Mayer Rus on a Malibu Scouting Mission Gone Right

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California Dreamin’

I should bring my passport, I always think whenever work demands that I leave my cozy nest in Silver Lake to scout a house in Malibu. Perhaps it’s the endless driving time, the torturous traffic on the 101 Freeway, the surfers changing in and out of their wetsuits so publicly, or all those glistening, ultra-expensive homes crammed cheek by jowl along the Pacific Coast Highway. It’s just not my vibe. Recently, my professional responsibilities required me to take a gander at the Malibu getaway of publisher Benedikt Taschen and his wife, Lauren. The place was designed by Jorge Pardo, an artist I admire, so I was admittedly a bit curious. I strapped myself into my raggedy Mini Cooper with the usual combination of dread and resignation, and I hit the road. I had no idea the payoff for my travails would be one of the most enchanting projects I’ve ever visited.

First, the Taschens’ ranch house is located in a very different Malibu than most people (myself included) typically imagine. “This is the non-coastal part of Malibu, a totally different world,” Mr. Taschen told me in our interview. He wasn’t exaggerating. His 200-acre spread is located in a rugged yet breathtakingly bucolic landscape far removed from the beachside pleasure domes of the rich and famous. The cabin itself was a wonder to behold, with floors, walls, ceilings, furniture, and every other detail designed as an expression of Pardo’s singular vision. Equal parts fantasy folly and Gesamtkunstwerk (or total work of art), the house was entirely sui generis. I was completely smitten, awash in astonishment at the giddy madness I beheld. My sojourn in Malibu that day reminded me how lucky I am to actually get paid to snoop around the private retreats of many of the world’s most adventurous tastemakers. As Diana Vreeland famously said, “The eye has to travel.” The next time Malibu beckons, I promise to keep an open mind.