Inside Camille Styles’ Warm and Modern Malibu Retreat—It’s Also Sunset’s 2026 Idea House

Perched above Zuma Beach, Camille Styles’ home is a warm, modern retreat designed for salty air, open doors, easy entertaining, and life lived at a gentler pace.

Nearly every room in Camille Styles’ Malibu home is oriented toward the ocean to take advantage of the views and onshore breeze. The dramatic tongue-and-groove Humboldt Sawmill redwood siding stained with Benjamin Moore black exterior wood stain is fire-resistant, as is the substantial Humboldt Sawmill trellis, and the metal roof. Photo by Thomas J. Story.

Written by Christine Lennon September 16, 2026

Camille Styles is a first-generation influencer and former event planner from Texas who has spun her well edited life and good taste into a multi-platform blog, magazine, and shopping resource for thousands of aspirational fans since 2009. Looking for recipes for entertaining? Styles has them. Need a perfect beach hat, organization tips, a great travel outfit, or self-care advice? She’s got those, too. Styles is so cool and collected, and lives with such intention, that she made a protracted, six-year renovation of a Malibu beach house—which also happens to be Sunset’s 2026 Idea House—look easy, and feel like it was all part of a master plan.

Idea House Malibu Deck — From the outside in, cladding from Humboldt Sawmill defines the exterior with naturally durable, effortlessly beautiful redwood. A trellis bridges indoor and outdoor living across the kitchen.

“Originally, when we bought the property, we thought we would turn it into this dream vacation home. But then things changed, and we decided to make it our full-time residence,” she says. “The timing worked out in a beautiful way. Now we get to make Malibu our home.”

Styles Family Portrait — Camille Styles, husband Adam, children Phoebe and Henry, and the family dog sit under the trellis in the outdoor dining room.

While Styles is originally from Fort Worth, and she called Austin home for two decades, she and her husband Adam Moore have felt drawn to the coastal lifestyle for as long as she can remember.

Fire Pit — Outdoors, the sunken fire-pit lounge creates an inviting place to gather after sunset.

“Malibu was our soul place,” she explains. “We loved the farm stands, the access to nature, the weather, and the surf culture. My husband and I are both entrepreneurs and owned our own businesses, and we were always over-busy, and over-stressed. We wanted to live at a slower, unhurried pace. And people really value that here.”

Idea House Malibu Bedroom with Avocado Mattress — Throughout the house, smart design makes daily life feel more serene. In the primary bedroom, an Avocado luxury plush pillow-top mattress, handcrafted in Los Angeles with certified organic materials, offers a place to recharge beside doors that open directly to the garden.

A search for a second home with easy ocean access led them to a small neighborhood perched above Zuma Beach, where modest (by local standards) houses built into the hillside offered views of the Pacific and a tight-knit community feeling.

Idea House Malibu Exterior Detail — Benjamin Moore’s Woodluxe Semi-Solid Exterior Wood Stain in Black gives the exterior façade its moody depth while allowing the natural grain of California-grown Humboldt Sawmill redwood siding to remain visible. A wall made with Eldorado Stone’s Bella Country Rubble adds warmth, irregular texture, and timeworn character.

“We found a 1950s beach property that we knew needed a lot of work, and a lot of love,” she says. “But the house was immersed in natural beauty and had real potential. Over the last six years, it’s gone through many permutations. In the beginning, things moved very slowly because of permitting delays. The first couple of years it felt like there was no end in sight. It was so hard to get through, and my patience muscle was definitely strengthened.”

In the primary bath, Duravit’s sculptural Soleil by Starck freestanding tub turns a daily soak into an indoor-outdoor ritual framed by the Eldorado Stone wall and olive trees. Duravit bath furniture threads through every bathroom for a quietly cohesive, never overdone aesthetic.

Sited on a 25,000-plus-square-foot lot with mature palm trees, a guest house, and a vintage kidney-shaped pool, the house served as a blank slate for Styles’ organic-modern vision. And she joined forces with architect Doug Burdge, a past Sunset Idea House partner, to bring it to life. Burdge has been designing houses in the community since 1987, and he is as familiar with the building codes, restrictions, environmental concerns, and fire-safety practices as anyone in the community.

Idea House Malibu Primary Bathroom — Caesarstone surfaces form substantial floating vanities with integrated basins, providing a pale, mineral counterpoint to warm wood cabinetry and earthy tile. The California Closets vanity is elegantly centered, giving an inviting peek into the walk-in his-and-hers dressing room beyond.

“It’s my world to think of everything that has to go into making a house safe,” says Burdge. The vaulted ceilings in the bedrooms were Burdge’s suggestion, since attics are a fire hazard, and older homes have to be redesigned with that in mind. “Of course, there’s gravel space around the house as a xeriscape zone. The decking was made with treated wood, and you have to use better venting under it so embers can’t get trapped there. And the trellis was built with heavy timber, because the burn rate is less.” Burdge and Styles collaborated on the design, creating a 1,000-square-foot great room addition with a large, open kitchen, a sitting area, and a wall of glass doors that opened onto an extensive deck and water views, and undertaking a gut renovation of the existing three-bedroom house. The exterior siding, redwood planks from Humboldt Sawmill stained dark, and a corrugated metal roof were choices that emerged after Styles had a couple of years to deliberate on design choices and fire-conscious materials.

Deck off Bedroom — The grain of the Humboldt Sawmill siding stained in Benjamin Moore black Woodluxe Semi-Solid Exterior Wood Stain shows itself beautifully in the full sun.

“I’d always lived in all-white houses, but the beach house now feels more layered,” she says. “The timeline gave us the opportunity to let the original ideas for the house marinate. It gave us time to inform our inspiration. The biggest area we evolved in was the color palette. Then later in the process we decided to stain the exterior siding black, with some Japandi influences. We had many years to select the furniture, so when it was time to order I was really ready.”

Fireplace Seating Area — In the great room, Caesarstone’s Aluminous surface gives the streamlined hearth a softly mineral presence, while Benjamin Moore’s Woodluxe Semi-Solid Stain in Arbor White washes the vaulted wood ceiling with light without concealing its natural grain.

Other brand partners include Kallista for brass faucets, Emtek for door hardware, California Closets, Avocado mattresses, Benjamin Moore paint, Caesarstone countertops, Feeney railings, Schneider Electric, and Duravit bathroom fixtures and furniture. Inner Gardens assisted with interior plants.

Outdoor Kitchen and Bar — The same Aluminous surface used in the great room continues outdoors across the kitchen and bar, creating a durable, understated backdrop for wood-fired pizza, long lunches, and evenings under the olive trees. Used in two distinctly different settings, the materials help connect the home’s calm interiors to its relaxed outdoor living spaces.

The timeline for the home’s completion proved to be fortuitous for a big family move. They sold their Austin house and moved to California in May, giving them a few weeks to settle in before the start of the school year. While they weren’t even considering proximity to schools when they were looking strictly for a vacation property, they’re lucky that their daughter will be entering the local high school as a freshman, and their son middle school, which are both a five-minute walk from the house. And Styles now has the perfect laboratory to test her new homewares brand, Casa Zuma, which she launched a handful of years ago and is inspired by the thoughtful, elevated casual local lifestyle.

Casa Zuma Housewares — Camille’s Casa Zuma housewares add another handmade layer to the interior.

“I was always drawn to handmade, beautiful objects that reflect my lifestyle and my priorities. So three years ago, I started Casa Zuma, slowly growing a brand of collected and designed handmade objects from around the world,” she says. “I can curate the house as a showroom, and a testing ground, like a litmus test. A piece has to prove itself in our house first. How do those towels look hanging next to the outdoor shower? It’s a test.”

Kitchen Island with Casa Zuma Pendants — In the kitchen, lamps from Casa Zuma illuminate the great room from the sustainable energy management program by Schneider Electric that optimizes efficiency and comfort of the home. The kitchen island, hearth, and outdoor kitchen beyond are topped with Caesarstone Aluminous, creating a unified connection between indoors and outdoors.

The pendant lights over the kitchen island, and many of the tabletop items, are from Casa Zuma. Styles has an outdoor furniture collaboration made in Bali through Haute Home. With a built-in fire pit, a concrete conversation area, and full wood-fired pizza oven near the kitchen, the flow between the interior and exterior spaces feels seamless and designed for frequent, easy entertaining. While Styles was the driving force behind the design, she credits her hard-working (and patient) team of builders and designers with bringing it to life. “The builders at RS Wood were so incredible. The quality of their work and the attention to detail is so high. And Michael Fiore, the landscape designer, was a true partner. He shared our vision for an indoor-outdoor lifestyle and brought so much expertise to the project.”

Cat on the Bed — In Phoebe’s room, an Avocado mattress offers the family cat a cozy organic resting spot.

Call it kismet, or shrewd strategic thinking, but the “intentional life” ethos Styles has been writing about on her content platforms, and the “future self” exercises she believes in, made this dream of hers come true. It just took a little longer than she’d hoped. “I just kept telling myself that good things take time and I had to hold on to that vision,” she says. “We had to trust that the timing would work out. And it did.”

Brand Partners

Avocado Green Brands

Avocado crafts luxury organic mattresses with a commitment to health, sustainability, and transparency. Handcrafted in their Los Angeles factory, every mattress is certified to rigorous standards, including GOTS, OEKO-TEX® Standard 100 Class I, MADE SAFE®, EWG Verified®, and GREENGUARD Gold. As a proud member of 1% for the Planet, Avocado has donated more than $12 million to environmental nonprofits since 2017, while creating products that are better for you and better for the planet.

Benjamin Moore

Benjamin Moore was founded in 1883 and remains one of the world’s leading premium paint, color, and coatings brands, continually pushing the boundaries of innovation while championing sustainability. With more than 3,500 transformative colors, design tools, and expertise for consumers and professionals alike. Benjamin Moore products are available from more than 8,500 paint, decorating, and hardware retailers throughout the United States, Canada and the world.

Caesarstone

Caesarstone innovates premium surfaces for residential applications, including Caesarstone Porcelain and Caesarstone ICON™. As a trusted design partner in the U.S. and over 50 countries worldwide, Caesarstone is renowned for beautiful, durable, sustainable surfaces designed to last a lifetime.

California Closets

Idea House Malibu Closet — California Closets transformed the primary dressing room with its warm Quiet Grove Luxe Woodgrain finish, custom lighting, tailored storage, and a central vanity that brings a sense of calm to Camille’s morning routine.

For nearly 50 years, California Closets has been making more room for what matters. Founded in 1978, California Closets has built a reputation as the industry leader and design authority in custom organizational solutions for rooms and spaces throughout the home. Professional design consultants and installers are dedicated to delivering a highly personalized experience from consultation to installation.

Duravit

Duravit believes in creating sustainable bathroom spaces where high quality and timeless design combine to create a sense of well-being while enhancing the Duravit experience through its products, service, and commitment to sustainability. With the design and quality of Duravit products, even the most ordinary, everyday moments become aesthetic and artistic.

Eldorado Stone

Westlake Royal Building Products’ Eldorado Stone brand delivers handcrafted architectural stone veneer designed to capture the authentic texture and character of natural stone. Ideal for both interior and exterior applications, the manufactured stone veneer offers timeless curb appeal, design versatility, and lasting durability, helping create inviting spaces with old-world charm and modern performance.

Emtek

For over 40 years, Emtek has offered customizable door and cabinet hardware assembled to order in Los Angeles, giving homeowners vast freedom of choice to create whatever hardware combinations they can imagine. With the widest range of categories, styles, and finish options in the industry, you can make each moment an opportunity to express your taste and invite others to experience your home as only you can imagine it.

Feeney

Feeny Exterior Stairs — On the guesthouse stairs, Feeney’s custom DesignRail system pairs slender aluminum framing with horizontal CableRail infill, creating a crisp, nearly transparent barrier that preserves views of the redwood and garden.

Feeney brings elevated architectural detail to refined indoor and outdoor spaces through premium railing solutions designed for modern living. Known for clean lines, enduring performance, and exceptional versatility, Feeney products complement sophisticated residential design without overpowering the surrounding architecture. Feeney helps designers create polished, purposeful spaces where craftsmanship, materiality, and views remain the focus.

Humboldt Sawmill

Redwood is an iconic building material, known for its warm hues, unique characteristics, natural beauty, and long-lasting durability. Humboldt Sawmill Company sources redwood logs from 450,000 acres of company-owned, Forest Stewardship Council® (FSC® C013133) certified timberlands. Humboldt Sawmill offers an array of finished redwood products including pattern stock and siding, decking, and fencing; beams and timbers for outdoor living and hospitality; and projects where aesthetics and durability are prized.

Kallista

Informed by a century of engineering, the Kallista brand refines every design detail to innovate what has gone before. It unites enduring craftsmanship with the promise of exceptional performance—taking the best of all worlds to form new icons. Kallista embodies American luxury kitchen and bath solutions designed with global appeal.

Schneider Electric

Schneider Electric is a global energy technology leader that empowers home energy to be intelligently managed for greater efficiency and comfort.

Idea House Team

Idea House Malibu Build Team — The build team, including architect Doug Burdge (center, blue hat); RS Wood’s project site superintendent Carlos Ibarra (5th from left, light gray shirt); and Matthew Dente, co-owner of RS Wood Construction (center, light gray shirt and no sunglasses next to Doug Burdge).

Architect: Burdge Architects, Douglas W. Burdge, AIA

Builder: RS Wood Construction, Inc.

Interior Design + Styling: Camille Styles

Landscape Design: Fiore Landscape Design, Michael Fiore, ASLA

Interior Plants: Inner Gardens

House Details

Lot Square Footage: 28,562

House Square Footage: 3,104

Bedrooms: 4

Bathrooms: 4.5

Inside Camille Styles’ Warm and Modern Malibu Retreat—It’s Also Sunset’s 2026 Idea House