MONTECITO MODERN MASTERPIECE

Set against the shimmering Pacific in Montecito, California, this beach house doesn’t simply face the ocean—it embraces it. Perched on a secluded cove, it spreads gracefully toward the horizon, soaking up every golden ray and salt-kissed breeze. What began as a weatherworn 1960s structure has been reborn as a modern coastal retreat—an architectural love letter to California’s effortless blend of indoor and outdoor living.

The homeowners, a creative-minded couple with college-age children, enlisted architect Mark Shields, senior design director and principal of DesignARC in Santa Barbara, to reimagine their getaway. The directive was refreshingly simple, Shields recalls with a grin: “Make it cool.” He did far more than that. Shields transformed the home into a luminous, seabathed sanctuary where the architecture all but disappears into the view. “We wanted the ocean—not the house—to be the star,” he says.

Where Architecture Meets the Horizon

The new design blurs the boundary between built form and the natural world. Crafted from wood, concrete, and stainless steel, and wrapped in American ash siding beneath a Kynar aluminum roof glinting with solar panels, the home “presents the ocean to all who enter,” Shields explains. From nearly every vantage point, the Pacific unfurls like an ever-changing mural.

Achieving such harmony, however, was no small feat. The lot’s steep incline and stringent coastal commission regulations turned the renovation into an eight-year architectural marathon. But rather than constrain the vision, the rules inspired innovation. Shields conceived a rectangular wraparound cowl—a sculptural gesture that extends the home by 1,200 square feet and defines its bold new silhouette.

Built From the Sky Down

Construction began not from the ground, but the heavens. A cantilevered bridge, sturdy as a highway overpass, was built first to allow equipment to reach the site. Beneath it, workers drilled 40 feet into the earth, replacing creosote pilings with sleek concrete caissons that anchor the home to the landscape—an engineering feat as ambitious as the design itself. Inside, the house unfolds over three light-filled levels.

The main entrance, discreet by intent, opens to a soaring great room where glass walls frame endless sea views. A floating staircase, sculptural in form and fluid in movement, rises through the space like a ribbon of light. The first floor hosts a cozy bedroom and a playful bunk room for guests; the second, a serene primary suite flanked by two additional bedrooms. The top floor— the home’s quiet workhorse—conceals mechanical systems and a trio of garages.

A Nautical Soul, Reimagined

Every gesture within the house nods subtly to the sea. The stainless steel and wood bowsprit projecting from the second floor recalls the prow of a Santa Barbara swordfishing boat. “It’s a perch to look up and down the coast,” Shields says—a poetic bridge between house and horizon. Throughout, pocket doors and folding glass walls dissolve the line between inside and out.

In the kitchen, bifolding doors open to the ocean air; in the primary suite, an entire wall of glass slides away to reveal a private terrace furnished with twin chaises, poised above the tide. “When the water comes under the deck,” Shields says, “you feel as though you’re living on the ocean.”

Material Poetry

The interiors are a study in quiet sophistication: polished concrete floors, Douglas fir white nickel-gap walls, and a stainless-steel spa that gleams like the deck of a yacht. The palette is restrained—soft grays, sun-bleached woods, ocean blues—allowing texture and light to do the talking. In the great room, a Rumford fireplace anchors the space, surrounded by a sculptural gray-blue sectional that invites lazy afternoons by the fire.

The kitchen—the heart of the home—features white oak cabinetry, a marble-topped island the size of a small sailboat, and an adjoining dining table that comfortably seats twelve. The primary suite is an oasis of calm, with walls of glass, an open-beamed ceiling, and bedding layered in soft coastal hues. “It feels open and relaxed,” Shields says. “It’s a home that lets you breathe.”

A Dream, Realized

After years of construction and anticipation, the owners’ vision has come fully to life. They loved it so much, in fact, that they sold their Northern California residence to make this oceanfront sanctuary their permanent home. “It’s an incredible space,” says Shields. “Everywhere you look, the architecture celebrates the ocean. It’s about openness, light, and the kind of living that only happens at the water’s edge.” Here, in this glass-and-ash temple to the sea, every sunrise is a new beginning—and every wave a quiet reminder of the long, patient rhythm of coastal life.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, VISIT designarc.net

It’s an incredible space. Every where you look, the architecture celebrates the ocean. It ’s about openness, light, and the kind of living that only happens at the water’s edge. Mark Shields, Senior Design Director and Principal of Designarc