CONTINUING THE LEGACY

WITH HELP FROM A LOCAL INTERIOR DESIGNER AND ARCHITECT, A HOMEOWNER PAYS HOMAGE TO A FAMILY HOME IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA AND BUILDS ANEW ON THE SAME LOT WITH AMPLE ROOM FOR THE NEXT CHAPTER.

-  JENNIE NUNN

For a Corona del Mar couple, the decision to rebuild on a very specific lot came down to two key factors: nostalgia and family history. “It’s a really sweet story,” says interior designer Denise Morrison, principal of Morrison Interiors in Orange County. She worked alongside architect Christopher Brandon, president and principal architect of Brandon Architects in Costa Mesa, enlisted by the couple to bring the approximately 4,200-square-foot residence to life. “One of the homeowners’ parents lived in the home [built in the 1960s], and it was very loved by our clients and our clients’ children, who grew up visiting their grandparents at the home.”

The couple, who envisioned a light and open house with a cohesive indoor-outdoor flow that captured both bay and ocean views, also wanted to create a destination for family gatherings and a space for new memories. “The home held many pleasant memories for us, and we felt this was a way of honoring those memories,” says the wife. “We wanted it to be comfortable for the two of us while still accommodating a larger group of family and friends. It was also important for the spaces to incorporate existing items, especially art, and integrate them with new furniture and decorative pieces.”