News + Ideas

MGAC was founded on a simple promise: to take the most interesting, ambitious project ideas and make them a reality. Getting there is a matter of countless small steps, conversations, and carefully-calibrated decisions, taking place between day one and that long-awaited delivery day. These are the moments that make a project. With our Behind the Build series, we take a closer look at the roads that lead to a final product, delving into the ways our talented, passionate team makes a project possible. Today, we revisit our work on this Premier Contemporary Estate.

With every Luxury Living project, MGAC | Stonemark is entrusted with delivering an inherently personal, highly refined, vision-driven environment. To make this happen, Luxury Living builds become true testaments to a project manager’s essential and irreplaceable role as the eyes and ears of a client. And this couldn’t have been more the case when we were asked to facilitate the construction of a second home for an international family in an affluent Southern California city well known for stringent development rules. In 2014, as the project began to get underway, architect and designer Studio William Hefner recognized the innate challenges of the effort and enlisted our Project Management support to help steer it from start to finish.

The vision for the build was precise, and great care had been taken in the design to naturally integrate the outdoors into living spaces while still affording incredible privacy to the family. Situated on more than an acre of land, the custom-at-every-turn residential compound would feature a 16,360 SF main home with seven bedrooms and ten bathrooms and a 2,690-SF guest house with two bedrooms and two bathrooms. Outside, 30,000 SF of lush gardens and tranquil water features, comprising a nearly Olympic-sized swimming pool with raised spa, and a sprawling patio complete with outdoor lounge, kitchen, and dining area.

It had all the qualities one would expect in a Luxury Living build—bespoke materials, high-end fittings, meticulous attention to detail—and then some. And, between those notorious local development regulations, our Client being based abroad, and a need to custom-fabricate many of the home’s elements, delivering this enclave was sure to keep us on our toes. Nearly a decade later, this project is defined by our unwavering dedication to our clients’ exacting vision and relentless commitment to never compromise on quality.

PLANNING, PERMITTING, AND PIVOTING

No sooner had we hit the ground running than work came to a screeching halt when the project’s established contractor abruptly went out of business. We sprang to action—immediately expanding our role—assessing every existing sub-contract and sifting through invoices to notate which services had already been paid for, and which had yet to be fulfilled. It was an arduous but crucial process that took nearly three months. With the budget fully reconciled, we spearheaded the process of bringing a new contractor on board, finding the perfect fit in JD Group Inc. As the project progressed, we continued to represent the Client in all aspects as we managed construction, oversaw the project cost and budget, controlled scope changes, and reviewed the schedule.

But prior to breaking ground, there was a sizable hurdle of planning and permitting to overcome. The project site itself was highly unique, spanning more than an acre in total but comprising two separate lots. In order to deliver the main home, accompanying guest house, and interior patio space connecting it all, we would need to organize a lot line adjustment. This is a time-intensive process entrenched in planning, hearings, and board reviews. What’s more, the community’s strict ordinances and guidelines would underscore virtually every aspect of design and construction, from size and style to materials and topography considerations. Even trucking out dirt during construction became a carefully monitored task. And, with many of the design elements specially commissioned, this project required particularly diligent communication with city boards and commissions. All told, it was a two-year process to fully prep the lot and secure all necessary approvals before shovels even hit the ground.

A CRYSTAL-CLEAR VISION AND A CUSTOMIZED APPROACH

Intent on standing out without compromising on livability, our Client envisioned a residence that was as stunning as it was suited to family life, designed for effortless indoor-outdoor living in the comfort of a highly secure site. With international guests in mind, the guest house and surrounding property were conceptualized much like a private resort—idyllically outfitted for those staying not just for the weekend, but for several weeks at a time.

To deliver fluidity between spaces, glass became a major design element and was used in the home’s exterior and interior alike. The residence itself is wrapped in massive sheets sourced from Europe for their pristine color and quality, and a continuous louvered shade system provides the perfect amount of privacy while not compromising on the feeling of integration with the outdoors. Inside, a gleaming foyer is punctuated by a floating glass-and-stone staircase, while an open-concept “show” kitchen is filled with gleaming glass cabinetry (another top-of-the-line chef’s kitchen is tucked just behind the scenes). When, after install, the show kitchen’s cabinets revealed the marks of every hand and finger that touched them, we sourced an alternate glass of the same quality—but that crucially did not collect pesky palm and finger prints.

To deliver the site security requested by our Client, built-to-order fences were engineered and manufactured in Germany and shipped to the project site, where they were assembled to surround the property and connected to a security gate that could be controlled remotely from anywhere on the property. When one arrived with mechanical issues that prevented its full functionality, we configured the schedule to minimize impacts while its replacement was created, shipped, and installed.

But the customization didn’t end there. Our Client is a very tall man, and nothing standard comfortably suits his needs. Given homes are places where we should be at our most comfortable, this one is filled with tailor-made furnishings and features, from the master suite’s bed and shower to the bathroom’s countertop height. Delivering it all to precision required ample back-and-forth with Studio William Hefner, as well as extra communication with the city planners, who had never before encountered a home built for such specific requirements.

And yet, one of the home’s most intriguing features might be a room you’d least expect: the garage. This one took the form of a fully furnished expanse with space for some 16 cars, gaming area, a rotating turntable displaying a Rolls-Royce, and a two-car lift fitted with Ferraris. The pièce de résistance was one of the biggest feats for the project team to pull off. Careful engineering was necessary to measure and cut beams in a way that created enough height to fit the lift. Part hangout, part high-end garage, the space was one-of-a-kind. Bringing it to life required subtle design pivots along the way to ensure the final product could easily shift gears to serve as both a lounge and a fully functional showroom.

DOWN TO THE LAST DETAIL

Across this entire project, a key challenge to navigate was our Client being based overseas. With the family unable to physically check in on progress or meet in person—and with this build happening ahead of today’s widespread video call technology—their full trust in our expertise was critical. Our Client’s real estate background, rooted in his home market, brought a fresh international perspective. MGAC | Stonemark helped translate that insight to the nuanced local market in order to align team expectations throughout the process and ensure a smooth delivery. Knowing that the family’s time was a valuable and an expressly limited resource, efficient communication on every occasion was paramount as we ensured we obtained all vital information and approvals needed for the project team to continue progress. And, when face time was important for a more conversational flow, our team flew to meet our Client in Europe or the family would travel to the States.

With these visits being few and far between, we capitalized on each project site visit by hosting detailed walkthroughs of the property, room by room. Even before all fixtures and finishes were in, we ensured they could visualize every detail of the functioning home and guest house by demonstrating their function or mocking up their future placement—across some 20,000 SF of living space—to confirm no light switch or control panel was ever far from reach. And, like many custom homes, this build served as a case study in the art of change management. Because, after construction begins, the project team and Client alike often recognize ways to further refine design and level-up the space, leaving no stone unturned. Here, we facilitated a total of 289 change orders from start to finish.

But this was a project where every change, committee hearing, and custom fitting was essential in achieving the home of our Client’s dreams: a distinctive, avant-garde property that is truly one of a kind. This was a build that took time and patience, precision and dedication, but the results speak for themselves—even capturing the attention of a wider audience on Netflix’s hit series “Selling Sunset.”