Olivia's former beach home - Beach Houses

Olivia Newton-John And Matt Lattanzi Residence, 1993
Designed By James Chuda
Interiors Designed By Saundra Abbott

When we found this cove setting where sea otters, sand pipers, pelicans, sea gulls, and migrating dolphins and whales can be seen, I knew it was home, explains Australian-born singer Olivia Newton-John about her new Malibu beach house. I wrote a song about dolphins on one of my albums, and they've been a good-luck sign for me.

As the Goodwill Ambassador for the Environment to the United Nations, Newton-John shares a mutual concern about the environment with her husband, Matt Lattanzi, and architect Jim Chuda. Chuda designed the home to represent the latest in environmentally-sound design, both in energy conservation and the use of nontoxic building materials.

The construction was a monumental task, Lattanzi explains. All the materials were hard to find because we wanted only nontoxic insulations and paints, recycled and farmed lumber, and selectively logged hardwoods.

The mahogany doors and window casements are from sustainable forestry, architect Jim Chuda adds. And the oak floors, from private farms in Northern California, are hand-grooved and finished with nontoxic, water-based material.

Chuda, who has known Newton-John and Lattanzi for some time and helped the couple find this particular lot, says, It is an environmental house that integrates nature in a humanistic way. Since it's located in a cove, the five-level structure takes advantage of solar gain and cool ocean breezes, while minimizing slope erosion. Vegetation is added on arbor-covered, natural stone decks to control heat from the summer sun.

Australians love the beach, and I went to the beach a lot when I was a little girl, says Newton-John. I like to be near water wherever I live, and my husband comes from Portland where his favorite thing was to go fishing every weekend with his family of ten brothers and sisters.

Before we built the house, I would sit on the beach site and dream and draw sketches, says Matt Lattanzi. I wanted the house to be curvilinear and smooth like Mother Nature. I also wanted to have the feeling of a dock, so we terraced the cliff down to the beach level and made a dock at the bulkhead with big, thick ropes. We even shaped the top of the bulkhead so it rolls like the waves.

Matt built the area down by the beach that looks like a little wharf or pier, Newton-John adds. He can lower his boat and slide it right into the water." A path, half-hidden by the veg etation, winds down the cliff to the beach and boat dock.

On the inside, a log-beam ceiling and expansive sliding glass terrace doors define the living room space. White slip-covered sofas and an easy chair provide comfortable seating, and Newton-John's white baby grand piano fills one corner.

Olivia and Matt are very sensitive and creative people, says interior designer Saundra Abbott, who also owns Rituals Gallery, and I feel that the tranquillity of this seaside retreat reflects their spirit. The interiors are filled with carefully chosen antique pieces with a history and life all their own.

I told Matt and Jim I wanted lots of windows, fireplaces, and balconies where I could put pots and flowers, Newton-John adds about her original request to her husband, who contributed to the design and oversaw the construction with his brother, Chris Lattanzi Although it's a southwestern design, it's also Mediterranean in keeping with thick, stark white walls, and big doors. It's a house that feels really strong, like an old fort.