply with us. Once we found her, we could not have been more impressed. We were blown away by the beauty and professionalism of the design books she and her team created.”

“The house is an exclamation point on the top of a mountain,” Goineau says. “With nature and beauty of this scope, you have no choice but to bow to it and honor it. We wanted to be attentive to the sensations provoked by the prominent landscape without losing the identity of the house and its inhabitants.” The designer created an environment that is deeply connected to the exterior and the earth, evoking the feeling of being outside while indoors. In a mastery of layering, the modernity is balanced by various wood elements and natural metal surfaces  for an overall effect of warmth throughout. A high, plain white living room wall intended for the television was covered in floor-to-ceiling copper mirror, with a secondary layer of wood as a background. “It was my way of incorporating Mother Nature. We used that method as a template throughout for softening contrast into a soothing, neutral background.” Millwork was another way of including that natural softness, from wraparound banquettes, floor-to-ceiling wall paneling and cabinetry, to built-in bed surrounds. “I feel so blessed they let me bring in all these amazing manufacturers and companies like LaForma, who built all the millwork,” says Goineau.

Goineau custom designed pieces to echo the architectural lines, from an outdoor credenza buffet with corrugated metal, to a coffee table that mirrors the structure’s angles. “The primary suite is absolutely stunning– private, elegant, refined and sexy,” Schireson says. “Sophie’s design of our custom bed incorporates the unusual shape of the bedroom and the view is incredible. The outdoor flow of furniture, color and design is spectacular.” Goineau adds, “From the materials and lines we used indoors, you feel completely connected to the earth from the surrounding rock and sedimentary layers of the land. The way the furniture fit together so seamlessly, and to be able to look beyond and out onto nature from just about anywhere you’re standing– it’s pure heaven.” Uninterrupted views at the entry point into the house set the stage for a spectacular flow from one space to the next, and also gave Goineau an opportunity to introduce softness, like the first thing you see in the living room– the Living Divani sage velvet sofa. “The house is all sharp angles and geometry, which was interesting when integrating furniture because you don’t want to contradict it. Instead of following the lines, we followed nature, and that is where the shapes came from.”