From the street, the home keeps a low profile by design. Like others along this stretch of the Corona del Mar coastline, it appears largely single story, a deliberate choice meant to protect ocean views throughout the neighborhood. The facade is composed and understated, offering little indication of what lies beyond the front door. Inside, however, the house opens into a layered and expressive environment shaped by light, material and scale.
Originally built in 2015, the approximately 9,000-square-foot residence had a strong presence, with interiors that had yet to fully reflect the homeowners’ desired way of living. When the property changed hands, the goal was not a surface update or cosmetic refresh, but a complete interior shift toward something warmer, more grounded and more personal.
To bring that vision to life, the homeowners partnered with Morrison Interiors, led by principal designer Rachel Morrison of Morrison Interiors, and George Deverian, president of Geo Builders. Rather than chasing trends or making dramatic overstatements, the team focused on reshaping the home through material, proportion and flow, allowing the architecture to feel intentional without drawing attention to itself.
“The vision was to elevate everything—refining the home’s existing bones while introducing warmth, contrast and a sense of quiet glamour,” Morrison explains. “The house had great scale and light, but it felt flat and overly glossy. Our goal was to bring in richer materials, sculptural moments and a layered palette that felt intentional, timeless and reflective of the homeowners’ personalities.”
That approach guided the project from the ceiling down, shaping a full interior transformation that was completed in just eight months.
“One of the main challenges was transforming a home that felt like a blank slate into something layered and expressive without fighting the existing architecture,” Morrison says. “Thoughtful lighting, material contrast and reworking proportions—especially overhead—helped us achieve that.”
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The First Step Inside
There is a moment of pause as the door opens, a sense of scale that registers before the details emerge. Ceilings rise, sightlines stretch and materials begin to reveal themselves slowly rather than all at once. The effect is intentional, designed to garner attention.
“We wanted an immediate sense of drama balanced by warmth,” Morrison points out. “There’s a strong visual moment right when you enter, but it’s not cold or precious. It feels welcoming, grounded and expressive, with a clear point of view.”
That balance defines the home throughout. With four bedrooms, five bathrooms, a gym, theater, tequila room, two family rooms, dining room, office, elevator, dual laundry rooms, a central kitchen and a fully equipped butler’s kitchen, the space feels considered rather than overwhelming. This sense of clarity was achieved not by closing rooms off, but by reimagining them. Steel-framed doors, changes in ceiling treatment, shifts in lighting and carefully placed furnishings create subtle thresholds.
“The spaces are very large yet cozy and welcoming,” Deverian notes. “The ceilings are high, the halls are wide, the spaces are well defined and accented, giving a clear separation of rooms, while still being an open floor plan.”
Letting Materials Carry the Story
Rather than relying on pattern or ornament, Morrison allowed materials to do the heavy lifting. The palette remains restrained, but never flat, anchored by texture and tonal variation.
“We focused on a neutral foundation enriched with texture rather than pattern,” she says. “Warm woods, terracotta tones, deep blues and subtle greens create depth, while earthy finishes keep the palette grounded. Instead of relying on bold prints, we let materials—stone, plaster, wood and metal—do the work.”
Stone becomes a recurring presence throughout the home, grounding it both visually and physically. Fireplaces are wrapped in custom-cut slabs, while bathrooms feature stone showers detailed with trim pieces fabricated to specification.
“Stone was used as both a functional and expressive element,” Morrison illustrates. “We mixed honed and textured finishes and varied scale to avoid repetition. The key was balance, pairing more dramatic stone moments with quieter surfaces so nothing felt overwhelming.”
As Deverian explains, “These unique custom features required constant communication between the builder and design team to ensure the vision that birthed the plans was fulfilled.”
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Looking Up
Some of the most meaningful changes in the house are the ones least likely to be noticed at first glance. The ceilings, once overlooked, have become a canvas for refinement.
“The ceiling work is a subtle but important detail,” Morrison notes. “We were very intentional in cleaning up planes, introducing white oak paneling in select areas and reworking soffits. This made a significant impact on how the spaces feel. These changes aren’t always immediately noticed, but they dramatically improved the architecture.”
Rift-cut oak panels add warmth overhead, while reshaped soffits help define proportion and create a clearer sense of flow from room to room. The transitions feel deliberate, with minor changes that better balance the house’s scale. Lighting reinforces that sense of cohesion, with fixtures that vary across the space, but, at the same time, share a common language.
Spaces for Everyday Life
Despite its refinement, the home remains grounded, with kitchens designed for function as much as for form, and gathering spaces that invite use. The tequila room and theater follow that same approach, integrated into the home and part of its natural rhythm. Custom cabinetry, shelving and lighting appear throughout, tailored to the homeowners’ habits rather than pure aesthetics.
That sense of livability is reinforced through the level of customization woven throughout the interiors. As Deverian notes, “So much of the construction design elements are all custom-built, from the rift cut oak on the ceilings, bathroom vanities, kitchen, custom primary closet room, detailed oak wall decor outlining certain areas, custom-made electrical fixtures and lighting.”
These choices were not just about looks, but also about how the home would be used on a day-to-day basis.
“These custom moments allowed us to tailor the home precisely to the way the family lives while maintaining a cohesive aesthetic,” Morrison adds.
The primary suite offers privacy and calm, with a custom closet and bath that echoes the home’s broader material approach. It stands apart without breaking from the rest of the house, an idea Morrison explains when she notes, “Continuity came from a consistent material language and palette, while each space was allowed its own moment through scale, lighting or a focal material.”
In its restraint, material depth and quiet confidence, the home feels ICONIC in the truest sense of the word.
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