This Midcentury-Style California Home Is a Feat of Warm Modernism

Photo credit: Karyn Millet

Architect Eric Olsen and interior designer Raili Clasen collaborate to create a contemporary oasis that’s both cool and comfortable

A room with a view is one thing, but a house with a view? That’s the dream. So it was with the Watsons, a family of five who traded in their Huntington Beach, California, residence for a hilltop property overlooking the sea in nearby Corona del Mar. But the perfect home it was not. “The house was an original—over 40 years old with small divided rooms that didn’t take advantage of the amazing panorama,” says architect Eric Olsen, whom the wife discovered when she happened upon his home in a magazine. The clients knew they wanted to tear down the existing structure in favor of erecting something more modern, but it took a full two years before they would act on their plans. “The owners are big believers in living in a space to learn about light, view orientation, and how a lot feels,” Olsen says.