Miles Davis lived here
Ocean views and a bountiful flower and vegetable garden create a peaceful setting for this 1983 Buff and Hensman beachfront house at the west end of Malibu that once was home to jazz trumpeter and composer Miles Davis.
Conrad Buff III and Donald Hensman are credited with helping to define “ultra-cool” in contemporary-style homes during the 1950s and 1960s, with modern designs that embraced the Southern California lifestyle. They designed homes for many celebrities, including Frank Sinatra, Paul Anka and Steve McQueen.
“Buff and Hensman did the initial design of this house in 1963, but it wasn’t built until 1983,” says Martha Lefkovits, an interior designer who owns the home with husband Norman, an avid fisherman. The pair wanted a house on the beach. “To me, this is the most pastoral place in the United States.”
Houses in the neighborhood, west of Leo Carrillo State Beach, have direct access to the ocean.
The front door opens to a two-story skylighted and tiled entryway with a dramatic staircase along one wall. The entry leads to a living room and dining room with picture-window views of the ocean. The kitchen features a granite center island and opens to a walkway leading to a small greenhouse.
Behind the kitchen is a three-quarter bath with shower, an office with built-in bookshelves, a laundry room and a two-car garage.
Upstairs are a master bedroom with fireplace, a pair of walk-in closets with skylights, and French doors that open to a balcony with an ocean view. The master bathroom includes a spa tub and oversize shower.
A carpeted hallway leads to another bedroom with sliding-glass doors to a balcony. A shared bathroom connects to a third bedroom, also with an ocean view. Farther down the hallway, a fourth bedroom has its own bathroom. Completing the floor is a redwood-lined room, used as an art studio, that was originally a sauna.
A patio is near a garden filled with flowers, vegetables and herbs. A winding brick pathway leads down the hillside to a patio deck and beach cabana, outfitted with running water, refrigerator, camp stove and television. The path continues down to the waves.
To submit a candidate for Home of the Week, send high-resolution color photos with caption and credit information on a CD and a detailed description of the house to Lauren Beale, Business, Los Angeles Times, 202 W. 1st St., Los Angeles, CA 90012. Questions may be sent to homeoftheweek@latimes .com.
