Tour a Modernist Malibu Gem That Was Saved From Being a Teardown

Sheila Marikar
·4 min read
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.

Let others rhapsodize the new, the soulless, the blank slates. Philippe Naouri covets the old. “I’m into vintage Levi’s, vintage cars, vintage watches, vintage everything,” says the Los Angeles developer and former fashion designer. So it follows that, last year, when he happened upon the last home that the midcentury architect Edward Fickett built in Malibu (a 1973 relic with its best days long past, which others considered to be a teardown), he saw a haven.

“Nobody wanted to touch it,” says Naouri. “Everyone was scared, ‘so much money to spend.’ They had no vision.” Naouri took the four-bedroom, four-bath, 4,200-square-foot estate in the Malibu hills down to its studs. “We kept the beams and started to reimagine the house while restoring it to its original state.”

To Naouri, that meant reinterpreting Fickett for the modern era: “Bringing the architect into the 21st century,” he says. “I didn’t want to be a purist. The problem with midcenturies is that sometimes they look too bare. I asked myself: If Fickett were here now, how would he do the house?” That led Naouri to natural oak walls and natural grass outdoors, an edible garden and a renovated airstream, a room for yoga and a walking bridge to bring it all together. “I want people to feel good in the house,” says Naouri. “The house is made so that you can relax and enjoy your life. It’s not made to be a museum.”

Tour a Modernist Malibu Gem That Was Saved from Being a Tear-Down

Philippe Naouri sourced midcentury sculpture for the grounds of the Malibu home, such as the long, painted stoneware, as well as a “peanut” planter by John Follis and Rex Goode circa 1956.
“The way I do the houses is like a maison,” says the French-born Naouri. “If you have a maison, it’s cozy, it feels protected.”
“The way I do the houses is like a maison,” says the French-born Naouri. “If you have a maison, it’s cozy, it feels protected.”
“I wanted to bring together midcentury pieces and modern pieces,” says Naouri. The living room includes a 1968 lounge chair by Jorgen Hovelskov for Christensen and Larsen and a coffee table by George Nakashima, from the 1990s.
A portrait of Jimi Hendrix, by French artist Mr. Brainwash, gives the living room a 1960s vibe.
A portrait of Jimi Hendrix, by French artist Mr. Brainwash, gives the living room a 1960s vibe.
A secondary living room features a lounge chair from Le Corbusier and coffee table from Charles and Ray Eames; the brown sofa is a Mies Van Der Rohe Barcelona daybed.
A secondary living room features a lounge chair from Le Corbusier and coffee table from Charles and Ray Eames; the brown sofa is a Mies Van Der Rohe Barcelona daybed.
A Calder-inspired mobile hangs above an Arne Vodder dining table.
A Calder-inspired mobile hangs above an Arne Vodder dining table.
The kitchen’s four high chrome barstools were made in the style of Harry Bertoia, the midcentury sculptor and furniture designer.
The centerpiece of the office is a desk by Italian designer Louis Paolozzi, from the 1960s. A large painting by Alexander Calder and a smaller one by Robert Chuey grace the walls.
A butterfly chair designed by Jorge Ferrari Hardoy, Juan Kurchan, and Antonio Bonet for Knoll, circa 1938, sits next to a fire-engine red Torchiere lamp from the 1960s.
“In the [primary] bedroom, I wanted to have the feel of a spa,” says Naouri. “Outside…you feel like you’re at a resort in Brazil.”
“In the [primary] bedroom, I wanted to have the feel of a spa,” says Naouri. “Outside…you feel like you’re at a resort in Brazil.”
Naouri also custom-made the vanity in the primary bedroom.
Naouri also custom-made the vanity in the primary bedroom.
Naouri built the bed in the downstairs bedroom. “You feel like the indoor and outdoor are all connected,” he says. “People come to this house and they don’t want to leave. Even me.”
Naouri built the bed in the downstairs bedroom. “You feel like the indoor and outdoor are all connected,” he says. “People come to this house and they don’t want to leave. Even me.”
“I do a lot of midcentury with terrazzo, but for this one I wanted a different feeling,” says Naouri. “I wanted to approach it like a blank canvas.”
“I do a lot of midcentury with terrazzo, but for this one I wanted a different feeling,” says Naouri. “I wanted to approach it like a blank canvas.”
The renovated, retrofitted 1976 Airstream includes yellow fiberglass lounge chairs from the 1960s. “The Airstream is meant to be there forever,” says Naouri.
The renovated, retrofitted 1976 Airstream includes yellow fiberglass lounge chairs from the 1960s. “The Airstream is meant to be there forever,” says Naouri.
See the video.

To that end, he selected furnishings that qualify as art but beg to be used: chairs by Charles and Ray Eames and Le Corbusier, a sofa by Mies Van Der Rohe, a lamp by Torchiere. The art runs the gamut from Alexander Calder and Robert Chuey to Mr. Brainwash, a close friend of Naouri’s. “I put his portrait of Jimi Hendrix in the living room to give it that ’60s feeling,” he says. “This was the last house of Fickett’s that had that ’60s vibe.”

The vibe continues across more than an acre outdoors, past the paddle tennis and bocce ball courts to the vintage Airstream that Naouri also renovated from the studs up: There’s a kitchenette, a shower, a bed for friends. “In Malibu, it’s difficult to get a guest house,” says Naouri. “It’s a very long process. The Airstream is an icon of the ’60s. It’s a conversation piece, a piece of art”—one that, in his mind, would earn the admiration of Fickett, were he around today. “This home is like the California dream,” says Naouri. “It’s a free spirit.”

A Calder-inspired mobile hangs above an Arne Vodder dining table.
A Calder-inspired mobile hangs above an Arne Vodder dining table.

Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest