Perched above Zuma Beach in Malibu, the home of lifestyle creator Camille Styles has been named Sunset magazine's 2026 Idea House — the annual showcase the publication uses to spotlight what great West Coast living looks like right now. This year's pick is a warm, modern retreat built around salty air, open doors and a deliberately unhurried pace.
The premise is simple but appealing: a house designed for real life near the coast, not for show. Entertaining is central to the layout, with spaces that flow easily from indoors to out — the kind of open, easygoing plan that suits long summer evenings and a constant sea breeze. Styles, known for her approachable take on entertaining and design, brings a relaxed sensibility to the project rather than a fussy, showroom finish.
Sunset's Idea House programme has a long history of turning a single California home into a treasure trove of usable ideas: colour palettes that survive coastal weather, materials that handle sand and salt, and layouts that make indoor-outdoor living genuinely practical. The 2026 edition leans into that tradition, showing how a modern beach house can feel warm and lived-in rather than stark or overly minimal.
For travellers, the story doubles as a reason to point the car up the Pacific Coast Highway. Zuma Beach is one of Malibu's most popular stretches of sand, and the surrounding neighbourhood is a study in the low-key luxury the area is known for — beach car parks at dawn, seafood lunches, and a coastline that stretches toward Point Dume. Even if you can't step inside the Idea House itself, the design takeaways translate: light woods, breathable fabrics, and rooms that open to the outdoors are an easy brief to borrow for your own place, or just to soak up on a Malibu getaway.
If a Malibu trip is on the cards, the broader area delivers well beyond one house. El Matador State Beach offers dramatic rock formations a short drive north, Malibu Pier and its surroundings make an easy lunch stop, and the hills above the coast hide wineries and hiking trails. Add a stop at a farmers market for picnic supplies and you have the essence of the lifestyle Styles' home was designed around — simple, outdoorsy and unhurried.
Whether you follow it as design inspiration or as a nudge to plan a coastal escape, Sunset's 2026 Idea House makes a strong case for slowing down by the sea.
Sunset
