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"Though Eric Hughes and Nathan Turner spent their boyhoods on Southern California sands, it took decades \u2014 and a nudge from Cupid \u2014 before they had a Malibu beach house of their own. Turner, who grew up in San Francisco&amp;#039;s East Bay and summered in Laguna Beach, opened an eponymous antiques store in West Hollywood a decade ago, which brought him design commissions from Amanda Peet and Marcia Cross. Hughes, an Orange County native, made a graceful transition from movie executive to Manhattan-based interior designer with high-profile commissions from Sarah Jessica Parker and Katie Couric. They crossed paths six years ago, when Mary McDonald, Turner&amp;#039;s best friend and his costar on Bravo&amp;#039;s Million Dollar Decorators, introduced them. It was not quite love at first sight. &amp;quot;I thought Eric was being mean to me,&amp;quot; Turner says, &amp;quot;until Mary explained that was just his New York cool.&amp;quot; As the relationship grew warmer, the bicoastal couple began dividing their time between Hughes&amp;#039;s Greenwich Village apartment, where he still maintains his design firm, and Turner&amp;#039;s 1960s white-box condo in Los Angeles. Hughes sold his &amp;quot;high maintenance&amp;quot; house in the Hamptons but missed the beach. He was in L.A. so often that he eventually leased an apartment in Malibu. The one-bedroom weekend pied-\u00E0-mer has genuine Hollywood bona fides. It&amp;#039;s on the bottom floor of a two-story clap- board bungalow that was built in 1929 by filmmaker Frank Borzage, a best-director winner at the first Academy Awards. Since then, however, the building had been divided into two units. Their apartment had undergone a patchwork of renovations that left the bedroom walls a m\u00E9lange of beadboard paneling. Instead of being horrified, Hughes and Turner found it charmingly authentic. Cream-color walls, white shag carpeting over uneven floors, and even the faint reminder of the prior tenant&amp;#039;s cats didn&amp;#039;t put them off. &amp;quot;All it needed was a couple of coats of Benjamin Moore&amp;#039;s Super White and some sea grass on the floor and we were ready to decorate,&amp;quot; Hughes recalls. Though they quickly accepted the place on its own terms, the two designers had to accommodate each other&amp;#039;s sensibilities. Hughes is known for a fresh take on East Coast style: spare white rooms with clean-lined furniture, contemporary art, and bursts of accent color. Turner likes to layer antiques, rustic vintage pieces, and patterned Anglo- Indian textiles for a California-bohemian look. &amp;quot;He&amp;#039;s Felix and I&amp;#039;m Oscar,&amp;quot; says Turner, referring to the neat-freak and clutter-happy characters in The Odd Couple. The Malibu apartment is their first venture as decorating partners, and their shared concept of an all-American surf shack helped establish a common aesthetic ground. Both designers agree that the enduring allure of a beach house is its simplicity. &amp;quot;It gives you permission to be completely casual,&amp;quot; says Hughes, who avoided fussiness with such dialed-down details as matchstick blinds and white IKEA curtains. While many contemporary beach houses are clad in sandy beiges, driftwood grays, and sea-glass blues, Hughes and Turner paid homage to Fourth of July weekends on the Atlantic shore. The patriotic palette of red, white, and blue is never kitschy when it&amp;#039;s at the beach, says Hughes. The informal entryway serves as a surfside version of a mudroom, with a long line of pegs to hold towels and spare swimsuits. Nearby, Hughes hung a Jolly Roger flag, which captures the boyish, clubhouse feel of their getaway. Outside, Turner parks the surfboard he used as a teen and still rides. Tight quarters and an agreed-upon decorative vocabulary of nautical motifs \u2014 maps, flags, ropes, and sea creatures \u2014 kept Turner&amp;#039;s hunter-gatherer impulses in check. Still, he brought in a 19th-century English writing table with a French oak chair, wedging them into a nook of the bedroom. Above it, Hughes added a framed 1980s Perry Ellis stars-and-stripes scarf his grandmother wore. &amp;quot;We wanted things that were personal,&amp;quot; says Turner. &amp;quot;And then we hit the flea markets. Hard.&amp;quot; A vintage library pushcart became a bedside bookshelf, and an assortment of stools found a new home at a table with a base made from rusty anchor chain. The table doubles as a buffet when the couple entertain. &amp;quot;Sunday lunch is the main event,&amp;quot; says Turner. The pair shop at the Malibu farmers&amp;#039; market, and Turner whips up huevos rancheros and other California classics. Guests are served alfresco at a plain table dressed up with vintage crockery. Nearby, Turner&amp;#039;s English Labradors, Nacho and Daisy, await a chance to clean up any post-party crumbs. &amp;quot;The beach is our first true love,&amp;quot; Hughes says. &amp;quot;Being California-born, we had a real sense of what beach living is all about \u2014 comfortable, easy, nothing overwrought.&amp;quot; They&amp;#039;ve nicknamed their place the Boat House. &amp;quot;The second I open the door and get that gust of sea breeze,&amp;quot; Turner says, &amp;quot;I&amp;#039;m completely relaxed, no matter what else is going on.&amp;quot; "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.elledecor.com/design-decorate/house-interiors/a5323/nathan-turner-and-eric-hughes-beach-apartment/>