Californian interior designer Vanessa Alexander designer her modern barn-style home, located at the foothills of the Santa Monica Mountains in Bonsall Canyon. Although the 1960s ranch-style home had good bones, it needed rehabilitation after several ‘not-so-thoughtful’ renovations over the years and damage from the Woolsey Fire that tore through Los Angeles in 2018.
Lifting design cues from Belgium’s Flemish Region, Vanessa Alexander has cultivated a deep sense of serenity in her home through art, original vintage furniture, and custom-designed pieces from her range, Alexander Design. It was the high ceilings and L-shaped floor plan that ‘hugs’ the garden that swayed Vanessa into purchasing this circa-1960s brick dwelling, although she says it certainly wasn’t short of a challenge. Engaging Kovac Design Studio to oversee the architecture, the design team eliminated the ranch-style aspect of the home by removing the bricks and cladding the A-frame home entirely in Shou Sugi Ban cladding.
Kovac Design Studio also enlarged all of the door openings to establish a tangible connection to the outdoors and added skylights throughout to maximize light flow. Creamy hand-plastered walls and ceilings by Kamp Studios form a quintessentially-Belgian interior canvas, punctuated by walnut ceiling beams and black steel frames. Tactile jute and sisal rugs, linen sheers, aged timber furniture, and plush velvets play to the homes’ overarching European design sensibility, contrasted with contemporary light fixtures in every room.
The kitchen is the beating heart of the home, positioned under a slotted skylight that echoes the beams of the floating staircase at the front of the home. Vanessa describes her signature style as an eclectic curation of opulent materials and luxurious textures against a monochrome backdrop. And while, as Vanessa puts it, Malibu can feel a bit ‘myopic’ at times, she has created a home that couldn’t feel more different.