When Gina and Dan Coury came across their house in California Newport Beach for the first time, it wasn't exactly the dream they had in mind. “At that time we just came from Covid and there were not many houses on the market,” says Gina. This was better than most others: it was closed, near shops and restaurants and spacious enough to keep the couple's outskinds of the toddler's Twin Boys. “It felt like a hidden escape in the heart of the city,” says Gina – but an escape with an inevitable layout. “It was not open like the newer houses they see today,” she said. “But we thought that with some TLC and an artistic eye it could be something we could enjoy and love.” Little was neither a husband nor the wife, whose eye would be artistic enough-to the AD Pro-Directory designer Huma Sulaiman from her in namesake in La, who would be happy to award both.
The French contemporary bones of the house were something special – but something was also missing. “While Gina and Dan loved the French influences, they really wanted to emphasize the contemporary aspect – to really bring the house to the present,” says Sulaiman, who started to create a warm and inviting oasis – how the family could scurry, start their boots and start for a while. And then easily apply and entertaining when the mood hit. She didn't design the house in one breath. Instead, she created it in layers, named wide oak boards and checked marble for the soils, elegant parts of the form for the living area and a deep, dramatic tone for the cellar cave. In the living room she did exactly the opposite – the palette moved back to a minimum. “It has such a nice, earthy feeling. I sometimes drink my morning coffee there just because I like the way I feel,” reveals Gina. Of course, it could also have something to do with how cloudy it is, thanks to the cozy boulé, soft bed linen and dreamy, together, that run away almost every recognizable surface.