22 DIGS.NET | 3.19.2021
S W E E T D I G S | 2 3 1 1 1 M A R I P O S A D E L O R O
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hy long for escape in far-flung locations when there is a
home offering the amenities of a fantasy vacation within imme-
diate reach? A house that is both private and accessible, grand
and intimate, near the beach but tucked into the woods, centrally
located but also remote. Finding a property that slots into all of
these seeming contradictions would seem an impossible task,
until one discovers the listing for 23111 Mariposa del Oro, set
within the Serra Retreat neighborhood.
A little over a half hour's drive north from Los Angeles and
Santa Monica, the wooded knoll above Malibu Creek speaks to
the history of Malibu itself and its compelling wild beauty. It
was here that May Rindge, whose family owned Malibu, began
construction on Laudamus Hill, her 50-room dream home, in
1928. When she died, just over a dozen years later, the unfin-
ished building and the 26 private acres that remained of her
family's original 17,000-square-foot property were sold to the
Franciscan Order that founded the peaceful refuge from which
this exclusive colony gets its name and sets its tranquil tone.
Two manned 24-hour guard gates ensure the area's security and
serenity. Yet, located just beyond its borders, one finds Malibu's
triumvirate of popular shopping complexes—Malibu Country
Mart, The Park at Cross Creek and Malibu Village—that put
everyday needs and wants within an easy 20-minute walk of the
house. Malibu's other favorite haunts—Nobu, Malibu Farm and
Soho House, and Surfrider Beach's famed right-hand break—
also are within strolling distance.
Like a diamond enhanced by an ideal setting, this homes
sparkles brilliantly within its alluring location and surroundings.
Tucked into the place where Mariposa del Oro and Serra Road
meet, it flirts from behind a pale stucco wall that hints at the lush
one-and-a-half acre landscape enclosed within. A slender brick
driveway curves around the home's discrete front gate, which
opens to a covered entryway bordered by an indoor garden where
a fountain burbles under a canopy of flowers. The best examples
of the details that herald Spanish Colonial style—stone fireplaces
and dense wood beams, sturdy floors, clay red tiles—are here
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"Imbued with the laidback feeling that is at the heart of Malibu's beach-forward
lifestyle, the home, while exquisitely designed, is equally well suited for everyday living."
