With a growing family, busy careers, and a desire for an optimized work-life balance, Josh Brolin and Kathryn Boyd Brolin acknowledged their lives were constantly evolving. They also recognized the existing outbuilding on their Malibu property needed to evolve with them to be an extension of their home. They had started the project with another architect and had a plan in place, but about a year into the project, they realized Los Angeles-based Harper Halprin + Aaron Leshtz of AAHA Studio was the best firm for the job.
Although the project was stalled because of permits and ordinances required by the City of Malibu, Harper Halprin and Aaron Leshtz—the husband-and-wife team anchoring the firm—were not phased by the timeline stretching out. Shepherding the project through the lengthy permit process is one of the steps worked into every client plan.
Beyond an impressive resume of success as design focused architects, separately and together, Halprin and Leshtz could relate to the Brolins’ situation as, they too, are busy professionals with young children, a love for entertaining, and a passion for design that is functional by nature. With a sterling reputation and an impressive reach into the interior design world, they were confident they could pick up the ball and roll forward. Leshtz stressed that an important first step with the clients was to make necessary changes to the original plan to achieve a finished project that was more cohesive and personalized.
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“We were originally introduced to Josh and Kathryn Boyd Brolin through a friend of theirs, who happened to be another client of ours,” recalls Leshtz. “We were working on his property, not far from the Brolins. He happened to be a friend of Josh’s, and they discussed a 3D model we created for his project. In spite of the fact that the Brolins’ remodel was already in progress, Josh called me to ask if we could do a 3D model for him just as a one-off. I think it occurred to him during our early conversations that it was important to work through some of the ideas that registered in the 3D analysis of his property. With that, he asked us to come on board, modify the project, and make the space something that could grow with the couple’s careers and family.”
Refining the Brolins’ vision for the property (2,150 square-feet of project square footage on a 61,923 square-foot double lot) factored in a mix of new features alongside improved existing ones, according to Leshiz. Even with home office space as a necessity, the couple wanted large entertaining areas, guest space, and room for their family to grow. The new guest house is broken up into three main sections with the highest point standing 16’ tall. It is anchored on one side by an oversized Town & Country fireplace flanked by custom millwork that extends to the ceiling. On the opposite wall, Weathershield 20’ x 10’ bi-fold windows/doors create a seamless indoor/outdoor entertaining space when they are opened. It can be accessed by guests from the east end of the property through a main guest entrance with a semi-circular driveway. From the west, the family can access it from the main house through landscaping and up a gentle flagstone staircase.
“A part of my role as architect is to challenge a client’s assumptions, differentiating what they say they want versus our understanding of what they actually need” -Leshtz
The guest house’s east end is appointed with a guest suite, billiard room, and a pool bath accessible from the exterior. On the west end, there is a kitchen/dining area with a bbq and pizza oven that opens out to the aforementioned outdoor entertaining area. The kitchen spaces have custom cabinets clad in distressed cedar topped with a natural marble countertop, and a pass-through window for easy serving. An extended Douglas fir trellis ties much of the outdoor space together, while special details built into the interior design by Pierce & Ward personalizes indoor areas and harmonizes with the outdoors and Pacific West Services’ landscaping. An olive tree in a custom built round planter provides an additional visual focal point along with the pool, cedar deck, sunken seating area, and outdoor fireplace.
“The flagstone continues as you step down into the sunken seating area with a custom built, open-air fireplace,” continues Leshtz, before getting into how teamwork enhanced AAHA’s efforts. “Everything feels like a cohesive project despite being a collection of smaller elements. The trellis that Dan at M Construction Inc. built for them a few years ago was so well-executed that we wanted to expand it to stretch across the whole facade to create continuity between the structures, pool, and landscaping. ”
Leshtz notes that he and Halprin became “great partners” with Pierce & Ward partially because of their own strong backgrounds in interior design earlier in their respective careers. While this was the architects’ first time working with the interior design firm, he credits good communication and “lots of back-and-forth drawing and modeling” for seamlessly integrating their vision of the architecture with the designers’ selection of furnishings, art, and other personalized touches.
“Emily Ward and Louisa Pierce are world-renowned designers who have worked with some of the most famous people on Earth,” he says, noting that he and Halprin have the unique advantage of starting their careers at New York architecture firms that also did high-end interiors for luxury retail, residential, commercial, and hospitality properties. This gave them the ability to “speak the language of interiors.”
“They also have young kids and understand that while spaces need to be beautiful, there is nothing too pretentious or precious,” he continues. “As a result, we were able to build some of those ideas into our drawings and our modeling to show we could supplement the work they were doing.”
Leshtz says that when working with clients juggling their kids, professional pursuits, and social lives for a project meant to last for years, it’s important to distinguish between what is trendy and what will be timeless. He also stresses that homeowners should not play things too safe with color, pattern and texture. In the case of this client, they kept the architecture fairly muted to match up with the style of the existing residence. However, bringing in other textures such as the flagstone and the woods brought a fresh perspective to the layout.
“One of the trends we are seeing across architecture and interior design is more tolerance for risk taking as not everything needs to be gray, neutral white, or eggshell,” he says. “Ultimately, people are going to live in these houses, and if one tries to neuter them, the structures will get very boring and lack personality. Flexibility is also part of the equation. They originally planned for the second building to be a two-story structure, but we convinced them to reduce it to one-story.”
When they first took on the project, Leshtz asked the Brolins to think about whether they could see themselves using the structure for a kid’s birthday party, a film screening, or a sporty afternoon in the space they were developing.
“A part of my role as architect is to challenge a client’s assumptions, differentiating what they say they want versus our understanding of what they actually need,” he says. “In this particular instance, the second story they thought they wanted wasn’t useful to them, and we helped realize this.”
Leshtz suggests homeowners, regardless of the size and scope of the project, should ask their architect about “how well they play with others” in terms of getting along with interior designers and contractors who may be involved. Harmonious communication and an openness to sharing ideas as Leshtz and Halprin did on the Brolin project makes managing it far easier.
“In an ideal situation, we are facilitators of the process in terms of making sure that all the pieces fit together,” he affirms. “Anybody looking to hire an architect should be sure they have an understanding of how the many pieces of the puzzle fit into the larger whole with the other players (as the Brolins) did.”
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Architect: AAHA Studio
Builder: M Construction
Interior Design: Pierce & Ward
Photographer: Michael Clifford, michaelcliffordphoto@gmail.com, 310-739-4720, IG: @michaelcliffordphotography
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