Inside a Newport Coast Showpiece Designed Like a Private Coastal Resort

Welcome back to The Luxury Home Show. I'm your host Ariana and today we are exploring the one and only Sur House designed by JH2 Architects here in the coveted Crystal Cove of Newport Coast. Unlike many homes that have a swimming pool in the backyard, the swimming pool sort of is the backyard. It's throughout the entire yard experience. The curvature of this staircase is such sophisticated yet subtle design. What starts as architecture ends in light. I can imagine standing here and cooking dinner and just enjoying this view. The fact that you can see the landscaping, the daylight and that pool wrap around just surrounding you with the beautiful nature of Newport Coast. Upon arrival the design of this home is incredibly grand. It is inspired by Mediterranean timeless architecture but through modern interpretation and specifically JH2's architectural philosophy centers around material honesty, honoring the land that it sits on and sort of blurring the lines between architecture, landscape and light. Now imagine that you're just arriving to this beautiful property. You have this long extended driveway. Underneath me is natural stone pavers. It just brings that natural material right into the experience as soon as you arrive. Beyond the driveway sits a pathway directly to the incredible resort-like backyard which we're going to get to in just a few minutes. A three-car garage welcoming plenty of guests that you're entertaining, having over for a dinner party. But we're going to get back there after a few minutes. I'm really excited to take you in through this incredible entrance. My name is Jun Hur. I'm from JH2 Architects. Project is located Crystal Cove community in Newport Beach, California. The project started in 2016 and this particular project is located Crystal Cove which is one of the signature communities in Orange County, California. We have all the design guidelines we have to follow. We picked the Mediterranean architecture style. It's classic but we have to tweak with the modern lifestyle. So that was challenging to combine. I believe as an architect the simple is the best but to make it simple is really challenging. It's a simple form is a result of a complex and intricate like a software process. That's we actually really achieved that aspect with this house project. The scale of the home is immediately set by how they utilize this front space. You have mature greenery sort of framing the front of the home, beautiful palm trees. It feels like the absolute epicenter of Southern California. And the arrival sequence is second to none. First we'll pass through this beautiful detailed but restrained archway and you enter into the outdoors. The arrival sequence was inspired by Mediterranean courtyards and it kind of helps you just gradually enter the home to where you have a layered experience and you feel that you're leaving the city and all of your worries and thoughts at the street. As you enter here you feel immediately relaxed. The courtyard is absolutely magical. This is a place where you could sit and have some conversations, have your cup of coffee in the morning. It feels incredibly private and it's shaded from that direct sun so that it can feel very relaxing. Here you have seating areas that is right next to this beautiful water feature. To have that auditory experience it feels very much like a spa or even that you're in the tropics. Bamboo is another sustainability choice that June chose. She was sharing with me that bamboo is not only incredibly durable under the heat but it also sort of just bounces the heat away keeping that cool temperature down here even on the warm sunny days. To my left here is the guest house. This is its own little casita that has its own private entrance from the street. Beautiful steel and glass wall doors here so that you can enter straight out to the courtyard and have that really private experience upon waking. Inside the casita you also have a kitchenette, bathroom, upstairs is an office. It's its own home and experience all in and of itself. Just above me you have your first two moments of the precast custom balusters. This was a really beautiful design choice by June to where she wanted it to be enough dimension to where it's not the same off-white color as the rest of the house. It has just enough of a contrast with that deeper beige. You also have the inspiration from Venice to where there's the custom detailing but also the wrought iron bars. Those were all custom designed. She was sharing with me that she drew those out by hand on paper. They came straight from her architectural imagination and wow did it pay off. A really lovely and unique design element of this courtyard is that it can be experienced by the house and surround. So to the left is that casita but right behind me is that formal living room, main entrance, and the guest suite which we're going to get to in a few minutes. But first let's check out this main entrance door. This beautiful steel arch doorway is one of my favorite moments of arriving because it's very visually light. When you think of steel and especially black steel it can feel very visually heavy and instead you're immediately just swept up into the natural daylight of the entire home. Speaking of we enter the signature foyer that is a double high foyer beautiful statement art piece for our light fixture. Behind me is some of my favorite features of the home. We're going to come back to that because I want to emphasize the natural flow from that entrance all the way through the formal dining room and into the resort style backyard. This project is all about form part of function. So each forms created by the actual function not only aesthetic view. When we're actually coming the front gate which is the kind of indirect entry to feel the courtyard like a hotel vibe or like a resort. You just experience like this house like what kind of house is it and I know we have a arch mediterranean like architecture style the detailing with the precast trim with the wrought iron which is really classic architecture detailing. But it's a simple and really refined proportion for the more modern style of architecture. In Southern California architecture it's very popular to have an indoor outdoor environment but this really takes it to the next level blurring the boundary between the indoor and the outdoor. You have this beautiful wraparound pool that engages the architecture from multiple sides of the home and also I noticed how much sunlight is back here. Of course we want to feel that sunlight throughout the day and we want it to be even as possible. So this is a very south facing backyard so that you have that beautiful even sunlight all day long and also I must call out the landscaping. This beautiful mature landscaping that not only brings in greenery but specifically a tropical vibe. So it really underscores that resort like feel. This pool is so tranquil it has so many beautiful and thoughtful layers for gathering with your friends and family. You have individual spa zones you have shallow lounging areas so I could just imagine sitting on the edge of this pool and sort of kicking your feet and because it's an infinity pool this could even serve as a kind of bar area to set down your food and snacks. It's very very livable it's very connected and social and from this perspective look at how grand and expansive the home is. Something I appreciate so much about June's decision to layer this home is that it's easy for a home like this to have its massing be just one large box to maximize the lot size but instead this maximizes the lot size in a different way by layers by outdoor courtyards by patios and beautiful moments all throughout the front and the back of the home. And unlike many homes that have a swimming pool in the backyard the swimming pool sort of is the backyard it's throughout the entire yard experience. It wraps around so that the water can be experienced visually and spatially from all of the major rooms in the home including the kitchen the dining room and the lounging areas. I love how tucked away this second kitchen is outside this is your outdoor grill space so if you're hosting a large party this doesn't feel like it has to be the center of attention but it's this understated elegance to be able to grill outdoors in your southern California backyard. This outdoor kitchen is generously sized to be able to have multiple cooks in the kitchen as well as guests sitting with you while you're cooking. A beautiful viking outdoor grill outdoor sink and it's surrounded by greenery and luscious citrus trees. This is also connected to that front yard and the driveway that we saw earlier and of course once the food is ready then your guests are going to be eager to sit around the fire and enjoy each other's company and that delicious taste that you just grilled up. Behind me you have a beautiful seating area that is again just very generously sized. None of the spaces in this home or the yard feel too tight. It can be tempting to want to squeeze as much as you can into any given space but because this property is so generously sized it really lended itself to June's philosophy of keeping everything very proportional, very intentional. It's a human scale so that then as you move you never feel cramped or that you're getting lost in this space either. Throughout the pool there are multiple moments of these floating elements. For example underneath me is the floating pathway and bridges over the pool and also you have the lounge areas where you can lay, read a book, soak in the sunshine. Everything is beautifully articulated with lighting, water, and reflection to create that dimension. This house massing is intentionally elongated to follow the natural shape of the property and its coastal orientation. We created courtyard and center of the house in the front area and the backyard is anchored by the pool. The sequence of connected forms to allow the outdoor space and indoor space which create natural lighting for individual interior space and the air from ocean breeze so that creates the cross ventilation for each interior space. This outdoor dining room is the perfect example of how this home really excels in blurring that boundary between the interior and the exterior. It truly is like is this dining room indoors? Is it outdoors? It feels truly a bit of both. This detailing up on the corner is another homage to that Mediterranean architecture and art without feeling ornate or heavy on the eyes. Behind me are the floor to ceiling steel and glass doors that fully pocket away revealing this stunning interior. I cannot wait to show you all of the moments and rooms in this house. This kitchen is not only a heart of the home but also a heart of the design philosophy. It really honors the authentic material honesty of stones and woods and metals throughout. This large scale island is anchored by Calicut of gold marble detailing. It's a polished finish so it really reflects the light as that cascades in from that outdoors. The sink is custom carved directly into the marble creating a sculptural focal point and a seamless design. One of my very favorite things about the kitchen are these pendants. They're very gem-like just a really soft natural almost amber glass and it creates a sense of warmth and daylight even in the interior. And for my cooking lovers out there we have a Thermador cooktop with six stoves as well as a flat top but leading your eye up here is something really unique in the design. June decided to incorporate this antique mirror throughout the kitchen in order to reflect all of that beautiful outdoor light and greenery bringing it deep into the home. It's absolutely stunning. I can imagine standing here and cooking dinner and just enjoying this view. The fact that you can see the landscaping the daylight and that pool wrap around not once twice three times but four times just surrounding you with the beautiful nature of Newport Coast. To the side of the kitchen you have a lovely breakfast nook. Again it is generously proportioned to feel that you can effortlessly move around the table here. Behind me you have more of that antique mirror finishing bringing all of that beautiful outdoors into the indoors. Custom shelving beautiful cabinetry. I just have to mention the cabinetry in this home has such material honesty in it. It is hardwood this is actually a maple custom painted in a natural tone for that effortless relaxed living but you know that underneath every single design choice in this home is true authenticity. Rather than spending a lot of money and time for interior decoration we spend a lot of time for architecture shape and how interior and architecture engaging so go through back is the kitchen and family room opens up the whole pool area that's kind of wow effect for us that open indoor outdoor so we thought it's the best interior decoration is the nature is there so it's a picture frame so I think we think the best way to put together is like a gallery experience when you go to classic architecture museum like in Italy you have a cross bridge you have a gallery window you're looking outside you're looking at the art gallery and like it is to the nature it's a really interesting classic experience so we like to bring in this modern California coastal living lifestyle but the mixing with it is a classic kind of vibe so I thought it's really interesting and people really appreciated that like design aspect. To contrast all of this beautiful reflection that happens in the kitchen I love how the honed marble flooring that comes all the way into the living room has a very natural kind of soft and velvety feel this is the casual if you can call it casual in such a beautiful home living room to where you can sit with your friends maybe play some card games watch a movie really cuddle up but really check out the ceiling not only do you have this beautiful choice in lighting here this circular moment but also you have layered to these raised ceilings and we can start to see that as the sun sets at the end of the day it is immediately met and balanced with led lighting details throughout to create a very lifted and glowing feel so when we first entered the home I could not wait to get you right into the backyard but the architect actually shared with me that this home was designed for a very specific sequence upon entering the interior so I want to take you back to the foyer and let's experience it the way she designed it coming back to this entrance foyer this is the signature heart of the home as soon as you enter you immediately are established that this is both grand and welcoming at the same time it's warm it's elegant and it extends seamlessly in multiple directions just here off to the right is the formal living room immediately anchored by this absolutely breathtaking fireplace this is cladded with a unique Calacatta marble and you have this warm fireplace that you can turn on at any time reinforcing this room's role as an intimate place for gathering and connection now when you want to open up the energy of this room it seamlessly opens up to both the front courtyard as well as the back courtyard behind me you have steel bifold doors so that they just completely erase the boundary and this can immediately feel very open and connected to the rest of the home rather than having lots of big white open wall space where you could hang a piece of art the architect instead wanted to make the landscape the art you can see behind me that it's beautifully framed to have all of the greenery the plant life and the reflection of that swimming pool immediately bring just priceless art into every view of the home we design custom bifolding door and both sides so one open for the courtyard and the other open for pool so this architecture form is the anchor for both outdoor is to actually make it seamless into outdoor design space in the center of this foyer visual experience is the formal dining room this is another example of that seamless experience from the indoors to the outdoors you can open these steel bifold doors have this absolutely gorgeous picturesque view of the backyard you have the swimming pool landscaping greenery and daylight all cascading right through here and behind you now is one of my very favorite design pieces of the home welcome to this incredible staircase the curved feature introduces softness and movement into the home you'll also look closely and notice that the detailing on the railing echoes the wrought iron detailing out in the courtyard the curvature of this staircase is such sophisticated yet subtle design what starts as architecture ends in light this staircase not only just the circulation connector we thought it's something art piece like a floating feeling with the stone the thread so natural stone with the light setting so it's kind of piano look and we have like a really thinly fine like a wrought iron railing match it with outdoor wrought iron detailing so it's cohesive design from indoor outdoor my right here is this first powder room i love this effect this is a backlit stone so you can turn this on or off it's a really stunning effect as you can see especially coming to life at night it's both here on the vanity with the custom carved sink as well as back here we have a little ledge as well plenty of space to just have a moment here before you enter the rest of the house june shared with me that her vision for the house experience as you walk through it is to be gallery like it creates rhythm and movement as you flow through rather than walking into say one big open concept instead you have a very intentional very curated experience as you move from the foyer through this hallway and into the open living experience and before i take you upstairs to see most of the bedrooms the only bedroom that is on this floor is this guest bedroom if you were lucky enough to be a guest in this home something that i love so much is of course right here you have the floor to ceiling french open doors that open straight up to that gorgeous courtyard immediately in the center you can see that water feature the seating area the plant life and the blue skies at the top of the staircase is this beautiful open kind of common area all of the bedrooms are up here other than the guest bedroom so this is a fun space where people come together maybe watch a morning show or the news before entering their day i want to take you to the primary suite back this way this is absolutely unforgettable you'll sense this lightness as you enter this hallway because you have skylights directly above bringing in that natural daylight and below is a beautiful matte finish hardwood floor with natural oak now i can't wait to show you the bath closet combo but first let's check out this primary bedroom immediately you notice how much light is in here it's so open and airy truly designed to be a retreat back away from the streetscape intentionally located on the rear of the house up on the second floor so that it's very private feeling calm and peaceful of course when you wake up in this bed you can immediately look out and see this very layered view below is that pool then you have beautiful landscaping and up above the hills the tree lines and the beautiful blue skies this primary suite has a wraparound terrace that brings you immediately out into this outdoor space these are all bi-fold doors so that they can be completely tucked away removing that barrier from the exterior to the interior behind me you also have an outdoor fireplace a seating area you could come out and of course have your morning tea coffee and this is a great opportunity to see up close these beautiful custom banisters with that detailing that's inspired by the mediterranean as well as venice architecture and welcome to the primary closet this closet was designed clearly not as just a functional space but as a destination this is absolute quiet indulgence at its finest beautiful crystal chandelier cascades light all throughout here you have that beautiful marble that's polished as well to reflect the light and really create that kind of sparkle dance throughout the entire closet that's reinforced by the led strip lighting throughout so you can imagine filling this closet with all of your absolute favorite accessories clothes shoes helping it to really look its best and feel featured in every moment and now the moment we have all been waiting for the primary bathroom as soon as you enter the primary bathroom you'll see this absolutely stunning french style door that opens up toward the pool this is actually a fascinating design choice here this is a subtle nod to classical roman architecture because you have the soaking tub the doors that beautiful custom banister and then cascading down onto the yard bathroom was really conceived to be a sanctuary so you see everything from the absolute carrara marble wrap all around 360 of the bathroom custom cabinetry marble tops as well as the marble flooring behind me is now a very generously sized shower with a bench of course you have your towel warmer all of those little amenities that you would expect in a high-end spa are in this bathroom now that we've visited the primary suite let's look at the other bedrooms these are all really distinctly positioned to experience that indoor outdoor flow this is looking down onto that two story foyer before so you can see just the scale of the light fixture here i also love this trio of the arched windows so it really lets the light come in from both sides and just envelop the entire space in that natural light to the side here we have our first of many balconies upstairs to where you can look down onto that gorgeous courtyard you'll see this mature greenery that comes all the way up not only to the second story but also beyond you can see the roof line here that sun cascading over as well as all of the natural elements like that bamboo and stone and here we have our first bedroom upstairs in addition to the primary this would be a perfect bedroom for really anyone but i imagine it maybe for a little girl or for a teenager who could just enjoy kind of having their own private space but also access to the outdoors you'll notice that on both sides we have floor to ceiling windows this is its own little private patio that comes out to that front side of the courtyard and on this side it opens up to a private terrace overlooking the pool in the backyard tucking around here you have a full walk-in closet as well as a really beautiful bathroom this has both a shower and a bath combo so perfect for those who are looking for a bath in the bedroom entering the other hallway in the upstairs this is a beautiful and quite large size terrace out here so this could be easily accessed by anyone up on the upstairs to be able to come out enjoy some of this really soft indirect sunlight and also overlook that beautiful courtyard coming back inside conveniently located is a double washer double dryer room so this is tucked away where it's very functional a great utility space but the design elements absolutely carry through with the custom cabinetry the marble natural stone and beautiful light finishes now this bedroom is featured at the front of the house so it has a little bit more activity you can see out to the neighborhood to the beauty of crystal cove and the neighboring properties you have to see this front terrace now this is the front of the home so it's getting later in the afternoon we have this beautiful light that's coming right in through here just lighting up the front of the home this is such a large space where you can see all the way along newport coast the hillsides mediterranean homes as far as the eye can see you can wrap around here to have plenty of moments up on this terrace you could have a little breakfast area here where you maybe read the morning newspaper walk out here to take in just the neighborhood views maybe wave to a couple of neighbors hello and here is a private office suite so you can feel enough removed from the main house to be able to focus make some phone calls and do your work while still feeling that you are absolutely enveloped in this relaxing oasis the ensuite of this bedroom features a darker navy tone so you have that beautiful contrast between the light marble and the darker paint color behind here is a walk-in shower you have the penny tiling a hexagonal shape on the marble very elegant and very strong this is a perfect little casita sort of detached guest house that has its own private entrance and walkway from the street a private staircase and when you enter you just feel this gorgeous studio-like environment where you have plenty of space for your bed but also a sitting area these florida ceiling steel and glass windows really let in that gorgeous light a fun little lighting detail here is that because you have those archways on the exterior of the home as the light shines through it creates this arch also on that linen drapery in the window it's just absolutely breathtaking and one of those design elements that you just have to see to believe for a fully independent feel here in the guest house you have your own kitchenette cabinetry place for storage you also have a little fridge here and then draw your eye down to this beautiful herringbone oak floor it has sort of a unique feel to where it's separate from the main house and it feels that you get your own personalized experience over here here we have the guest suite bathroom you have beautiful hexagonal tile on the floor i love that they have that light reflecting right off of those tiny tiles to really bring that sense of reflection and sparkle to the rest of the house beautiful polished marble countertops cabinetry and a walk-in shower with a little window to make sure that you're bringing in some of that greenery and light from the courtyard plenty of storage space as well as a walk-in closet over here as well these are painted with a very warm tone to feel very inviting and welcoming for a guest suite the guest suite has almost a tropical retreat kind of feel even underscored by something like this lighting choice this feels like something that you would see on an island escape and it brings the entire design together to feel both at home but also like a total escape thanks luxury home show we hope that you enjoyed this private tour of the sur house in beautiful newport coast california i'm ariana and if you enjoyed this episode you're definitely gonna love the next one hey luxury home show i'm your host ariana and today we're coming to you from newport beach california this is 1524 dolphin terrace and it is the epitome of location location location we are moments away from balboa island fashion island corona del mar village we are here perched in the very coveted neighborhood of irvine terrace