Geoff Sumich Design

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Geoff Sumich Design My approach is based on the concept of “Romantic Modernism” ; incorporating elements of the past

emerald bay 9as the season of gathering approaches, this is the kind of house that hosts. geoff sumich designed emerald ...
10/16/2026

emerald bay 9

as the season of gathering approaches, this is the kind of house that hosts. geoff sumich designed emerald bay 9 around the moments that happen when people come together: a travertine dining table with sculpted stools that seats a crowd, a built-in bar glowing with backlit shelves, and a lounge wrapped in hand-carved wood panels where the conversation naturally lingers.

woven pendants, warm plaster walls, and textured stone keep everything soft and inviting, while walls of glass open to the garden so the party can spill outdoors. below, a pool terrace steps down toward the coast, ready for morning coffee, a late-night soak, or the whole family at once.

and when the guests finally head home, a quiet primary suite with an ocean view is waiting.

as seen in ocean home magazine «I blend romance with modern design.’ says architect Geoff Sumich.» There’s always warmth...
10/14/2026

as seen in ocean home magazine

«I blend romance with modern design.’ says architect Geoff Sumich.» There’s always warmth with wood or stone: Trained in modernism in his native New Zealand. the architect arrived in California during the 1518os. only to find clients demanding Tudor and French Country homes. For 15 years. he cut his teeth on classical architecture.
-When I finally broke out to do the modern work that I wanted to, I hid the traditional work from my clients for three or four years: he says. ‘Then I put it on my website because it actually informed my modem work: Interior designer Lisa McDennon earned a degree in fine arts from VC Irvine and another in interior design from the Interior Designers Institute in Newport Beach. When she set up her flan in 2000.

she began to explore a contextual. coastal dyle of her own. “It reflects the surroundings and natural organic elements:she says. “I balance the architectural structure of the house with the client’s personal style.” In this case, the client was developer Tom Nicholson. whose work is well known in Newport Beach and Corona del Mar. While the building’s bones were designed first by architects at Toblesky Green in Yorba Linda. Nicholson asked McDennon and Sumich to finish the home for himself and his wife.

read the article on digital.oceanhomemag.com

tips on designing a home:1. write an inspiring briefa well-written sentence can be an inspiring brief. a creative image ...
10/13/2026

tips on designing a home:
1. write an inspiring brief

a well-written sentence can be an inspiring brief. a creative image or metaphor helps me understand what you want your home to feel like. think about the spaces that appeal to your inner romantic or your sense of wonder. the home in la cresta shown here was designed for “a modern-day cowboy.” that brief inspired pioneer fort walls, a 200-year-old mesquite gate in the courtyard, and a steel hitching post for the owner’s horses.

inside the process: every geoff sumich home starts with models, not screens.before a single computer drawing, geoff expe...
10/07/2026

inside the process: every geoff sumich home starts with models, not screens.

before a single computer drawing, geoff experiments with physical models, exploring shape, texture, and proportion by hand. it’s central to the romantic modernism that guides his residential work.

it starts with 5 to 20 massing models per project, early studies that compare a home’s overall form and proportions. then come the wood models, built to bring warmth and emotion into the design and to judge how each form relates to the next. with every iteration, the design is simplified to its essential forms, and the finished model captures everything learned along the way.

from there, the design moves into 3d computer models, where the exterior is refined and the interior architecture takes shape. and geoff stays hands-on through construction, answering questions large and small, so the design carries from the model into the finished home.

simple forms. lasting character. built by hand first.
as seen at an off market opportunity in bear brand - offered by Shawn H Bronwyn Leigh Jones

coto de cazathe best homes aren’t built around rooms, they’re built around gatherings. geoff sumich designed this coto d...
10/06/2026

coto de caza

the best homes aren’t built around rooms, they’re built around gatherings. geoff sumich designed this coto de caza residence with hosting in mind: a long gravel courtyard set for a dinner of twenty, a reflecting channel running alongside, and an outdoor lounge under a steel pergola that flows straight off the great room. the walls of glass pull the whole house into the party, and a floating teak platform in the pool turns a quiet afternoon into a gathering of its own.

warm wood slats, board-formed concrete, and soft white volumes keep the palette calm, so the people, the food, and the evening light stay the stars. this is a house meant to be filled: friends lingering past sunset, kids in the pool, one more bottle opened.

because a great home isn’t just something you live in. it’s something you share.

as seen in: blue door magazine“sea worthy”: a trio of home talent comes together to create a new take on the ultimate oc...
10/05/2026

as seen in: blue door magazine
“sea worthy”: a trio of home talent comes together to create a new take on the ultimate oceanfront home.

proud to have our corona del mar project featured in the latest issue. every great coastal home starts with a site and a story, and this one brought together designer, builder, and interior talent around a shared vision: a home that lives with the ocean, not just beside it.

thank you to blue door magazine and everyone who helped bring this one to life.

read the full feature via the link in bio.

emerald bay 2geoff sumich swaps the smooth curves for rugged, hand laid stone here — dry-stack walls that read almost me...
09/29/2026

emerald bay 2

geoff sumich swaps the smooth curves for rugged, hand laid stone here — dry-stack walls that read almost mediterranean, paired against crisp white stucco, arched windows, and a warm wood entry door. a cascading stone staircase spills down the hillside like it grew there, and the whole composition sits right at the edge of the coastline, pool included.

sometimes a mansion remodel starts on a napkin. ✏️explored an off-market opportunity in bear brand ranch today with Shaw...
09/28/2026

sometimes a mansion remodel starts on a napkin. ✏️

explored an off-market opportunity in bear brand ranch today with Shawn H & Bronwyn Leigh Jones — the kind of property where you start sketching every possibility before you’ve even left the room.

designing on a napkin: still one of the most honest ways to capture an idea.

more to come on this one. 👀

sometimes a mansion remodel starts on a napkin. ✏️explored an off-market opportunity in nellie gail ranch today with Sha...
09/28/2026

sometimes a mansion remodel starts on a napkin. ✏️

explored an off-market opportunity in nellie gail ranch today with Shawn H & Bronwyn Leigh Jones — the kind of property where you start sketching every possibility before you’ve even left the room.

designing on a napkin: still one of the most honest ways to capture an idea.

more to come on this one. 👀

as seen in ocean home magazine.named one of the top 50 coastal architectural designers — ocean home magazine captured it...
09/24/2026

as seen in ocean home magazine.

named one of the top 50 coastal architectural designers — ocean home magazine captured it perfectly:

“geoff sumich’s approach to design is based on the concept of ‘romantic modernism’ where he references and incorporates elements of the past while celebrating the simplicity and minimalism of modern design.”

two words that say everything: romantic modernism. history and restraint in the same breath. the warmth of what came before, refined into something entirely its own.

explore more projects at geoffsumichdesign.com

Address

31511 Camino Capistrano
San Juan Capistrano, CA
92675

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 5pm
Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 5pm

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+19494968991

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