The Foxhole

The Foxhole.

Our client came to us with a vision of hosting guests in the backyard garden of their newly purchased Malibu residence. Drinks, music, ambience, and an elegant place to crash for the night – those were her requests. With not much time to spend on design and meetings, she granted us full creative range for her Airstream. And we happily obliged.

Understanding that we were not going to be able to get a lot of face time with our client, we hit the ground running developing her vision. Knowing a client’s dislikes is just as important, if not more important, as learning what they gravitate towards. She painted a picture of enjoying cocktails with friends, basking in the California sun, and having the Airstream shine as the focal point in her backyard garden.

Keeping it simple with just a bit of (WHEELY) quirk was our goal. To achieve this we focused on a clean white canvas: glossy white aluminum walls, crisp hand-beaded cabinets, light grey custom countertops. For the quirky bit we leveraged the only space that would be closed off, the powder room. Having the ability to close the door gave us the opportunity to surprise guests. We added texture through penny tile and made it pop with black grout. We even leaned into the namesake, The Foxhole, and paid attribute to this space through a gorgeous wallpaper. Shades of blue brought to life a landscape of floral and fauna highlighting, you guessed it, a fox. It was a sly way to bring character and color to this minimalist guesthouse.

A slated wood paneled backsplash, finished in a light golden stain, was flanked by a smart LED lighting system allowing our client to change the color, along with her mood, at the touch of a button. The SONOS sound system sat below in a bespoke media cabinet.

Through thoughtful design choices we were able to create an oasis of space and warmth. The open vending window creates an illusion of openness and elongates the central gathering area. And just like that her vision was brought to life.