To get the beachfront home on the Pacific Ocean they dreamed of, Dan and Susan Pinkerton had to build not just one house — they had to build three.
It wasn’t supposed to take so much work, but after the 2017 Thomas Fire burned their primary home in Santa Paula, Calif., to the ground, their long-term plans shifted.
Mr. Pinkerton, 78, and Ms. Pinkerton, 79, are avocado farmers. In 2009, the couple purchased an oceanfront house in Mussel Shoals, Calif., for $1.9 million, which needed work. Their plan was to eventually renovate the structure to make it their primary home, and pass the ranch and house in Santa Paula on to their two adult children.
But after the Thomas Fire, the priority was rebuilding the ranch, including the house. Since the couple intended to give it to their children, and their daughter and her family moved home to help, it made sense to build a house the younger generation would want to live in.
The elder Pinkertons moved into their beach house as their children began working on a new ranch house with the Los Angeles-based architecture firm Lovers Unite. A few years later, they started mulling over plans for a beach house remodel, hoping to tackle it next.
