Welcome Addition

Reflections of the sea reign in this Newport Beach home artfully refreshed by Gil Schafer and the late Suzanne Rheinstein for convivial, crowd-friendly guesting.

It's not often that an architect and a decorator are given the opportunity to design for sheer pleasure, when the function of the form is fun. But that was the case for interior designer Suzanne Rheinstein and architect Gil Schafer with this Newport Beach, California, project.

As so frequently happened with the acclaimed Los Angeles designer, who passed away earlier this year, the owners were longtime clients. The couple loved the house Rheinstein had designed for them years before but were beginning to feel the need for more space, to accommodate overnight visits from their grown children and grandchildren and the many friends they entertained. They were already looking at larger houses when the property next door became available, opening up a raft of possibilities.

They again reached out to Rheinstein, and together they approached Schafer, whom the designer knew socially, though they had never collaborated professionally. Their ultimate decision was to revamp the existing house and conjure a new structure right next door devoted to entertaining and guests. This pleasure dome might not be on the scale of Kublai Khan's, but it was meant to be just as cosseting and comforting.