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" It may sit on one of the largest and most dramatic plots of oceanfront land in California, but the last thing the owners of this beach house desired was that it be majestic. &amp;quot;We wanted it to be beautiful and inviting but not opulent or ornate,&amp;quot; the husband says of the property on a bluff north of Malibu. &amp;quot;It&amp;#039;s hard to describe this house as low-key, but that&amp;#039;s truly what we wanted. And ultimately, that&amp;#039;s what we got.&amp;quot;  In fact, before the current residents and designer Michael S. Smith made their mark, the original was even larger and more imposing. A city ordinance mandated that the owners couldn&amp;#039;t tear it down and could only renovate. They were required to keep 51 percent of the walls and largely the same footprint, yet in the process, they made the edifice smaller by a few thousand square feet and were able to retain the pool, a rare find these days on the ocean side of the Pacific Coast Highway. (They have installed a sheep sculpture by the Lalannes on a grassy knoll nearby to reiterate the relaxed feel.)    That is only one of many narratives of the project, which started eight years ago when the owners decided to sell their weekend house in Montecito (which Smith also designed) and head to a beach closer to Los Angeles. He and the couple estimate they have done ten homes and offices in far-flung locales. Says the husband, &amp;quot;When we started off with Michael 16 years ago, we would ask, &amp;#039;Are you sure? Are you sure you&amp;#039;re not making it too grand?&amp;#039; Now we just have a completely simpatico relationship.&amp;quot;  Smith says of the Malibu residence, which was reworked with architect Oscar Shamamian, &amp;quot;A lot of people would have been put off, but they really understand what it takes in terms of time and energy and financial investment to do a project like this. It&amp;#039;s a massive, massive undertaking.&amp;quot;   The adventure began when Smith traveled with the couple to Italy to see the classical villas of Palladio, which remain landmarks in Venice and the Veneto and served as inspiration for the exterior. &amp;quot;The idea was to create this sense or feel of a loft, but done in a way that&amp;#039;s still incredibly warm and approachable,&amp;quot; Smith says.   Though the interior certainly has elements influenced by Greek and Roman art and architecture, not to mention marble floors imported from Florence, the design is much more of a melting pot. &amp;quot;The floors are simple, and the walls are monochromatic, but we have an eclectic mix of furnishings without any studied emphasis or period,&amp;quot; says the husband. Egyptian sphinxes watch over the tennis court. The living room contains imposing 18th-century Chinese bookcases. A portrait of Queen Elizabeth I stands austerely in the sunroom. There are small tables and lanterns from Marrakech; handmade glassware from Belgium; pieces the owners purchased at the Bill Blass auction in 2003; antique Turkish fabrics Smith bought for &amp;quot;not very much money&amp;quot; at a Paris flea market; even batik napkins from Pottery Barn.   &amp;quot;Everything has its own story and its own strength, but when you put them all together, the effect is quite soft,&amp;quot; Smith explains. &amp;quot;The place has a lot of very rare objects in it, but it also has a looseness.&amp;quot; Because some items are of great value and others are not, the designer terms it &amp;quot;the ultimate high-low house.&amp;quot;  Click here to see the gallery for &amp;quot;An Elegant Retreat in Malibu.&amp;quot;   &amp;quot;Almost all the furniture is antique, but for the most part they are not fine antiques,&amp;quot; adds the husband, who describes the couple&amp;#039;s house in Los Angeles proper as &amp;quot;a little more dress-up. At the beach you don&amp;#039;t want fine museum pieces.&amp;quot;  At the beach, however, especially with grounds like this, you do want to accent and utilize the landscape. Though the wife&amp;#039;s bathroom has a freestanding tub positioned to give it a stunning view of the ocean, perhaps the most unusual use of the sea and sky is in what is now the sunroom. It was originally a screening room, and the wife suggested they tear it down. &amp;quot;I said, &amp;#039;Let&amp;#039;s just make it part of the outdoors instead,&amp;#039;&amp;quot; the husband recalls. Now the large salon, which features the high-low contrast of a painting by Alfred Leslie against a collection of coral the family has acquired as souvenirs over the years, boasts three French doors and a roof that opens up to the California sun with the flip of a switch.  Three additional &amp;quot;outdoor rooms&amp;quot; line the property, including an open pergola perched on the ocean bluff with simple Belgian teak tables and chaise longues. Off the breakfast room there is another terrace, where the owners and their guests enjoy many of their meals at a concrete-top table. And then there is the loggia, which has woven-rope seating, casual terra-cotta lanterns, a pair of Hans Wegner teak folding chairs, and an ancient Roman column that serves as a table. The centerpiece is a late-16th-century Italian fireplace with a coat of arms. One side is chiseled with the name Margarita, the other Oliva. &amp;quot;We wonder who they are,&amp;quot; the husband says. &amp;quot;We make up stories about them.&amp;quot; The loggia, he adds, is not fancy or showy, simply effortless: &amp;quot;We didn&amp;#039;t want pristine, we wanted relaxed.&amp;quot;  &amp;quot;The thing I like the most,&amp;quot; Smith says, &amp;quot;is that though this is a big house, it&amp;#039;s superusable. People feel really comfortable here. The sweep of the land is extraordinary, but the house itself manages to retain a human scale and sensibility.&amp;quot;  Click here to see the gallery for &amp;quot;An Elegant Retreat in Malibu.&amp;quot; Click here to see the resources. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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