After updating the previously approved comprehensive plan for the gated Mt. Miguel’s campus—a needed revision to its original 1967 design—we focused on creating a centrally located building for the entire senior community to gather for special occasions. Our client, Covenant Living, is a faith-based community, and they place a lot of emphasis on looking after its members and campus residents. Aesthetically, Covenant Living hoped to model their new campus’s Spanish Colonial design after the region’s iconic La Costa Resort & Spa, starting with the town center building. With this program and look in mind, we approached our design for Mt. Miguel Town Center less as a traditional senior community and more as a resort. As the center of the Mt. Miguel campus community, the building’s dining room connects to a multipurpose room, opening up flexible programming for large-scale social events. Renewed residential amenities give plenty of opportunities for social gatherings: a salon, billiard room, library, wood shop, outdoor gathering spaces with water and fire features and, of course, an outdoor pool with ramp access. We needed to keep the majority of the existing town center operational during construction until the replacement building came online, so we followed a coordinated multi-phased approach based heavily on client and staff input. Because our team is well-versed in thinking through complex multiphase processes, working in different jurisdictions, and bringing a comprehensive plan from concept to reality, Mt. Miguel Town Center flows smoothly from exterior to interior. Even first-time visitors feel the overall design cohesion that’s only possible in a firm whose interior and architectural design teams readily bounce ideas off each other. For example, we used the same colorful tiles in both indoor and outdoor spaces, and we brought an outdoor-style patio trellis inside, to the bistro, echoing the experience of outdoor dining. Even the indoor fitness center’s tile roof matches the building’s outside roof. Overall, Mt. Miguel Town Center’s Spanish Colonial architectural style pays homage to La Costa Resort & Spa, with ornate wood trusses and articulated arches, while matching the campus’s existing buildings. Hand-hewn wood and faux-wood beams express a high-end rusticity, and we finished the walls to resemble aged Italian plaster. It’s all about the details. Our ultimate goal was creating a feeling of genuine community and relaxation throughout a spa-like atmosphere, from swimming in the outdoor pool to sharing meals with friends and family in the cafe, and all the elements at Mt. Miguel Town Center come together to do just that.

The town center at Mt. Miguel Village is the heart and soul of the campus—a gathering place, a timeless gem of Spanish Colonial Revival design style, and a cohesive, highly collaborative venture between our interiors and architectural teams. Because Mt. Miguel is located in Southern California, where the mild weather means interior and exterior spaces readily overlap, its architecture heavily informs our interior design. Working together, our teams created a smooth, holistic experience throughout the entire town center. For example, the Kiva fireplace is viewable from both inside and outside the lobby, and a trellis in the bistro complements a similar outdoor trellis to bring the outside in. High, rounded windows with mullions and tall ceilings fill Mt. Miguel Town Center with natural light and an open, airy atmosphere. We even had the opportunity to incorporate specialty furnishings given to the community—notably, a grandfather clock and big desk in the library—tying together the whole FF&E/interiors/architecture package. All of which is to say that we were highly intentional in translating the style for Mt. Miguel Town Center. In portals between spaces, we created special wood wraps and casings with local, hand-painted decorative Spanish tiles, placed just so with a bright splash of color against the white stucco walls. We placed these same tiles on the exterior stairs, like a work of art, with articulated risers that extend past the wall and custom railings strategically marked with the Mt. Miguel logo. Not everybody immediately notices such subtle details, but they make all the difference. At the other end of the spectrum, our interior design supports the town center’s renewed program, from the pool and bistro to the entryway that connects to the beautiful landscaping outside. Younger visitors seeing their grandparents now have a video game space as well as a family room. Seniors skilled in woodworking can now use a fully functional woodshop, which is directly informed from residents’ feedback. The multipurpose activity room has a folding partition for larger community events; a breakout space functions as an art gallery for residents’ work, and the wall between the dining room and the theater can be opened for live-music performances. These amenities, together with the salon, barber shop, clinic, movie theater, and fitness space, are meant to enhance the genuine community-minded spirit of Mt. Miguel Town Center. We came into this project knowing how proud residents were to live here. Our collaborative, timeless design, inside and out, manifests the community pride of this special place today and for years to come.