There were many charming things about the house (front porch, wood-burning fireplace). There were also many not-so-charming things (veneer wood, spotty landscaping). So they got to work. They repainted the walls but didn’t mask all the old chips, which Kendall argues gives the house character: “People might’ve dinged their surfboard as they’re coming through,” she says, waving her hands. “We want it to feel like it’s in California.” They raised the ceiling, replaced the floors, and sourced furniture from anywhere and everywhere—from Indonesia to Greece, France to Facebook Marketplace. And slowly but surely, they made the home their own.
“In my mind, it’s part French maison, but then also a little beach shack,” Kendall says of her home as I sit at her weathered wood dining table. She’s made breakfast: yogurt and granola, cold brew coffee with oat milk, fresh strawberries and croissants from Gjelina. Everything goes right on the wood. Kendall, I soon learn, is very anti-coaster: “We don’t put coasters down because I want to be able to see who’s been here before. And the table wants to remember the people that it’s helped share conversations. So the more rings, the better,” she says.