Meet the pioneering collector and artist pair, Michael and Kim McCarty, whose restaurant serves as an epicenter for LA artists.

Winding your way up the steep roads of Malibu, it’s easy to forget you’re a quick drive from the Santa Monica promenade and not traveling to some exotic wine region in Europe. As you approach Kim and Michael McCarty’s Douglas Rucker-designed home—the glinting Pacific and cantilevered tennis court below, the family’s Malibu Vineyard, and dotting of wild spring flowers above—it’s clear why the McCartys chose to reconstruct their entire property after the 1993 Old Topanga Fire destroyed the original. Their souls live here.

Known for ethereal watercolors of waify figures and portraits in a bruisy palette of browns, acid greens and yellows, Kim McCarty is an artist with works in collections at the Hammer Museum of Art in Los Angeles and the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Her massive, sunlit studio is our first stop; it is the space where she spends the bulk of her time, honing her painterly practice, despite being the co-owner of one of LA’s most iconic eateries, Michael's. Trained in Paris, Michael McCarty has been a trendsetting chef and restaurateur since he first returned to LA in his 20s, decades before the city emerged as the cultural landscape of today. Without the McCartys, heavy decor and French cuisine might still reign supreme, while Angelenos might well be confined to indoor dining. 

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