Along the coveted Malibu coastline are some of the country’s most glamorous homes, with walls of glass and swimming pools overlooking the Pacific Ocean.
New mansions like this nearly 14,000-square-foot modern home are rare, however, because so many homes have already been built along the sand in Malibu, and because of Los Angeles County building restrictions.
Venture a little north into Ventura County, however, and you’ll find a new, resort-style development called MariSol Malibu with 17 mansions on 80 private acres - some with basements and underground garages that are rare features in Malibu.
“When you’re able to build this size, your volume, your scale, your light comes in a completely different way,” said Rodrigo Iglesias, who is co-listing the home with Helena Deeds, both of Hilton & Hyland.
This mansion is the MariSol Modern, featuring 7 bedrooms, 11 baths and an elevator-accessed master suite that measures 2,500 square feet including two decks - one for sunning and one for massage - plus a gym and an office. The home also boasts a theater with a 150-inch screen, a great room, a billiard room, and two garages, one with a studio above it. At $27.9 million, the home comes fully furnished.
Outside are a 4,000-square-foot, a man-made beach and a 67-foot infinity edge pool flanked by two bungalows with a fireplace, heaters and a grill.
For artist Natalie Bessel, creating new work requires commitment and putting in the time. Her dedicated studio space nestled in a cascading garden gives her just the setting she needs to get comfortable and be inspired. Here, she chats with Zillow about her studio, featured in our video series “Sanctuary.”
Q: How would you describe your sanctuary?
A: A space that is full of light, graciously housing items I have collected over the years. Items that help bring into focus the chaotic buzz of inspiration that is this world.
Q: Where is it located?
A: It is located near “too good to be true” San Diego, CA, in a town 10 minutes away from La Jolla, the beautiful beach town where I was lucky enough to grow up. Heading a bit inland allows for more affordable space and an amazing canyon view.
Q: What do you like best about the physical space?
A: All the plants, of course! The space is designed to make you feel like you’re in a slice of nature, because you kind of are. You immediately forget that you are in a suburb surrounded by ’70s tract homes. Because we’re on a canyon, we get to meet a lot of wildlife (for Southern California, that is): coyotes, hawks, rattlesnakes, and deer (once).
Q: What is your home like? And would you say your sanctuary is an extension or departure from your home?
A: Our home was built in 1968, and the original owners added an extension to the back of the house. This room with 14-foot-tall ceilings has an amazing window wall looking out into the backyard, which is now a rich cascading garden.
The sanctuary is more of an extension of the garden than the house itself. It is resting on the very edge of the property, overlooking Tecolote Canyon.
Q: Did you have your sanctuary in mind when you chose your home?
A: Yes, I moved into the house after the studio was already in the works.
Q: Do you own or rent your home/sanctuary?
A: We rent and have a very good relationship with the owners, which I think is very important. There’s an open, honest relationship that allows for growth. A few of our friends have even lived in this house before, and we hear stories of their contributions along the way. In our case, it’s the studio.
Q: What made you say "I'm doing it – I'm creating a sanctuary?"
A: I was thinking about renting a studio. I felt a strong need to have a space specifically for art, and the idea of building one on the property came up. My father has some experience in architecture, and my boyfriend John was willing to help out. It made perfect sense.
Q: Who built the studio, and how did they do it?
A: My father and John did most of the work, but I helped when I could. It was built using mostly reclaimed materials. There was a preexisting wall of antique windows, a sculptural piece left by the homeowners, and we decided to work from that.
The studio itself is held together by steel studs. Pallets act as the foundation for the floor, and found fence pieces lie on top of that. We used reclaimed wood, windows, and doors. We had to buy things like drywall, corrugated plastic and metal, which we used for the walls and roof.
Q: What was the biggest challenge in creating your sanctuary?
A: Like most people, I find time is one of the most challenging things to get my hands on. We didn’t hire anyone to build the studio, and I couldn’t do it by myself. So I patiently waited for it to come to completion, and it felt like it took forever.
That feeling is long gone, however, and I understand now that the studio needed to take as long as it did for all the right things to fall into place.
Q: Has your sanctuary always looked the same, or has it changed over time?
A: It has mostly stayed the same. The objects accumulate and paintings cycle in and out, but it’s a small space, and the initial design is working really well.
Q: How much time do you typically spend in your sanctuary?
A: It depends what I’m working on. I skip a day here or there, but I usually spend at least an hour every day, and I have spent up to 10 hours in one day in my studio.
Q: You clearly have a passion that you pursue in your sanctuary. How did you get into art in the first place?
A: For as long as I remember, I’ve been making art. I have many memories: going to museum classes, coloring in my grandma’s studio, obsessing over school art projects. I’ve always loved to create. It helps me feel connected to the world.
Q: Does your hobby influence what you do professionally, or vice versa?
A: I’m one of those lucky artists that gets paid for their work.
Q: How does it make you feel to be able to have a space devoted to your passion?
A: It feels like part of the art itself. It helps complete the picture of what I’m doing and why I’m doing it.
Q: Do you share your sanctuary with anyone? What about your home?
A: I have the studio all to myself, except for any little critters that decide to live in it. I share my home with my boyfriend, and two roommates, Sam and Nick. Sam is a potter and has his wheel set up in our garage. Maybe he can build a studio next.
Q: If you had to sum it up in one word, what does your sanctuary draw out of you as a person?
A: Energy.
Q: Is this your forever sanctuary or would you build another?
A: Nothing is permanent. Circumstances change, and I don’t know what will be next, but it’s all very exciting.
Q: If you had a do-over, would you change anything about your sanctuary?
A: No, not really.
Q: Do you wish you had found your sanctuary sooner?
A: It came to me at the right time.
Q: What advice would you share with those who dream of having a sanctuary someday?
A: Valuing your space and time is one of the best ways to invest in yourself, and by investing in yourself, you’re helping the world vibrate with creativity.
Nothing says "I love you" like a multigenerational home. Whether it eases the burden of impromptu visits, provides guaranteed access to an additional caretaker, or offers savings for out-of-town visitors, these homes ensure that your mothers, grandmothers and mothers-in-laws will always feel welcome and comfortable.
Additional spaces like mother-in-law suites and guest houses allow your loved ones to reside nearby in style. These homes for sale offer plenty of space for a visit or a long-term residence.
This home features stunning 180-degree mountain and water views in a park-like setting. The mother-in-law apartment includes a charming kitchen with room for dining, and can serve as an additional rental option when family isn’t visiting.
A separate elevator entrance for the additional one-bedroom unit within this sprawling French chateau in the hills of Encino will ensure that Mom enjoys luxurious accommodations. With a total of eight fireplaces, a pub room, and a library, this home ensures any visitor will be thrilled to occupy its additional living quarters.
Being able to come and go without disturbing your hosts is one of the perks of this attractive multi-level home. A complete fully finished lower level includes a living room, full kitchen and bedroom with an attached bathroom.
With an additional suite that includes a balcony, kitchenette, full bathroom and a walk-in closet, this home is a great place to house the entire family without compromising anyone's need for privacy.
An above-garage suite featuring a full bathroom, laundry and a separate staircase provides a perfect dwelling for an additional family member that wants to remain close to home without having to leave their privacy at the door.
Mom can enjoy a separate cedar wood guest house, offering a covered porch and plenty of natural light. All while being close enough to visit without fear of overstaying her welcome.
In addition to a stunning rooftop view, arched ceilings and plentiful skylights, this home’s spacious den with a separate bathroom is the perfect hideaway for guests and grandmas alike. The penthouse duplex is an ideal multi-generational dwelling, where all members of the family can enjoy the built-in bookshelves and fireplace.
The only thing better than one elegant white Spanish-style home complete with tropical backyard? Two of them! This classic single-story residence boasts a separate guest home that includes one bedroom and a living room.
The guest suite in this Tudor-style home boasts direct access to a stunning terrace with multiple entry points. The terrace level includes a full kitchen with a bar and a recreation room as well as laundry facilities. Your mom will feel like a queen as she enjoys the enclosed outdoor space complete with barbecue grill and stone finishes.
A 6-bedroom, 1-bath piece of American history can be yours for $1.6 million. The home at 28 College St. in Brunswick, ME is where Harriet Beecher Stowe - whom Abraham Lincoln purportedly called "the little woman who wrote the book that started this great war" - wrote Uncle Tom's Cabin.
The 236-year-old home sits on .48 acres right across the street from picturesque Bowdoin College. All the original windows, pine wood floors, staircase banisters and even the doorknobs have been maintained and preserved, though modern features such as indoor plumbing and electricity have been added.
The space is bright and airy, with several windows throughout the home letting in natural light. The home is grand and stately on the outside, with nine windows in the front adorned with blue shutters, but on the inside reveals a surprising coziness for a home that is over 3,500 square feet.
Harriet Beecher Stowe rented a room in the colonial home (which was then used as a boarding house) to serve as a writing retreat that was quiet and separated from her six children at home. James Lay, whose family has owned the home for four generations, says that when his great grandfather, James W. Coffin, was young, he worked in the home sweeping floors while Beecher Stowe was renting the room and writing her anti-slavery masterpiece, Uncle Tom's Cabin, which many consider to have sparked the Civil War.
After the book was published, Coffin was sent off to fight for the Union Army. He bought the home just three short years before he died in 1905.
"It's as if he knew the historical significance even back then," Lay says.
In addition to the registration on the National Register of Historic Places, Beecher Stowe's mark on the home is evident in a window etching where she allegedly inscribed "Angel's Home," a reference to the lyrics Tom sang in her prolific novel.
A rich history
The family that resided in the home was just as interesting and unique as the history of the home. Lay's family, the Coffins and the Pennells, were some of the first settlers in America. Shortly after the Pennells arrived in America, they started one of the most successful shipbuilding companies in the country. The neighborhood where the shipyard was located is referred to as "Pennellville." Not to be outdone, on the Coffin side of the family was Pulitzer Prize-winning poet, Robert Peter Tristram Coffin.
According to Lay, the home has had many famous visitors, including Norman Rockwell, Eleanor Roosevelt, Secretary of State William Cohen, and Pulitzer Prize-winning writers Robert Frost, Carl Sandburg, Esther Forbes and James Michener, all of whom were friends of the homeowners or fascinated by the family's history.
Family ties
Lay has idyllic memories of spending summers visiting from California.
"You couldn't have a better location for the home,” he says. “We would spend our summers at Sebago Lake and Moosehead Lake, and did a lot of hiking. Brunswick is one of the most Norman Rockwell types of towns in the country."
After four generations of family living and spending summers in the home, Lay and his mother, Arline Pennell Lay, are ready to sell, with the hopes that someone will cherish it as much as their family has.
"We've had the home for 111 years. Everything is original down to the doorknobs," Lay says. "Our ideal buyer is someone who would appreciate the history and make sure it goes on into the future."
