Sophie Goineau Transforms Malibu Mountain Rebuild into a Sanctuary after Devastation

MALIBU LAKE, CA | 2024 After a Malibou 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.”

Schireson recalls, “The fire changed our lives forever. The dramatic evacuation, the smoke, and police bullhorns telling us to ‘Get out!’—it was overwhelming. We packed up for what we thought would be a few days, never imagining that our home of twenty years, filled with our four children, dogs, and countless memories, would be gone.” After nine moves in the next four years, the family was eager to turn the page. “Their journey was profoundly moving,” Goineau says. “Understanding their story and life path was crucial. In our work, we delve into people’s lives, and empathy and compassion are essential. It’s not just about walls and floors. It’s about capturing their entire story. Their resilience in starting anew, having lost everything, was inspiring.”

After the fire, the bare parcel of land offered an unexpected bonus. Viewing the existing site, where the previous home stood for two decades, now offered a new vantage point with new possibilities. The team set out to depart from more traditional design and maximize the spectacular views from all angles. The process required tenacity and perseverance, as did building a house that could withstand a future fire event. An independent industrial sprinkler system was installed with the capability of drawing pool water, and producing cloud vapor around the property as a prevention method. All exterior materials are Class A fire rated, while the landscaping was designed with an L.A. county-dictated fuel modification plan to reduce fuel for future fires. Having secured the house to the best of their ability, the team turned their attention to emphasizing its beauty.

“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.

Perhaps the most meaningful piece in the house is the only salvaged item– Scott’s beloved grand piano, the charred remains of which became a sculpture from the couple’s artist friend, Paulden Evans. “The thought was to honor the piano and our lives in a house filled with music, not to create a focal point of sadness for its loss,” says the composer, who also prizes Goineau’s inventive design of his home studio, meant for clerical use, and yet still a creative, meditative space. Goineau’s signature flowing, open kitchen was particularly important– after being nomads for so long, the family was eager to return to their lives as enthusiastic cooks and entertainers. The 1o’ sliding doors open to virtually double the indoor space for entertaining, with 1,800 sq ft of outdoor terrace beyond the pool.

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.”

The connection to and appreciation for nature is a touchstone for Crest Drive House. The organics and geometry shapes a direct reflection of the Malibu Mountains Ridges, with many of the choices in material, shape and texture directly influenced by the landscape. A desire for spatial and material compositions, executed in extraordinary detail, is one of the reasons Schireson, Scott and Goineau understood each other so well, and consider the house a joint work of great achievement.

“Their life story is impressive and moving,” says Goineau. “The devastating event of losing their original home could have marked the end of their connection to this place. But instead, they chose to rebuild on the same site, putting their faith in the larger forces of Mother Nature, celebrating the fundamental environmental connection and immense beauty. That resiliency shows incredible strength and capacity for healing, and I was honored to participate in the transition from one stage of their lives into the next.”

As for the owners, the experience was one of rediscovering safety, peace, and calm. “Transformation,” says Schireson. “We needed new memories to build on, and that’s what our new home has given us. We wake up and always say, ‘Hello, house,’ because it still feels so new and special to us.”