Archinect - Malibu Architecture + Design

Why it's so difficult to build in Malibu

2013-09-25T21:44:24-04:00

Here is a link to the Malibu Local Coastal Program Land Use Plan, adopted by the California Coastal Commission for the City of Malibu in 2002. It is a 128-page document that basically sets the ground rules for development in Malibu. The Malibu Local Implementation Plan (LIP) is the actual code that all architects, developers and builders in Malibu must follow in order to adhere to the development guidelines set forth in the LCP. The LIP is almost three times as long as the LUP: 338 pages.

But those are not the only two documents of codes and development guidelines that are needed in order to build or renovate a home in Malibu. As I explain in my book, “Building in the ‘Bu: Navigating the Malibu Zoning Code,” Malibu’s zoning codes evolved from several regulations. Malibu followed Los Angeles County zoning code rules until the Coastal Act was passed in 1977. The act was meant to protect natural resources in California’s coastal zone. All cities within the 81-square-mile coastal...

Mid-Century Modern Houses Features Famous Architects' Homes in Movies

2013-08-20T15:16:50-04:00

If you like mid-century modern homes and movies, then the short film, Mid-Century Modern House by James Munn, is for you. The 11-minute film includes clips of movies featuring famous modern homes by prominent architects, as well as fictional creations.

Modern homes by legendary architects such as Frank Lloyd Wright, John Lautner, and Richard Neutra were used in many films from the 1930s to present day. And striking "fake" homes created by well known art directors and production designers are seen in films such as "The Lake House" and "The Fountainhead."

Wright's huge textile-block Ennis House was used in many Hollywood films such as the 1933 movie "Female," and the 1959 Vincent Price "House on Haunted Hill," as well as John Schlesinger's "The Day of the Locust" (1975). Lautner's Sheets-Goldstein Residence in Los Angeles shows up in "Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle," and his modernist octagon-shaped house, Chemosphere, was featured in director Brian De Palma's "Body Double" (...

On Being a Malibu Architect: The Malibu Bay Co. & Measure M

2013-07-27T16:18:07-04:00

As I briefly explained in a prior post, just because the Malibu zoning code says that you may build something, does not mean that you can build it. This became evident in the fight over Measure M in 2002.
The Malibu Bay Co. was the largest landowner in the city. Most of its holdings predated the fight to become a city. Eventually, the company owners felt that the recently written zoning code was not being interpreted in a manner that gave them much certainty with regard to the development potential of their numerous commercial properties. They came up with a progressive idea to master plan all of their holdings, essentially ignoring the zoning code, and enter into a customized development agreement with the City of Malibu. The result was Measure M.
The benefit to the Bay Co. from Measure M was it would be guaranteed a 20-year approval period on numerous projects that circumvented many aspects of the zoning code. The benefit to the city was the total amount of square footage allo...

On Being a Malibu Architect: The Vibe and Mini-Estates in Malibu (Part 2)

2013-06-25T16:25:27-04:00

In the previous post on this series, I gave a short explanation of the civic dynamics of Malibu. Over the next couple of posts I will give examples of how this dynamic has played out in the main controversies during the past 20 odd years.

The Reopening of the Point Dume Elementary School

In 1996, due to the increase in the child population of Malibu, the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District decided to reopen the elementary school located in the geographically defined neighborhood of Point Dume.

Most families on the Point logically assumed their children would attend the new facility and could safely walk or ride their bikes to school.

By contrast, a progressive position developed outside the Point Dume neighborhood that saw the school as an opportunity to create a new type of program: a “thematic based” curriculum that focused on marine sciences as the direction for the reopened school. This program would not be a neighborhood school. Rather, all children within ...

On Being a Malibu Architect: The Vibe (Part 1)

2013-05-24T19:03:45-04:00

This is the first in a series devoted to the life and work as an architect in Malibu. The distinct geography and topography of Malibu, in addition to the customary governmental regulations, affect how an architect will tackle design challenges when building in Malibu. In addition, its unique citizenry that fight to keep the Malibu Way of Life intact, sometimes with opposing views on development, also impact how we build here. With this series, I will address these topics and explain the nuances involved when constructing a new home or commercial property, as well as remodeling, in Malibu.

As a small bit of trivia, we moved to our first home in Malibu on the weekend of the O.J. Simpson murders, which occurred mere blocks from our house in Brentwood. So that is our marker. We left the crazy, crowded, fast lane of West Los Angeles for the open spaces and laid-back existence of Malibu on what was arguably one of the top five craziest weekends on the Westside. Other than the oc...