A Drybar founder finds room to roam in Costa Mesa home transformation

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Drybar co-founder Michael Landau, his wife Sarah Hutnick and dog Samson at the entrance to their newly remodeled Costa Mesa ranch house. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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Architect Josh Heitler created a foyer for transition. “In New York, you ride the elevator to your apartment,” Heitler said. “You want a transition. When you do all that, perceptually you feel like you’re in your private living space.” (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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A Drybar touch: A vase made from yellow blow dryers. The Drybar chains feature chandeliers made from similar yellow blow dryers. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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Landau wanted a “sophisticated man cave” where he could relax. The tufted linen couch is from Restoration Hardware. The lion artwork, right, is from YellowKorner in Fashion Island. The chair and ottomans are by Victoria Hagan. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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Sarah Hutnick, Samson and Michael Landau in the new loft-like living area of their Costa Mesa home. The kitchen was moved to face a dining room furnished with Restoration Hardware pieces and a living room that opens to the outdoors. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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The couple spend most of their time in the open kitchen. Although they took the house down to the studs, they kept the professional DCS range that came with the house. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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Exterior walls on either side of the fireplace were replaced with walls of glass to allow sun and fresh air inside as well as easy access to the exterior living areas. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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A series of clear glass jar pendants from West Elm creates a contemporary chandelier in the dining room. In what proved to be a fairly straightforward update, Heitler painted the original dark ceiling white and installed lights underneath the ceiling beams to brighten the interiors. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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Barn doors on industrial sliders can be moved to hide the television or windows. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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Barn doors hang on sliders on either side of the master bedroom entrances. “If the barn doors are in the open position, the master suite is part of the house,” explains architect Josh Heitler. “It gives that flexibility to really use all of the space, or close them off at a party.” (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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A custom headboard by Heitler provides a place for lighting and storage. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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An atrium located between the master bedroom and breakfast nook illuminates both rooms. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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The master bedroom walk-in closet. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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The master bath features Carrara marble, warm wood paneling and grasscloth wall coverings. Lighting includes sconces from Restoration Hardware and lamp and ceiling fixtures by Circa Lighting. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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Industrial cage sconces from Restoration Hardware. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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The couple fell in love with the property, which had reportedly been a working farm at one time. “I think they may have bought it for the land more than the house,” said architect Josh Heitler. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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The home’s corrugated steel barn was cleaned up and stabilized to create a relatively open multipurpose room. The couple replaced some of the wood framing and added pendants and string lights, fans, a refrigerator and a ping pong table. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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Perhaps most impressive is the rustic corrugated steel shed located at the back of the property. According to neighbors, the River Rd sign is original to the house and was used to highlight the dirt road next to the barn from many years ago. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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“We bought this house for Samson,” Michael Landau says with a grin as he tosses a Frisbee to the Australian shepherd in his backyard. “This house has changed our lives.” (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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Outside, Heitler designed an exterior living and dining room and an outdoor kitchen. Perfect for entertaining, the new modern trellis structure offers relief from the sun while allowing visitors to be exposed to the outdoors. Most of the furnishings are by Restoration Hardware. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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The outdoor kitchen. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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From the sidewalk, you can see all the way through the house to the shed at the back of the property. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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The exterior of the 1950 house offers a modern Ranch update with a mix of white stucco, weathered ipe panels and board form concrete. Heitler added a trellis in the front and back to add a sense of what he calls “solid geometry.” (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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The Drybar salon in West Hollywood (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

By Lisa Boone

Los Angeles Times

Feb. 28, 2015 5 AM PT

Following stints living in New York and Los Angeles, Drybar co-founder Michael Landau and his wife, Sarah Hutnick, found themselves in a tiny condo in Corona del Mar.

Like so many Southern Californians, the couple craved more outdoor space for themselves — and their Australian shepherd Samson — and less time commuting to the Drybar offices in Irvine.

"We bought this house for Samson," Michael Landau says with a grin as he tosses a Frisbee to the Australian shepherd in his backyard. "This house has changed our lives."

After searching for more than six months for a home with a backyard, they came across a 2,500-square-foot ranch house on nearly half an acre in Costa Mesa. The 1950 house was run-down, but it wasn’t the house that made an impression. The couple fell in love with the land, which reportedly had been a working farm at one time.

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Looking back, Landau described the architectural bones of the four-bedroom, two-bath house as “not that bad.”

His contractor, however, refused to work on the house, saying Landau would never be happy with the results.

The exterior of the 1950 house offers a modern Ranch update with a mix of white stucco, weathered ipe panels and board form concrete. Heitler added a trellis in the front and back to add a sense of what he calls "solid geometry."

To update the property, the couple hired architect Josh Heitler, the designer and architect behind the Drybar chain of blow-dry bars. “It was one of those houses that had grown organically,” Heitler said. “People kept adding rooms to the house without any real plan.”

The architect agreed to the remodel, but when he traveled from his office in New York to Costa Mesa, he was dismayed to find disjointed ceiling heights, awkward roof lines and uneven floor levels. Even worse were the dark interiors lined with knotty pine wood paneling, ceramic tile flooring and dark tongue and groove ceiling planks.

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From the beginning, the couple knew they wanted an open floor plan that extended to the backyard they cherished. And they wanted something timeless and modern as well as elegant and comfortable.

Sarah Hutnick, Samson and Michael Landau in the new loft-like living area of their Costa Mesa home. The kitchen was moved to face a dining room furnished with Restoration Hardware pieces and a living room that opens to the outdoors.

Over a two-year period, Heitler took the house down to the studs and reorganized the interiors. In an attempt to create a cohesive layout, he moved the kitchen, which now faces a new dining room and a living room that opens to the outdoors. The absence of walls gives the living space an informal feel and allows ease of movement from room to room.

In what proved to be a fairly straightforward update, Heitler painted the dark ceiling white and installed lights underneath the ceiling beams to brighten the interiors. Additionally, walls on either side of the fireplace were replaced with walls of glass that allow sun and fresh air inside as well as easy access to the exterior living areas. In lieu of conventional doors, Heitler hung barn doors on industrial sliders, which separate the master bedroom from the rest of the house. On the opposing wall, another set of sliders encases the television and windows, allowing them to appear or disappear as the mood strikes.

An atrium located between the master bedroom and breakfast nook illuminates both rooms.

Working with Heitler, the couple chose furnishings in subdued tones from Restoration Hardware and Juxtaposition Home in Newport Beach. Heitler installed whitewashed oak flooring as well as bright pops of yellow — a Drybar trademark — and Carrara marble in the kitchen and bathrooms. An existing atrium between the breakfast nook and master bedroom magnifies the light in the living areas courtesy of newly installed glass panels. “It’s an important interior design element,” Heitler explained, “as it allows a piece of sky and green space into the middle of the house.”

The enclosed backyard serves as an oasis for the family, including Samson. One of the most impressive elements is the rustic corrugated steel barn located at the back of the property. After its foundation was fortified, the structure was preserved with few updates and is now used as an open multipurpose room for entertaining, storage and ping-pong tournaments.

Outside, Heitler designed an exterior living and dining room and an outdoor kitchen. Perfect for entertaining, a modern trellis structure offers relief from the sun while allowing visitors to be exposed to the outdoors.

After some initial disappointments, both the architect and couple are pleased with the outcome. “It’s gratifying that it turned out so well,” Heitler said. “Everyone said it was a tear-down. We didn’t add one square foot. More than anything else we probably did addition by subtraction.”

For now, the couple can’t imagine living anywhere else.

Condo life in Corona del Mar, Landau said, gave him an appreciation for the lifestyle he now enjoys. “We bought this house for Samson,” he said with a grin as he tossed a Frisbee to the Aussie in his backyard. “This house has changed our lives.”

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Twitter: lisaboone19

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