[Matt] This house has been being added to for almost 100 years.
It was originally built in 1924.
Since then, every person has done some level of remodel,
and everything that we've done to the house,
we want it to be true to what was done before.
I think if you can add personality and layers to it,
it's more fun.
[Matt] This house, for our family, is home.
It's getting ready for its 100-year birthday party,
and we regard ourselves as the caretakers.
It is our house,
but before that, it was quite a few people's houses.
Laguna Beach is halfway between San Diego and Los Angeles,
on the Pacific Ocean.
[Shea] I've lived in Southern California my entire life.
Started in San Clemente, met Matt in law school.
And then we carpooled up to school,
and then he wouldn't get out of my car, I guess,
[laughing] and so, here we are.
They get so much out of the ocean
and being down here by it.
Clearly, it was something that I couldn't shake.
Because I've never really [laughing] left Southern California.
The feel of the breeze coming off the water.
It's just a place that I find happy.
[Matt] As a child, the beach was our vacation.
I grew up inland
and I always wanted to be sort of closer to the beach.
I kinda like to be on vacation in my own house.
This house has grown over the years,
but it currently is four bedrooms and four and half baths.
[Shea] The house has two stairwells
that take you to two separate spaces upstairs
that connect through an outside porch.
[Matt] This house was originally built in 1924.
We're sitting in the original portion of the house.
It was added to in the 1940s,
again, in the 1980s,
and then, again, in mid-1990s.
Our obligation is to make sure
that it's here for another 99 years.
Architecturally, what we liked about the house
was the steep pitch of the roof,
the sort of, like, very cottagey-looking shingles.
[Shea] It's generally considered an English Tudor,
which I don't think is as common on the West Coast.
I think it has kind of an East Coast energy to it,
where you see more of the Tudors.
First mandatory stop on the way back from the beach...
little outdoor shower that has gotten lots of sand
off of our children over the years.
[Shea] The koi fish are so calming.
It's one of those things that we inherited with the house,
they were here,
and they just add such a peaceful element to this house.
It's very calming,
you know, my son loves it at night, it lulls you to sleep.
With the Dutch door open, you can hear it throughout the house.
Did you see the other side?
[laughs]
Just depends on how we're feeling. [laughs]
[Matt] So, we've just come in the front door,
to our right is the kitchen.
We have got the living room off to my left.
We purchased the home in the late fall of 2021,
we lived in the house for about a year,
and then spent about, uh, nine months renovating.
The most recent major renovation of the house
was a little over 20 years ago.
The former owner of the house moved a couple of ceilings up
and put these, uh, schoolhouse lamps throughout the whole house.
So that was a thing in particular that we wanted to preserve in the house.
They're the key feature, I think,
-in the house that we will never touch. -Yeah.
To me, this room is kind of about "what shouldn't match, does" in here.
Plaids and checks and stripes, all in one spot,
should not live together, but look, here they are and they're fine
[chuckling] and it's okay. And I think that's what we like most about it.
It doesn't feel chaotic, it's an extremely calm room.
But there's really a lot going on in it
when you start to look at the details.
We found them in a little shop in Laguna,
I just fell in love with them and had to have them.
Turns out they're from the 1700s.
They were from a castle in France.
The faces have been repainted probably seven to eight times.
Based on the owners of the castles,
they would pass 'em down,
and it was so expensive to commission the piece of art
that they would just repaint the faces.
[Shea] The house lives on,
these houses live on and on and on,
and the owners change.
And so, it's about the character
and the life that's been lived in this house for so many years.
That's the important feature I think, is these old houses.
We were wondering what to do with the space,
and I was like, "Well, a disco ball would be completely unexpected."
My middle daughter had just come back from camp
and was making all these friendship bracelets.
And I'm like, "Do you think you could make one, like, big?"
And she's like, "I don't know, I'll try."
And she produced this for me.
So it's, like, her own little craft project in the powder room.
You just want things to be unexpected and fun,
and I'll tell you, this bathroom has sparked more conversations.
Like, people ask to go to the restroom
and they come back, and they will always talk
about the disco ball or the polka dots.
It's fun, it's nice to have that opportunity.
This stairwell goes up to our daughter's room.
We built in the bed,
and then we put in couch, it's also a daybed,
so she has friends sleepover. She got the room. I mean, this is...
It's such a great space.
And it's the original house
and I think you can feel the history in this room.
I mean, just all the different angles and shapes,
and our architect came and he was looking...
He must've looked and he's like, "I don't get what it's doing,
because they clearly cut out some crossbeams,
and so how does the roof stand up?"
And we don't really question that,
[chuckling] but you just feel the original house here.
This room connects to our balcony.
And then, the ocean is right there.
Fourth of July, you get some of the best fireworks' views in town
because Laguna Beach does her fireworks right there.
It's a beautiful view out there.
So, this is our primary bedroom.
This was two bedrooms up here with a Jack And Jill bathroom in between.
That didn't exactly function for us,
so what we did is, made this the primary
and then turned the other bedroom into my closet,
which is... Was my dream.
And it also has a little desk in there for me,
and, you know, just a place I can get things done.
It's kind of my hiding spot, I would say.
You still can hear the koi pond.
It's got a little bit of a treehouse vibe up here, almost.
You're kinda up in the air.
And then, another thing that we remodeled was the primary bathroom.
Expanded the shower, put in a tub,
and then we got our two sinks
because I actually am a firm believer
the secret to a successful marriage is not sharing sinks.
And this tub is great because you've got these windows here.
And, actually, when there's, like, a full moon or anything,
it shines right in. It's beautiful.
[Matt] The skylights were created
by just literally removing the roofing material
and adding a piece of glass instead of it.
And we're not sure who did it or when it was done,
but we love it.
And we're now heading out to the backyard.
We got a place to play,
a place to relax in the hot tub, and a place to eat,
so we're able to enjoy it pretty much any time.
Miranda and Robbie, Mom and Avery.
[Shea] Do you wanna go first? Green? Green first, go.
-I'll go first. -[Shea laughs]
This house is evolving and it's kinda got a life of its own.
There's nods to the former owners,
there's nods to former designers,
but the house keeps going, it keeps evolving,
and that's kinda the cool part of this house.
I don't think it'll ever be done.[chuckles]
Like, you gotta keep going, that's the fun of it.
[Matt] That's the best one so far.
This house, to me, invokes a responsibility,
sort of, to preserve and maintain.
Oh! [laughs]
There's always a project to be done
and there's always something to do,
and I kinda like it that way.
And I like just getting to be here
and I feel pretty darn lucky.