Early Malibu Architecture

Refined architecture came early to Malibu due to the wealth and refined artistic sensibilities of the residents. It began with the Rindge family's own home, built in around 1893, a large Queen Anne with elements of the Colonial Revival style. As a harbinger of the fate of future Malibu homes, the Rindge's lost theirs to fire in 1903.

Two other Rindge family homes survive. One was the unfinished main house of May K. Rindge, sold in 1942 to the Franciscan Order (today's Serra Retreat House, rebuilt after a 1970 brush fire). The second is the Adamson House, built in 1929 by Rhoda Rindge Adamson on Vaquero Hill, next to Malibu Lagoon. Adamson House is today the Malibu Lagoon Museum.

In the Colony, the original "lease only" policy of May Rindge meant that not much effort was expended. The homes were basic beach cottages with few embelishments, all on standard 30 foot lots. It was "tres chic" to "rough it" in Malibu, then considered far out in the country. If a writer or actor was "called in from Malibu" for a script conference, they would stay overnight in LA.

By the late 1930s, land could be purchased in Malibu through the Rindge's Marblehead Land Co. Owners thought differently than renters and soon much larger and more elaborate homes were built in Malibu, while existing cottages were expanded and upgraded. During the 1940s, especially after the wartime shortages ended, and into the 1950s the confined spaces of the Colony were joined by the option of spacious acres on spectacular settings along the coast, inland, and on the mountain tops. High-art Modern and International style homes were mixed with Spanish hacienda ranch houses as the 1950s population boom expanded the housing stock. The 1954 Medford House (Kenneth Lind) showed how a Modern style beach house on a small lot can innovatively accomodate a family's mutifaceted needs.

Explosion of Style in Malibu

In the late 1960s something new entered the architectural mix, starting with John Lautner's towering curved concrete wave structure (the Stevens House), a house that "goes with the waves," according to Lautner. This trend-setting project, impossibly built on one of the 30 foot Colony lots, redefined what a Malibu home could mean. While general development in Malibu stayed with Modern, Spanish Revival, and other conventional designs, an architcural arms race ensued at the high end of the market, led by daring clients from the entertainment and business worlds. Architects and interior designers of international reputation were enlisted by Malibu's moneyed residents to produce a personalized spectacle by the sea. This trend did not start in the 1970s, nor has it yet ended, but the great acceleration followed Lautner's Stevens House.

The Coastal Acts of 1972 and 1976 created new constraints on design and siting in Malibu, as everywhere on the California coast, often introducing intolerable project delays. Projects such as Lautner's Beyer-Zell house on Lachusa Point (aka Victoria Point) took over 8 years to complete (1975-1983) due to problems with Coastal regulations.

Malibu's Artisan's Homes

In the early 1970s Malibu was still a place that attracted artists, designers, and creative souls of many talents. One expression of this was the self-construction of homes that reflected the design concepts of the individual artisan. Land prices in Malibu today preclude this type of owner, but in the 1940s - 1970s a "starving artist" could buy a plot in the mountains with a world class view and establish a retreat close to nature to inspire his art. While some were no more than "hippie shacks" others, such as the Gillbert residence in Decker Canyon started in 1970, have enduring value.

Significant Homes in Malibu

Malibu homes, generally considered architectually significant, and a few other structures are included on this list ordered by date of construction. Certainly others could be added and some of these may not be on everyone's list. Not all information is known about every project and dates are approximate. Please contact MalibuComplete.com if you have suggestions.

Sources and Recommended Books about Malibu's Development

This page was compiled from a number of sources. However, the outstanding reference work for this topic is:

• Malibu : A Century of Living by the Sea by Julius Shulman and Juergen Nogai with text by Richard Olsen, basically an architecture book but also far more. Its flawless photos of Malibu homes span the entire history from the Rindge Rancho to the 2000s with insightful commentary on the trends and architects who created the trends in each period. Many of the photos show more than the home, supplying a glimpse of life in Malibu at the time.

Return to Malibu History: 1970 to 1991 or up one level to Malibu Development & Diversification or up one more level to Malibu History or up to the MalibuComplete.com Home Page.