It’s four o’clock on a Monday and George Khouli and Laila Knight are right in their happy place: behind the bar.
“What do you want? Open that tequila. We’re having tequila,” Khouli instructs his better half. “Cheers!” Slamming a shot glass on the bar, he declares, “In our house, it’s always happy hour, because it’s a happy home.” It’s also a Lloyd Ruocco home, Knight clarifies. Like Khouli, she’s a bit of an architecture buff. Both immigrants—she from Puerto Rico and he from Syria—the homeowners met over a quarter century ago in San Diego and now own Payless Car Rental together.
Considering the now-open layout and contemporary design, it’s almost inconceivable that their Point Loma stunner was in fact built in 1948 by Ruocco, renowned as one of San Diego’s pioneers of modern architecture. “It gives me chills to think about the mentality of Ruocco back then,” Knight says. “He went way out of the mainstream versus what other architects were doing in San Diego.”
Walnut accent walls, clean lines, and a narrow layout all harken to the era when Ruocco built the 4,500-square-foot home. But it was his choice to wrap the house in glass—every single exterior wall is clear from floor to ceiling—that went against the grain, all in the interest of the real selling point: the view. Khouli stands in the kitchen and gestures out. “No matter how you look, the sun won’t hit you. This is my downtown view here, my ocean view here, my bridge view here. I see cruise ships and I wave.”
Point Loma glass house
Symmetric as can be, the living room is anchored by two Axel leather sofas from Montis, PK22 wicker chairs from Fritz Hansen, and a Circulos Wool Rug by Gandia Blasco.
By the time he stumbled on the three bedroom, four bath in 2015, the view was about the only thing to its credit. “This house was like a diamond in the rough,” he says, noting it was merely a rental property at the time. “I saw the potential, the way the lot was situated, the architecture, that indoor-outdoor feel. It had the bones.”
The Glass House on Point Loma
In the backyard, Khouli pulls back a few shades, installed originally to tone down glare from the white tiling.
He and Knight interviewed what seemed like countless architects throughout Southern California until they landed on their dream team in Jesper Pedersen, a Danish architect and founder of DNA Design Group, and Richard Risner, principal landscape architect at Grounded Modern Landscape Architecture. Over three years, they put the modern back into the midcentury home while maintaining the integrity of Ruocco’s original structure.
The Glass House on Point Loma
Powder-blue egg chairs in the kitchen offer another spot to soak up the view.
Pederson used such a subtly diverse palette that he coined the project “50 Shades of White” and focused on simplicity in the details and accents. That attention can be seen in elements like recessed lighting, a 3D accent wall, dotted tiling in the guest bathroom, and even a TV that pops up from the floor in the living room.
Structurally, opening the layout was his first order of business. He started in the kitchen, ripping out an unassuming cooking area. He replaced it with a 22-foot-long island and installed sleek cabinetry and appliances behind it.
The Glass House on Point Loma
The kitchen’s open layout, including a stark white island and cabinetry balanced out by black bar stools and a dining table and chairs, all by Bonaldo.
On the opposite wing of the house—”This place keeps us young, because we’re in shape from running from one room to the next,” Knight jokes—and through a living room that bridges the backyard and front yard, the master bedroom also got an open-layout overhaul. What was once a “dinky room,” as Knight puts it, now has sliding glass doors instead of walls, and a mere partition separating the bedroom and the master bathroom. The bathroom too has clear exterior walls, and blackout curtains for privacy.
The Glass House on Point Loma
Panoramic views continue in the master bedroom, where three Blu Dot Bumper Ottomans from Hold It lend a pop of color to the space.
“Don’t get me wrong, you can feel like a fishbowl on display,” Knight admits. “In reality, we have a lot of privacy.” That’s thanks to the property’s location 30 feet above street level—further supporting that gorgeous view—and a perimeter of bamboo Risner installed for additional seclusion.
The Glass House on Point Loma
The master bathroom teems with textured tiles.
From the start, he and Pederson worked hand-in-hand to ensure the interior and exterior were as identical and modern as possible. They replaced several of those glass walls with sliding glass doors for an open flow, and they used the exact same Pietro Bianco tile inside and out. There’s a more textured version for safety around the infinity-edge pool, which runs right up to clear fencing for an uninterrupted view.
Risner also ensured the outdoor areas were an extension of the indoors by adding a barbecue off of the kitchen, a terrace and fire pit near the dining area, and seating aplenty in the backyard right by the family room where the bar is. “It’s basically creating a house on the outside of your house,” he explains.
Point Loma glass house
The homeowners enjoy a game of fetch with their pups on the artificial front lawn.
As for the interior design, the homeowners trusted only themselves with seeing through their minimalist-meets-modern aesthetic, which meant that one element would be stripped entirely—artwork. There’s not a lick of it in the house. “When you have this kind of gift,” Khouli says, “you want to minimize the interior as much as possible, because you don’t want it to take away from the outside elements.”
Paraphrasing Ruocco’s own philosophy, Knight adds, “This is your artwork: your landscape, your view.”
When the filmmaker Cameron Crowe needed a stadium to look like it was from the 1970s for his 2000 movie Almost Famous, he turned to his hometown. He filmed the scene in which protagonist William Miller meets the rock band Stillwater for the first time at Sports Arena Stadium (now called Pechanga Arena).
Twenty-five years after the release of Almost Famous, the 1966 stadium still looks much the same—but maybe not for long. Now the site is slated for a massive revamp dubbed “Midway Rising.” The plan is to replace the original Pechanga Arena (which currently seats about 14,000) with a new 16,000-seat stadium, along with 2,000 affordable apartments, 2,250 market-rate apartments, 130,000 square feet of shops and restaurants, and 14.5 acres of parks and public space.
Courtesy of Pechanga Arena
The team behind the project includes Chelsea Investment Corporation, sports venue developer Legends, and market-rate housing developer Zephyr. It’s funded by real estate investment firm The Kroenke Group.
“I think it’s the opportunity to bring a world-class, modernized entertainment center to the city,” says Zephyr CEO Brad Termini. “Having a new arena at the Midway has been a goal of the city for as long as I’ve lived here, and it feels like we’re really close to delivering that vision, a facility that could attract the globe’s best talent and shows for San Diego.”
The redevelopment began in September 2022, when the San Diego City Council formally selected the Midway Rising team to take on the project. This spring, the draft environmental impact report (EIR) for the project was released, and the team is holding a series of meetings to collect community feedback. The goal is for it to go to the City Council this fall for approval.
Rendering Courtesy of Safdie Rbaines Architects
The Kroenke Group are the majority funders of the project, but Termini says they aren’t ready to state publicly how much it will cost. “It’s evolving. With the crazy construction markets we find ourselves in today, it’s very difficult to peg that, so we’re not releasing any public budget numbers at this time,” he adds.
However, those figures have the potential to be massive. According to the City of San Diego, the project’s affordable housing developer, Chelsea Investment Corporation, led 65 projects in San Diego County and more than 120 throughout Southern California at a total cost of over $3 billion. Meanwhile, Zephyr has headed more than $1 billion in mixed-use developments.
Whatever the final investment, Pechanga Arena will be completely transformed. Termini tells us that the current iteration is too old and outdated to attract big-name concerts. Its loading dock, lighting, and sound aren’t up to current standards.
Courtesy of Pechanga Arena
“It’s kind of like a dive bar—when the lights are low and it’s full, it can still be a fun place,” he says. “But when the lights go up, you really see what’s there. It’s really lacking.”
That rings true for local sports fan Zack Tembi, who regularly attends San Diego Seals lacrosse games at the old stadium. “It’s just stale,” he says. “San Diego isn’t known for being a sports city, right? So, if we have something that can attract good events and talent, I’m all about that.”
Ideally, Tembi adds, the vision would expand beyond the stadium.
“I think they should make more of a community center, like what you see with most of the modern stadiums,” he continues. “Things that are accessible around the stadium—whether it’s parks or shops or restaurants—that bring people in even when there’s no event. I’d also love to see things around the stadium that you can go to without needing a ticket. Stuff that’s fun, like a restaurant with golf simulators or interactive experiences. Just more ways people in the community can use the space all the time, not just when there’s a concert or a game.”
Courtesy of Pechanga Arena
While there’s no promise of golf simulators just yet, developers do intend to include lots of retail and restaurant space, along with public parks. Termini says his team predicts it will have a massive economic impact—perhaps equivalent to the three largest events the San Diego Convention Center hosts every year, including Comic-Con.
Christina Bibler, director of economic development for the City of San Diego, is excited about the project’s potential effects. “Just the sheer magnitude and size of a 48-acre parcel that is going to [have a ton of housing units and create many] jobs—it will be legacy-leaving for Midway,” she says. “[We’re looking at] more amenities, increased revenue, and the revitalization of a site that hasn’t really been revitalized since the mid-1960s.”
The project is a major priority for her team, she explains, because of the affordable housing it will bring and because it will help make better use of the land owned by the city. “Its [value depreciates] when you don’t reinvest,” she says. “This is about revitalizing and catalyzing the Midway area in a way that will have a lasting impact for future generations.”
Rendering Courtesy of Safdie Rbaines Architects
But the surrounding community has concerns. The biggest one for the Peninsula Community Planning Board, which advises the city on developments in that area, is the traffic a bigger stadium will bring.
“Rosecrans Street is already congested, and this project doesn’t fully mitigate that,” says Javier Saunders, head of the group’s long-range planning committee. “We just feel we’re going to be saddled with additional traffic that’s not going to be addressed properly.”
According to Saunders, the project’s current suggested traffic alleviation techniques are laughable. “What they’re proposing is a shuttle bus—one shuttle bus,” he notes. “And then they’re giving their employees public transit passes for the entertainment center as mitigation. I think it’s a slap in the face to the city.”
Courtesy of Pechanga Arena
Saunders says his group would like to see more—particularly a street extension on Greenwood Street and a pedestrian and bike overcrossing at Camino del Rio West—to help manage traffic. The Greenwood Street extension was in the community plan, he says, but it was removed to make more room for development.
The influx of new residences in the area may also increase traffic, but developers are exempt from having to explain how they intend to mitigate those concerns in the impact report because they plan to include affordable housing.
“The next step is to go to the City Council and present our issues,” he adds. “The council can say the benefits outweigh the impacts and approve it as is, or it can say, ‘We’re not going to approve this now. We want you to go back and address some issues.’ [The latter is] what we’re hoping for.”
Rendering Courtesy of Safdie Rbaines Architects
Others in the community bring apprehensions, too, including Clifford Weiler, an attorney who filed a letter in response to the project’s environmental impact report. He says the ground in the area is sinking. In 50 years, he believes, people will move into Midway apartments “and [be unable to] shut their doors. The foundations [will be] cracked or the water pipes [will be] cracked. Even though I’m going to be dead—and you can print that—I want it to be done right so nobody gets stuck with a catastrophe that might happen and the expense of trying to correct it decades from now.”
Jim Royle, the environmental review committee chair for the San Diego County Archaeological Society, also feels the project has not done enough to check for and protect potential archaeological relics, including Native American artifacts, where construction will happen. “The bottom line is that there would have been an expectation for archaeological monitoring for the excavations in the area of the site. And [the developers] don’t even call for monitoring,” he says. “I was surprised, given that they basically acknowledged in the EIR that they don’t know what’s there—because no prior evaluation has been conducted.”
Courtesy of Wikipedia
Zephyr CEO Termini, however, argues that those worries will be addressed in time. “Before we can build anything, there’s a tremendous amount of onsite and off-site infrastructure we need to invest in,” he adds. “That infrastructure won’t just benefit the project—it will benefit the entire Midway community, with traffic improvements, bike lanes, public spaces, and more.”
Plus, he says, the project will be the largest affordable housing project in the history of California, “and those units will be intermixed with market-rate, luxury units, all in a walkable, environmentally friendly community. We plan on delivering housing for all—San Diegans from all walks of life and income levels.”
The success of that goal remains to be seen. After all, the Midway Rising team is still holding public meetings with the goal of getting full approval by the City Council. According to Termini, the soonest we’ll see them break ground is the end of 2026—so Almost Famous fans have a little more time to check out the set where it all began.
Claire Trageser has been writing for San Diego Magazine for 10 years. She also is a reporter at KPBS and writes for The New York Times, National Geographic, Marie Claire, Elle and Runner's World.
Welcome to the inaugural San Diego Magazine Home + Design Awards, where we celebrate the brilliance of local interior designers, architects, landscapers, craftspeople, builders, and home service experts within San Diego’s vibrant home design scene.
These awards are a celebration of the creative forces shaping the aesthetics of San Diego and its surroundings. Like brushstrokes on a canvas, we aim to bring attention to the talent and services that turn spaces into living masterpieces.
Your submission is your invitation to step into the limelight. The winners will be featured in the April Issue of San Diego Magazine and posted online. San Diego Magazine is read by more than 164,700 readers each month, and sandiegomagazine.com receives more than 403,000 monthly page views. Your nomination is an opportunity to captivate our affluent readers who turn to San Diego Magazine for insight into culture, food, arts, and the latest in home design.
To Enter
You can nominate a business or tradesperson whose work and physical business is located within San Diego County. Please provide the name of the business and tradesperson with their contact information. In addition, please include your name and contact information with your entry.
For Transformation entries, provide a high-quality before and after photo to be eligible for the Reader’s Choice vote. We’ve set up an easy-to-use Canva template for your convenience here.
Reader’s Choice Voting
Rally Your Troops! After your masterpiece is nominated, it’s time to gather the votes! From January 8 to 15, unleash the power of your design community. Share, shout, and let your network know that your creation deserves the Reader’s Choice Award, and ask them to vote for your entry.
Important Dates
Nomination Period: December 4, 2023 – January 12, 2024 12 PM Reader’s Choice Voting: January 12, 2024 3 PM – January 19, 2024
Winners will be announced in the April issue of San Diego Magazine and online at sdmag.com
Nominating Categories
Best Interior Transformations (Before and After) Bathroom Bedroom Closet Dining Room Game Room Garage Home Gym Kids Room Kitchen Living Room Nursery Office Stairs/Staircase
Best Exterior Transformations (Before and After)
ADU (Accessory Dwelling Unit) Backyard Landscaping Conversion to water-wise landscape Exterior Home Renovation Front yard landscaping Garden Patio + Porch Sheds Swimming Pools
Best Home Businesses + Services
Appliance Store Architect Carpet/Flooring Cleaning Services Closet Remodeling Door + Window Electrician Escrow Company Furniture Store Gardener General Contractors Handyman / Repairman Heating, Cooling, and Air Home Remodeling Home Security Interior Designer Landscaper Lighting Stores Nursery / Garden Center Painters Pest Control Pile + Masonry Plumber Pool Services Real Estate Agent Real Estate Company Roofing Solar Tree Services Turf Upholstery
Homes of the Year
Interior Categories
Bohemian Coastal Contemporary Eclectic Green Industrial Maximalist Midcentury Minimalist Modern Multifamily Residence Rustic
Exterior Categories
Beach Home Multifamily Residence Contemporary Craftsman Green Mediterranean-Style Midcentury Modern Mountain Home Ranch Style Spanish-Style Suburban Home Tudor-Style Urban Home Victorian
Inside the remodeled 1970s craftsman of local pastry chef and Extraordinary Desserts owner Karen Krasne
Photo Credit: Zack Benson
By Ashtyn Douglas-Rosa
The similarities between baking a cake and remodeling a home might be slim in the minds of most. But to renowned pastry chef and owner of Extraordinary Desserts Karen Krasne, paying attention to detail when decorating anything—be it a gorgeous wedding cake or her 2,200-square-foot house in Mission Hills—is the recipe for a tasteful design.
Krasne began remodeling her 1970s craftsman into the dynamic, contemporary space it is today with the help of local architect Aaron Anderson nearly 15 years ago. “We started with this custom gate, actually,” Anderson says, pointing to a large, suspended steel-and-glass opening at the entrance of the Krasne residence.
Photo Credit: Cole Novak
Past the gate, guests step into the front courtyard that serves as an outdoor dining room. Beneath a custom steel canopy filtering sunlight into the space—an effect inspired by the oak trees of San Diego County—sits a grand stainless-steel communal table topped with zebra quartzite stone. Along the north wall, a smoky gray mirror magnifies the space.
The intimate courtyard brings the outdoors in, while the architecture and design of the house spill outwards.
Photo Credit: Cole Novak
“Both Karen and I grew up in San Diego, so the house is heavily influenced by that sort of outdoor living,” Anderson says. “But the interesting thing about Karen is her travels. What she does, as a chef, is heavily influenced by her international travel, so we also brought all that influence into the house. It’s anchored in San Diego, but it has all kinds of international flourishes.”
The south wall of the courtyard is a striking cement fiberboard privacy screen that’s been pierced with an intricate design. “The very first day I met Karen, she brought these Moroccan lanterns she bought on a trip to Marrakech into my office and she said she wanted the front part of the house to be about these,” Anderson remembers. “I had [the lanterns] on my desk, and we just thought about unrolling them and cutting out the design onto a piece of slim fiberboard. The piece is backlit so, at night, this side glows just like a lantern does.”
Photo Credit: Cole Novak
The old-world, international influences don’t stop in the courtyard. Inside the home, Krasne’s love of traveling is reflected in every room. A hand-carved wooden Moroccan cabinet has been repurposed into a bathroom door. Ornate candle holders from Bali adorn the master bathroom countertop. And in the living room—which expands into a second, bamboo-flanked courtyard through massive stacking glass doors—a feature wall was inspired by traditional azulejos tile Krasne once saw in Spain.
Photo Credit: Cole Novak
“We tried to take all these different influences—Morocco, Bali, and Paris, where Karen went to culinary school—and balance them with the edgier, modern stuff,” Anderson says. “It’s really hard to take a craftsman house and modernize it without it looking terrible, so I think one thing we all did well was elevating it without overtaking it.”
Photo Credit: Zack Benson
The kitchen, where Krasne spends most of her time while she’s at home, was renovated last. A large island topped with a Japanese-inspired lithograph on natural quartz sits in the middle of the sunlit room, nearly always covered in a food spread for Krasne’s family and friends. Floor-to-ceiling, built-in cabinetry is coated with a self-healing gray Fenix laminate, giving the space a calming atmosphere.
Photo Credit: Cole Novak
“Those,” Kranse says, gesturing to ornate, art-deco chandeliers hanging over the kitchen table, “are from an old opera house in Austria. I had them sprayed silver to match the sconces, which all came from the same opera house. I also wanted to bring in French Champagne buckets—I really wanted the space to be about us drinking wine and entertaining.”
The Champagne buckets line a shelf hung above built-in lounge seating. Next to the lounge is an in-wall desk with a stack of her favorite cookbooks on display. There, Krasne researches and experiments with new recipes.
“I have a huge office at my restaurant, but I can’t think straight there,” Krasne says. “You feel the frenetic energy, you hear the tamping of the espresso machine and the phones ringing.” It’s here, in this calming, creative space (and in her personal gym downstairs), that Krasne finds inspiration.
As we exit Krasne’s kitchen and step back out into the front courtyard, she jokes with Anderson that she recently came up with a landscaping idea for the front entrance while on a trip to Puerto Vallarta with her husband.
“I know, with Karen, there’s actually a good chance that it’ll happen,” Anderson laughs. “Karen knows more about construction and putting a house together than any other client I’ve ever worked with. We actually get to a detailed level of thought and design. That’s super rare.”
Stake Chophouse & Bar isn’t your average steakhouse. Blue Bridge Hospitality’s Coronado outpost is a modern interpretation of a big-city steakhouse nestled in the heart of the small coastal community. The team at Stake has reimagined the whole steakhouse experience. By prioritizing a seasonal farm-to-table sourcing philosophy, a personalized guest experience, and unique service touches, like a formal steak presentation and a bespoke knife selection process, Stake distinguishes itself in a sea of steakhouses.
Exceptional steaks, including Wagyu from Japan, Australia, and the U.S., and fresh seafood flown in daily form the core of Stake’s culinary identity. The menu features a five-course omakase-style steak experience highlighting house favorites, plus an array of cuts, and classic steakhouse staples—think a wedge salad, baked potato, or pasta carbonara—refined for a contemporary palate without losing their traditional appeal. Stake focuses on seasonal sourcing from the region’s best family farms and specialty purveyors, and incorporates intentionally unexpected touches to create something truly unique.
“I challenge our chefs and myself to take it a step further in sourcing,” says Chef Ronnie Schwandt. “It’s important to us to highlight different farms, unique one-off farms—whether it’s cattle, strawberries, a local fisherman or from anywhere in the United States, we’re always trying to find that niche.”
Beyond the menu, Stake emphasizes outstanding service, says Vinny Spatafore, Director of Hospitality Operations. Staff maintains detailed notes, allowing them to remember guests by name, recall previous orders such as a favorite martini (also memorable for the customer since it’s served in an extra tall, distinctly-shaped glass), and celebrate special occasions like birthdays and anniversaries.
“When you have those points of topic that you remember about a guest, they appreciate that,” he says. “Our servers are really good with that—we have a couple servers who have been here since the beginning and they’ll remember somebody from years ago, their name, their kids’ names, where they live. I’m really thankful to have a great front of house staff.”
Award-winning wines, rare whiskeys, special events, and a complementary black car service that provides transportation for guests throughout Coronado add to Stake’s appeal.
Schwandt stresses that Stake offers more than a meal; they aim to give patrons something unforgettable.
“It starts when you walk up the stairs and are greeted by the hostess—that sets the tone for the night. Then you’re greeted by a server, who may know you by name, and can guide you through the menu and curate as they get to know you,” says Schwandt. “Most people leave kind of blown away; they leave feeling like they just had an experience. That’s the goal, right? Whether you’re serving smash burgers or high-end steak, you want somebody to leave thinking, Wow, that was awesome.”
Lisa Franco didn’t plan to become an interior designer. She and her husband, Luis, met while working in biotech. But when the couple’s daughter, Samantha, was a year old, she was diagnosed with a genetic disorder called Angelman syndrome. Lisa left the industry to focus on Sam full-time. And when the Francos bought their first house in San Diego shortly thereafter, Lisa—armed with a more flexible schedule and a hunger to explore her innate love of design—decided to take the reins on the interiors.
The Francos had tapped Mark Morris of Oasis Architecture to refresh the home. He was skeptical; homeowners who go the DIY route usually end up regretting it. But Lisa’s knack for design was apparent. She pulled samples, chose colors, sourced finishes, and visited showrooms, and others in the industry treated her like a fellow pro. “I just started calling myself a designer, and other people believed me,” she laughs. “My career was in science. Science is problem-solving. Interior design is, too. It’s solving a problem, and making it look good.”
Photo Credit: Auda & Auda Photography The sliding doors to the deck can fully retract, making the view the star of the show
When Morris walked through the finished product, he said, “‘You need to come work for me,’” he recalls. Soon after, she did. Their first project together won Bathroom of the Year in San Diego Home/Garden Lifestyles magazine.
As Samantha, now 24, and the couple’s son Ethan, 21, got older, the Francos set out to find a forever home—one that could accommodate a future live-in caregiver for Sam. In 2017, a La Jolla Heights gem jumped out from a listing in the paper: an Old Hollywood–inspired, 1960’s home, once owned by an oil baroness. The Francos bought it, and Morris signed on to bring the build into modern day. The bones were good, and “the house had the perfect entry—grand, yet understated,” Morris says.
Photo Credit: Auda & Auda Photography The colorful wall behind the sapo table is made from recycled skateboard decks.
The inside, on the other hand, needed work. Full of small, closed-off areas, it had level changes at every turn, like step-downs into bedrooms. Morris and the Francos modified the floor plan with two goals in mind: to create a seamless flow for family time and entertaining and to make the layout safe for Sam to have as much independence as possible.
They leveled out the floors, opened up the once-enclosed staircase for visibility, and installed pocket-door gates to block rooms and stairs as needed. Though the layout changed, “Lisa loved that house and wanted to respect it,” Morris says, so they preserved some original elements: crown molding, light fixtures, closet doors, built-ins.
Today, once you cross the threshold, you step directly into the main living space, or the great room. Just past the L-shaped couch is a million-dollar view: La Jolla’s hodgepodge of terracotta rooftops, the coast, all the way to Mexico.
The home’s primary palette is one of soft gray and white walls with chocolate-brown wood floors. But the Franco house is anything but muted. Lisa’s style is bold, colorful, happiness-inducing. In the great room, velvet pillows add pops of pink, blue, and ochre to the couch.
Photo Credit: Auda & Auda Photography Lisa, an avid cook, designed her spacious kitchen with dinner parties and gatherings in mind.
The great room flows into the kitchen, separated only by a peninsula. When Lisa and Morris design a kitchen for a client, they ask about their everyday routine—and that’s exactly what informed Lisa’s own space. Daily essentials receive priority; open shelves hold flour, sugar, oil, and tea, while a full butler pantry around a corner offers hidden storage.
The most innovative feature is a pass-through cabinet between the kitchen and dining room. Dishes and glassware are accessible from either side, and the configuration lets the dining room borrow the kitchen’s natural light.
The Francos wanted an additional space to unwind with friends, so they tucked a bar into an alcove off the great room. “Sometimes we have a couple come over, and we just want to hang, but our dining room is big,” Lisa says. “So this is an intermediate. It’s cozy.”
The couple pulled the blue from the kitchen island and incorporated gold and stone accents. The wire accents on the bar island are both aesthetic and functional—no need to worry about scuffs from guests’ shoes. Closed cabinets hold their collection of wine and spirits.
Photo Credit: Auda & Auda Photography The Francos’ home bar uses darker, moody hues to align with its purpose as an evening hang-out space
On the other side of the great room is Lisa’s office, easily the most colorful space in the house. Her desk is framed by a bay window overlooking the courtyard, while a pendant light fixture, original to the home and refreshed with deep teal paint, anchors the room. “I love whimsy,” Lisa says. The owl-print wallpaper was a touch she couldn’t resist. Luis was skeptical until he saw it installed. “That’s why she’s the designer,” he laughs.
Right across the hall is Sam’s media room, furnished with durable pieces. It’s near the kitchen and dining room, so Sam has her own space but is still in the mix. A mother-in-law suite, which can eventually function as a caregiver’s room, is next-door.
Photo Credit: Auda & Auda Photography Lisa’s décor is an eclectic mix of estate sale finds, original art, and budget-friendly pieces from retailers like Target and Anthropologie
The great room might be the heart of the home, but the lower level is where the fun happens.
A mural of Lisa’s late brother, Michael “Howie” Mandell, who she calls “the life of the party,” is front and center, smiling with arms outstretched. The local artist they commissioned tagged the names of Howie’s loved ones around him, and band posters harken back to Howie and Lisa’s shared love of music.
In the corner is sapo, a Peruvian game (also called “toad in the hole”) that Luis grew up playing. The objective: Throw a gold coin into the toad’s mouth or the nearby holes. The sapo table was a gift from Luis’s mom, who transported it in pieces via plane.
A far wall holds a candy bar, stocked with guests’ favorites, and a mini kitchen with a pink SMEG fridge and toaster. The oversized sliding window opens up onto the grill, the outdoor dining space, and the pool area.
Photo Credit: Auda & Auda Photography The original arched beams over the pool were constructed with pressed wood; it’s a similar process to crafting a ship’s hull
It’s a stunning pool, considering it was once surrounded by green carpet. “It was like going into a football locker room,” Morris says. “The pool itself was spectacular, and we didn’t want to lose that character.” The Francos kept the exposed beams, opened the ceiling and walls, and wrapped the columns in dark brick. “During the day, it feels like you’re outside,” Morris says, “but at night, all lit up, it really feels like its own room.”
Morris and Lisa treated the outdoor space like an extension of the home, creating “rooms” for different functions: grilling, playing, resting, entertaining. A fire pit at the farthest point is an ideal spot to sit and reflect. Lisa designed a “rug” made from tiles that frames the outdoor dining area. They added a ping-pong table for Ethan and his friends. And in the polished, turfed yard, which mimics the shape of the pool, there’s always room for an impromptu game of soccer.
Photo Credit: Auda & Auda Photography Lisa’s playful style is on full display in her home office
Looking up from the backyard, you can see the family’s gathering spots—great room, basement, kitchen—framed like vignettes through the windows. “Being a good architect is not about bringing your sense of style to the table,” Morris says. “It’s about being sensitive to the environment, the existing [house], and the client’s interests. And if you can cohesively pull that together into a beautiful design that feels like home, you’ve done your job.”
This month's selection includes pool toys for grown-ups, natural deodorants, and decadent Italian furniture
Natuzzi Italian Couch San Diego
By Jennifer Ianni and Will Riddell
Aperol Sits
If it seems like you’re the only one who didn’t spend their summer sunning on a yacht off the Amalfi Coast, now you can get a taste of Italy right here in SD. Rest your bod upon a made-in-Italy sofa or bed from Natuzzi Italia, a luxury design and furniture brand that recently opened a storefront at UTC in La Jolla. They carry a wide range of sleek furniture for every room in your house. Hey, it might not be sipping an Aperol spritz surrounded by breathtaking views of Capri, but their stunning sofas make being a couch potato something to aspire to.
Finding the Curie
When San Diego–based Sarah Moret was looking for natural beauty and body products that actually worked, she became frustrated by the lack of effective deodorants without aluminum and other potentially harmful ingredients. This (smelly) gap in the market sparked the entrepreneur to start her own line of natural body care. In 2018, she debuted aluminum-free deodorant (available in varieties like coconut nectar, white tea, orange neroli, and unscented for the purists out there). Since then, she’s taken her line to Shark Tank, where she struck a deal with Barbara Corcoran and Mark Cuban, and expanded to offer more products, including body spray and hair freshener. Curie products can now be found in stores like Anthropologie, Walmart, and Nordstrom.
Water Wars
Move over donuts, pizza slices, and alligators. Kids’ swim is over. It’s time for the adults to hop in—and we’re bringing our own toys. Float Factory offers two different styles: one a race car, the other a tank. The tank, a.k.a the Pool Punisher, invites party-goers to engage in high-stakes buoyant battles. The toy comes equipped with a water cannon capable of blasting targets up to 50 feet away. Talk about punishment.
While glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agents have been used to treat Type 2 diabetes for more than 20 years, their recent emergence as weight-loss wonder drugs marked a new frontier in medicine. But their effectiveness has left some patients wondering what to do once they’ve reached their goal. Stopping the medication could mean regaining some, if not all, of the weight. A Scripps Clinic internal medicine physician recently conducted a small study of whether GLP-1 patients who had reached their goal weight could maintain that weight by taking their regularly prescribed injection every other week instead of weekly. Spoiler alert: 30 of 34 patients did. Read more about the study here and what that may mean as pharmaceutical companies roll out oral GLP-1s.
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