Visiting the first house in Malibu

Ah, four-day weekend. We topped it off with a visit to the Adamson House, a historical landmark in Malibu overlooking Surfrider Beach.

Adamson House

Did you know that Malibu had historical landmarks? Heheh. I couldn’t take pictures in the house during the tour, but it was really super cool. The house, lived in by the Adamson and Rindge families, who bought the 13-acre property for about $10-$12 an acre. Can you imagine!

The house is full of history — California history. The home and its outdoor details were built by the same architect who built the Wiltern theater. The entire estate’s architectural details were actually very ahead of their time — indoor bathrooms attached to each bedroom, double sinks in each bathroom, an upstairs kitchen. I swear those are features the experts always harp about on Designed To Sell. (Just kidding)


This is the balcony off the master bedroom and daughters’ bedroom, overlooking what is now Surfrider Beach. Can you imagine growing up with this kind of balcony, when there were no other neighbors to worry about in Malibu?

The style of architecture apparently called for many water features (what, the Pacific Ocean isn’t enough?). There was this jar fountain, and within the line of sight, the star fountain. Oh, and beyond that, the ocean.

Yeah, this is a spectacular fountain. I’m also pretty sure this is where they hold weddings, in front of this fountain.

One of the most distinctive aspects of this home is the sheer number of Malibu Tiles used to decorate the home. Just this one corner at the back entrance of the house gives you a hint of all the tiles that used throughout the estate. You might think it would clash, but I guess it works together if you use enough.

For more pics, check out the photostream. I’m planning to update the captions later.