Though the architect Matthew Goodwin was based in New York for a decade, his internal compass has always turned towards California where he was born and raised. Which may explain why when the old Surfrider Motel on Malibu’s Pacific Coast Highway came onto the market, he snapped it up. Built in 1953, the low-slung building’s bones were perfectly preserved, but Goodwin, his wife Emma Crowther, and business partner and entrepreneur Alessandro Zampedri saw a chance to reimagine the iconic Californian beach house.
In the hands of Crowther’s creative direction, the 20-room Surfrider redux is very much of its place – a calm oasis of pastel hues, Belgian linen, rough-hewn timber surfaces, teak beds, woven grass rugs, and pitched ceilings, that has been crisply dressed with Hans Wegner chairs and Picasso prints. The best rooms in the house are upstairs with outdoor terraces, whilst the suites, awash with the legendary Malibu light, feature hammocks and an unending vista of the surf-lined horizon.
With the Surfrider beach just metres away, in-house diversions are confined to a library, a rooftop bar with views of Malibu Pier and First Point, and a restaurant whose menu channels Californian sensibilities with liberal slashes of Meyer lemon oil, micro greens and chipotle cashew cream.
INFORMATION
ADDRESS
23033 Pacific Coast Highway
Malibu
-
Mexico's Office of Urban Resilience creates projects that cities can learn fromAt Office of Urban Resilience, the team believes that ‘architecture should be more than designing objects. It can be a tool for generating knowledge’
-
‘I want to bring anxiety to the surface': Shannon Cartier Lucy on her unsettling worksIn an exhibition at Soft Opening, London, Shannon Cartier Lucy revisits childhood memories
-
What one writer learnt in 2025 through exploring the ‘intimate, familiar’ wardrobes of ten friendsInspired by artist Sophie Calle, Colleen Kelsey’s ‘Wearing It Out’ sees the writer ask ten friends to tell the stories behind their most precious garments – from a wedding dress ordered on a whim to a pair of Prada Mary Janes
-
Form... and flavour? The best design-led restaurant debuts of 2025A Wallpaper* edit of the restaurant interiors that shaped how we ate, gathered and lingered this year
-
New York’s members-only boom shows no sign of stopping – and it's about to get even more nicheFrom bathing clubs to listening bars, gatekeeping is back in a big way. Here’s what’s driving the wave of exclusivity
-
The Wallpaper* team’s travel highlights of the yearA year of travel distilled. Discover the destinations that inspired our editors on and off assignment
-
This cult Los Angeles pop-up restaurant now has a permanent addressChef Brian Baik’s Corridor 109 makes its permanent debut in Melrose Hill. No surprise, it's now one of the hardest tables in town to book
-
NYC’s first alcohol-free members’ club is full of spiritThe Maze NYC is a design-led social hub in Flatiron, redefining how the city gathers with an alcohol-free, community-driven ethos
-
Wallpaper* Design Awards 2026: City of the Year shortlistExplore the nominated urban locations making an impact in design, architecture and contemporary culture
-
A local’s guide to Miami by gallerist Nina JohnsonAs Art Basel Miami Beach 2025 kicks off, gallerist Nina Johnson shares her hometown essentials – from art museums to where to eat, drink and shop
-
Dior’s new Beverly Hills dining salon raises the bar for couture cuisineFrom Peter Marino’s onyx bar and faceted mirrored walls to Nicole Wittenberg’s vast, immersive botanical canvas, Dior’s first restaurant outside Paris is here
