West Bay

Balboa Peninsula runs parallel to the Pacific coast, just south of Newport Beach, enclosing a sound alive with pleasure boats. It’s a picturesque setting for waterfront homes—but most are generic structures squeezed onto narrow lots. When a young entrepreneur commissioned McClean Design to create a house on a rare triple lot, the vision was clear: a modern retreat for family and friends that made a bold architectural statement. With interior designer Lynda Murray, the client embraced an ambitious design that pushed the limits of scale, material, and transparency.

The square-shaped parcel gave the architects room to set the house back from the street, carving out a south-facing entry garden and a large garage. The garden acts as a serene buffer—shielded by translucent glass that both protects and teases, allowing glimpses of movement beyond. Sunlight streams in through the southern exposure, warming the interiors and inviting nature into the threshold of the home.

Much of the house’s exterior is clad in bold, veined white marble—visually striking and resistant to the salt-laden coastal air. The same marble flows inside, creating continuity between interior and exterior. Luxurious touches punctuate the palette, including an onyx wall in a powder room. From the gate, one can see through the glass façade straight to the marina, as if the house itself is transparent to the view.

A glass bridge floats over the lower-level pool, leading into the great room that spans the full width of the home. Pocketing sliders open the space entirely to a covered patio with a fireplace and spa, making it usable year-round. Below, a sea-level terrace invites guests to linger on the water’s edge. Light reflects off surfaces—glass, water, stone—constantly shifting with the sun and sea.

A stainless steel spiral staircase with limestone treads links the three levels and sparkles in the light of suspended globes. From here you can get a sense of the whole house, front to back and vertically.

The spirit of hedonism also flourishes on the lower level, in the pool with its water wall and padded seating alcove, in the sauna and driving simulator, and in a theater that any Hollywood producer would covet. Two guest bedrooms and a gym open onto the pool. No wonder invitations to this house are prized.