In the famous mobile home community of Paradise Cove, CA sits a mobile home that used to look like any other mobile home in America. The only difference is this mobile home sits in the most expensive mobile home parks in America. And it has been given a truly modern mobile home makeover.
The one bedroom, 500 square foot single wide was purchased by Sofie Howard, the owner of an LA-based photography studio Commune Images. The mobile home was transformed with the help of design firm Commune. Sofie is an avid surfer that had wanted to buy a home in Paradise Cove for as long as she could remember. She mentions in an interview with Dwell that she found the “dinkiest, cheapest, grossest trailer in the park, which needed some love.” The description certainly doesn’t apply to the home now!
Exterior of the Mobile Home Makeover
One of the most unique aspects of the home is the exterior paint design. Lively color choices in sharp angles and accent stripes hints toward a retro vibe.
A privacy fence surrounds the home on one side and is accented with a wooden patchwork style. This home is a true surfer’s paradise. The home has all the modern conveniences needed to catch a few waves and then enjoy a relaxing evening at home. The deck has a small seating area made with handmade MORERA Boxes from Commune, as well as an outdoor shower.
Interior of the Mobile Home Makeover
Limited space required Sofie to utilize multi-purpose furniture such as the custom-built daybeds with storage areas underneath. These beds are perfect for Sofie’s children and visitors to sleep. Natural wood shelving provides plenty of additional storage as well. Sustainable cork flooring is perfect for a beachside bungalow and offsets the deep blue ceiling that’s used throughout the home.
Commune designer Steven Johanknecht mentioned that with the introduction to the recessed lighting that a white ceiling made the home to ‘apartment like’. Also, Sofie mentions on Dwell that she “wanted it to still look like a trailer—we didn’t want to pretend it was a house or a McMansion.”
The home has several designer and high-end pieces in it. A Viking stove and Big Chill refrigerator add convenience and style to the kitchen. The blue cabinetry matches the ceiling color. While the brick backsplash adds an additional color that matches the warm, natural tones of the wood. Above the stove, they added a powder-coated corrugated metal panel which allows for easy cleanup.
The master bedroom is a beautiful example of simplicity. The room and closet doors carry on the natural styling from the living room shelving and kitchen cabinetry. The crisp white walls act as a perfect canvas for all the great artwork throughout the home.
A small office is niched out of a corner and more handmade, natural shelving is used.
Why We Love This Mobile Home Makeover
This home is definitely modern with its exterior and ceiling paint choices. However, it adds a good deal of traditional hues that tone down the area well. The natural wood shelving and cork flooring balances the blue ceiling and makes it all work together, without one thing overpowering the space. A great example of using white on the walls to open up the space. This allows the light to do its magic.
The best lesson we can all take from this mobile home makeover is that we can go with an unusual color on our ceilings as long as we use other places to balance and calm the color so that it doesn’t overpower.
Related: Another Paradise Cove home we love, Million Dollar Mobile Home: Enchanting Pink Beach Cottage.
As always, thanks for reading Mobile & Manufactured Home Living!
15 thoughts on “Modern Malibu Mobile Home Makeover”
I wonder how they installed recessed lighting. Our attic is pretty much inaccessible and I don’t think there is enough space for ventilation needed to get rid of the heat generated. Interesting!
Hi Marilyn,
You may want to look into LED lighting. It stays a lot cooler. There are some kits but as you’ve seen, they require a little working room. Definitely look into the LED. Thanks!
I can’t believe the price, over 6 million dollars?!?!? WOW, and that is for a single wide tiny mobile. I do love what they did and how simple they made things. I do LOVE the fridge. We don’t have gas in our park but if we did a gas range would be manditory. I have a double wide and it is in need of cosmetic work. New deck would be nice, stairs are shot everywhere. The inside needs the carpet GONE and some kind of flooring put down. Having dogs, cork floor would be a definite no no. Have you heard anything on that lino that looks like hardwood?? I still can’t get over the price!! I got mine for 90,000 but no where near Paradise Cove, I am in Victoria BC. Love the blue in the kitchen.
Hi Sue! It’s all about location out there in the land of movie stars! I think laminated floating floors may be perfect for you. We had 4 small dogs at one time and the cheap .79 a square foot stuff from Lowe’s has held up remarkably well. You can go from .70is a square foot to more than $5.00 so there is one for most all budgets.
Best of luck!
Would you happen to know the year/manufacturer/model of this home?
I don’t Grace. Sorry!
It’s gorgeous!
I have a similar home that my wife and I just bought, with the hopes of enjoying it with my baby girl that is on her way, but it is a fixer up, just for knowledge what was the estimate amount for a remodel like this? And it really is amazing to know this can come off of a manufacture home. It is pure motivation.
Hi! The owner of this home probably won’t see your email so I thought I’d butt in. This particular remodel was probably very expensive because of the materials and brands used but you could recreate it using cheaper materials for a lot less.
Focus on replacing the flooring (the .68 cent per sq foot flooring at Lowe’s looks pretty good and has impressed us – we have it in our single wide), the walls (paint does wonders or you could install sheet rock), and ceiling (again paint or sheet rock works wonders). Windows and doors are also a great idea for a complete home remodel since it updates the interior and exterior and helps with heating and cooling costs. Flooring, walls, ceiling, and windows could be done for way less than $4,000 if you do the work yourself.
PS, cork flooring does not hold up well unless you buy the really expensive stuff. Until the technology catches up with the cost its probably best you choose a better material.
What a fabulous makeover. It looks really gorgeous! Great job!
I love it!
I love this. It is simple, practical, and stylish. I’m curious how much it costs to rent space in “the most expensive mobile home park in America”. I probably don’t want to know.
Seeing these remodels makes me think that I might be able to fix up my old singlewide and actually live in it. I get so much negative from people that I know when I bring up putting any money in to it. It is good to see these completed projects so that I know that it is possible.
Hi Diazy! I think this one went 6.49 million (I might have it mixed up with another one I’ve been keeping an eye on though). That’s actually cheap for this park..lol…
Don’t let anyone tell you that fixing a mobile home up isn’t profitable. It is, that’s why mobile home investing is such a lucrative business. Manufactured homes do appreciate but they usually have to be on their own land. If they are sitting on their own land they can and do appreciate at the same averages as a stick built home so fix it up all you want!! There’s money to be made and a home to enjoy :)
Thanks for commenting!
What a great remodel!!! I love it but would like to see the bathroom.
Hi Deborah!
It is a great remodel! I wish there were photo’s available of the bathroom, too. We’re trying to figure out the style for our own and I love to see all the different styles. I have a great new bathroom remodel coming up in a week or so that I’m sure you’ll love. It’ll make up for this one not being shown..lol
Happy New Year!