Shore Thing

Longtime Malibu resident Scott Gillen, the creator and founder of design firm Unvarnished, used the expertise he gained as a commercial film director to influence the 23 homes he designed and built in Malibu and Venice over the last 14 years. “My commercials were driven by design, and everything in a home is a series of design and composition,” says Gillen when discussing the similarities between filming a commercial and designing a home. “My standard is very simple: I build houses I would live in.”

In 2015, Gillen purchased a 3.5-acre oceanfront promontory, and the following year he set about building a contemporary abode. On track to be completed this summer, the New Castle offers approximately 15,000 square feet of livable space—a size that can never again be replicated because of new anti-mansion codes in Malibu. The fully furnished main house has five bedrooms and five and a half bathrooms. Meticulous attention to detail is evident in every inch of the home, from the hand-sanded wood ceiling beams to the 80-year-old, dry-aged oak floors.

The living room’s floor-to-ceiling walls of glass overlook both the infinity pool and the Pacific Ocean, and the $1 million teak wine-and-cigar room is already stocked with 400-plus bottles of wines from Napa Valley, Calif. Furnishings include a hand-hewn dining table for 12, a 31-foot custom Minotti couch, and 32 pairs of hidden speakers that play music throughout the residence. The grounds also include a Tesla charging station, a butterfly sanctuary, and a guest house. ($85 million)