Colin and Carolina Cormac have traveled the globe exploring historic chateaus, royal palaces and modern masterpieces. But when it came time for the family—which includes daughter Ana and son Dylan—to unpack their bags for a more extended stay, they unexpectedly opted for a crumbling tract house in Corona del Mar. When the couple first settled in Southern California, they were taking the tourist approach to house hunting—curiously wandering open houses but not seriously looking—when Colin chanced upon a property. "It was a total teardown, but the lot just felt right," he says.

But soon, the Cormacs realized that their own visions were not singularly aligned. Colin tended toward a stark version of modernism (white walls and sparse ornamentation), while Carolina wanted a warmer interpretation (richly grained woods and pops of color in the furnishings). In the end, the dual views made the project better. "I think that those varied perspectives worked well with my own thoughts and allowed us to creatively bring together opposing materials and ideas," Schultz says.