elements of surprise

A SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA FAMILY REIMAGINED THEIR MEDITERRANEAN HOME AS A MODERN OASIS WHERE EVERY SPACE AND DESIGN DETAIL UNFOLDS LIKE A SECRET

- Paige Porter Fischer

Traveling is an education. For Matt and Kimberlee Streiff, seeing the world has taught them, among other things, the value of surprises. When they first saw their home in Newport Beach, California, the couple looked past its dated finishes and choppy flow, and focused instead on its unique layout. From the street, the house appears quite modest and understated, but a small gate leads to a stairwell that descends to an interior courtyard-complete with swimming pool-around which the house revolves.

"We had been passively looking at homes for a few years, and Matt would often say that he loved the idea of a living, active courtyard," says Kimberlee. "We didn't want a big-box house, like so many that you see these days. We wanted something unique, and this house was more like a treasure box. It wasn't the biggest house, but it felt rich with surprises." "The home doesn't present itself right away," says Matt.

"You don't know what is behind the gate until you walk through it, and the house seems to spill away from there. I love that our primary living spaces are all on one floor, connected to the pool and courtyard. It's all integrated."

While the couple and their three children travel frequently across the globe-favoring ocean destinations so that they can snorkel, dive, and surf together-the Streiffs trusted their new home's remodel to a California designer, John Wooden, whose work Kimberlee had earmarked in a magazine. "Everything was clean and light, and nothing was typical," she says. "There were elements that had depth and were surprising. I was so taken with his work that I thought I'd take a shot in the dark and ask if he'd be willing to work with us."