PELICAN CREST / NOBÉL

The entrance court at PELICAN CREST, its colonnade framed by clipped pines

Architecture · Newport, California

2026

Location: Newport, California
Scope: Architecture + Interiorsthe building and its rooms, drawn as one
Area: 40,000 sq ft
Year: 2026

PELICAN CREST is entered on foot, along a walk held between olive trees and clipped hedge, and the building only resolves at the end of it. Inside, a renovation is carried out in stone: carved basins, fluted columns, cast relief and tables cut from single blocks, with bronze used wherever a hand or a door meets the architecture. The rooms are long and low-lit, and the garden is returned to the eye at the end of each of them.

Grounds / Arrival

The approach does the work of the entrance. A reflecting pool holds the elevation, mature trees are kept where they stood, and the door is reached only after the garden has been crossed.

The walk to PELICAN CREST between clipped hedges and olive trees

Reflecting pool held against the entrance elevation

Mature tree kept standing against the facade

Entrance hall, cantilevered stair and hanging artwork

Olive trees and a bronze counter in the hall

The double-height hall seen from the door

Passage

Between the large rooms are small ones. A basin carved from a single block, a corridor with a tree in it, a car held behind glass like a piece in a vitrine: each is a held moment rather than a way through.

Powder room with a carved stone basin and a window to the garden

The basin seen along the wall, gilding in the cut stone

Corridor with an olive tree and a lift beyond

A car held behind glass in a stone portal

Inner Rooms

The long rooms run the width of the plan and each one ends at glass. Furniture is kept low and curved so that nothing stands between the room and the garden it looks into.

Curved seating and a round table facing the garden

Dressing room with a leather bench between the cases

Bedroom with a panelled wall and a low bed

Material Register

Stone is carved, cast, fluted and left with its own colour running through it; bronze is folded, brushed and used as a seam. The details are where the renovation is actually visible.

Carved stone basin under a gilded mirror

Gilding running through the cut face of the stone

Bronze shelf and a small sculpture against fluted stone

Folded bronze and leather against a fluted face

Fluted stone columns and their reflection

Woven leather door with a bronze surround

Alabaster floor lamp standing against timber

Custom Details

Three pieces in this house were drawn, made and fitted by the studio. Each is marked where it appears below, and each has a page of its own where it is taken apart.