The five-bedroom, approximately 5,500-square-foot home was envisioned as an elegant beachfront haven for holidays and family gatherings by the northern California couple who commissioned it in the 2000s.
Stephen Francis Jones arrival at his position as one the preeminent restaurant architects of his day is a function of time, talent, and a keen understanding of how to design such venues for modern sensibilities—plus, knowing how they are markedly different from residential and other types of commercial ventures.
It was the early 2000s, and the vision of the classic steakhouse, with its leather booths, scotch and sirloin, was due for an update. Innovative Dining Group, creators of Sushi Roku, Katana and other of-the-moment eateries, was up to the task.
It’s a perpetual challenge of architecture—to create a bona fide sculpture in space that’s brilliant in its everyday ease of use, with no compromises, and no errant side notes to disrupt the congruency that makes for truly successful design. Along these lines, architect Luis de Moraes has succeeded beautifully on one of the highest elevations of the Palos Verdes Peninsula.
If you swing by the Strand Brewing Co taproom one evening— they’ve moved to significantly bigger, 36,000-square-foot digs, and are open to the public from Tuesday (starting in March) through Sunday—you’ll find a place that aptly reflects the family-friendly, good-time spirit of the South Bay.
