KAREN WIGHT -- No Place Like Home

* EDITOR’S NOTE: Every other week, No Place Like Home will take

readers on a tour of a local residence.

Linda Taylor and Dave Ullman are like two ships passing in the night.

This dynamic Newport Beach couple, married for 19 years, have

high-powered careers that demand constant travel for Dave and long office

hours for Linda.

Dave, owner of Ullman Sails, is an internationally renowned sailor.

With three world championships and scores of sailing accolades, it is

easy to understand how sailing-inspired memorabilia and furniture made

its way into his domestic surroundings.

Linda, president of Taylor & Associates Architects, makes her living

merging ideas, function and practicality with inspired design. Her firm

is working on the new Women’s Pavilion at Hoag Hospital. Her love of fine

art and intimate living spaces are showcased in her professional and

domestic surroundings.

Together, this husband-and-wife team has created a unique home

environment that blends a love of the sea and appreciation of good

design. Add to that a penchant for interesting building materials and

high-caliber workmanship, and you get a product that is particular to the

Taylor-Ullman home.

When Linda and Dave bought their home in 1989, they immediately

started the transformation. The ranch-style house, built in 1952,

originally had 1900 square feet with a 400-square-foot detached garage.

Previous owners had been quite partial to Polynesian-influenced decor.

Linda and Dave quickly removed several tons of lava rock and began making

the house their home.

Linda’s plan was to create a comfortable beach house using materials

that were practical and visually interesting. She chose not to

incorporate a “style,” like Nantucket or Craftsman, but to use simple,

clean details, and high-quality materials and workmanship.

Several phases of remodeling over a number of years included the

addition of a master bedroom and bath ideally located in the back of the

house. This cozy retreat, complete with fireplace and bay window,

overlooks the pool and gardens. Dave and Linda consider this space their

sanctuary.

Linda’s new kitchen was carefully designed to be the center of

activity for the family. Soapstone counters are set on crisp white

cabinets. Open shelving displays Linda’s pottery, baskets and cookbook

collection. An antique pine table accommodates family and guests. A large

cinder-block fireplace adds texture and warmth. A charming Dutch door

leads to a garden filled with herbs and potted citrus trees.

One of the great perks of a sailor’s life is traveling all over the

world. Dave has enjoyed staying with other sailing families, and when he

and Linda remodeled their home, one of their great inspirations was the

creation of a space to offer fellow sailors so they could return the

favor of gracioushospitality.

The upstairs of the Ullman-Taylor home is devoted exclusively to guest

accommodations. The guest bedroom and adjacent bath and living space are

steeped in nautical influence. The stairs, which lead to an observation

deck, were built to replicate a boat ladder: polished chrome handrails

and teak steps. At the top of the ladder is a boat hatch that leads to

the rooftop weather station.

As the house took shape, the couple began to focus on the backyard.

Linda calls her landscaping “a work in progress,” which defines spaces

for an outdoor living room, dining room and fireplace.

The four distinct outdoor “rooms” are cleverly connected by wood

decking, which replicated an Eastern seaboard boardwalk. From the living

room, a Dutch door opens out to an alfresco dining area, anchored by a

fireplace.

The next area, delineated by a split-rail fence is the “beach” area

and includes a rectangular pool (influenced by a trip to Tonga) and sand

gravel and sea shell borders. The path frames a vegetable garden, grape

arbor and berry vines.

Her family of boys, with their wet sailing gear, inspired the need for

practical outdoor space that includes an outdoor shower with high hedges

for privacy.

The materials for the outside of the home include burnished and

sandblasted concrete block, shingles to “hide the seams between old and

new,” and copper flashing because it holds up to the corrosive marine

air.

Leftover boat parts have been incorporated into the outdoor scheme,

continuing the subtle nautical flavor. With a house full of sailors, the

influence is inevitable.

The Taylor-Ullman household embraces a family lifestyle that offers

generous hospitality to a wide circle of friends, a love of good design

and a deep respect for their natural surroundings.

*

* KAREN WIGHT is a Newport Beach resident. Her column, which was

written with assistance from MICHELE MILLER, runs Sundays.

The upstairs guest bedroom includes a bunk with a pullout trundle: an

efficient use of precious space. The built-in cubbyholes provide a place

for everything, with everything in its place.

The backyard hosts collections from the family’s extensive travels.

The master bedroom has a cozy reading retreat, complete with

fireplace.