QUIET COASTAL LUXURY
A contemporary renovation of an iconic Omaha beachfront home shows what becomes possible when architecture, interiors, and landscape work in genuine conversation with one another.
Photos Jackie Meiring
There are renovations that update a home, and then there are those that reveal it. The transformation of a beachfront property in Ōmaha, originally conceived by Patterson Associates in 2003, belongs firmly in the latter category. Completed by Brackenridge Builders under the guidance of Sumich Chaplin Architects, with interiors by Sonya Cotter and landscaping by Jared Lockhart, the project is a testament to what seamless collaboration can achieve.
The brief was explicit: transform and highly resolve the existing home rather than demolish it. Where internal layouts were completely reconfigured, stone cabinetry installed, and a glass-roofed loggia added, the iconic exterior footprint was deliberately preserved – including the signature oversized stackable sliders facing the beachfront that defined the original architecture. The result is a home that feels entirely of its moment while honouring the intelligence of what was already there.
The scope encompassed more living space, a closer connection between the home and the sea, and a reimagining of the bedrooms as private luxury sanctuaries. A refined material palette – travertine, Otsumigaki plaster, stained oak flooring and cabinetry, terrazzo, and solid plaster – gives the interior a warmth and coherence that feels neither imposed nor incidental. The architecture is defined by complex curved walls and the seamless flow between inside and out.
The interior narrative took its cues from what already existed. The exterior metal screen and a curved stairwell offered the starting points from which the design language was drawn. Soft transitions, a tone-on-tone palette of creamy stone and warm timber, carry these references through the home with a light touch.
A highlight of the project is the primary ensuite – named Bathroom of the Year 2025. Accessed from either side of the master bedroom through symmetrical walk-through wardrobes, it unfolds slowly, its generosity apparent only once inside. Though windowless, it is never dark: a custom- manufactured skylight – the largest of its kind produced to date – sits above, its light diffused through a slatted oak timber screen that casts a dappled glow across the travertine surfaces below. Working with just three material surfaces, the stone is honed on floors and walls and wrapped across a 3.8-metre vanity that anchors the space. A curved wall clad in recycled glass micro mosaics enfolds the walk-in shower and a free-standing bath positioned beneath the skylight, while hand-blown frosted glass pendants complete the room.
The landscaping extends the project’s sensibility outward. Terrazzo patios and steps, cycads, kentia palms, and pygmy date palms anchor the home in its coastal setting without competing with the views that define it. Delivered as a full turnkey project by Brackenridge Builders – on an accelerated timeline and with considerable logistical complexity – a high level of coordination and technical precision delivered a home of quiet coastal luxury.
What has been achieved at Ōmaha is a home in full possession of itself. Every material choice and threshold between inside and out reflects a project thought through completely – and built to match.
