Where the coastal bluffs of Laguna Beach drop toward the Pacific, a cluster of Craftsman-inflected shingle buildings steps down thirty acres of oceanfront hillside in a massing that owes more to the Arts and Crafts colonies that made this town famous than to the resort typology it actually represents. Montage Laguna Beach, which opened in 2003 and was designed by Hart Howerton, deploys warm sandstone cladding, cedar shingle rooflines, and deep-overhanging eaves across 250 guest rooms and suites arranged to ensure near-universal ocean sightlines — an organizational feat on terrain this steep. The signature pool, visible in the images with its vivid mosaic sunburst pattern in cobalt and gold tilework, anchors the property's central terrace, palm trees framing an unbroken horizon line that makes the Pacific feel like a deliberate design element rather than mere backdrop. The interiors navigate two distinct registers, both visible here. The darker Craftsman rooms draw on turned ebony four-poster beds, woven rattan headboards, and crimson quilted coverlets against cream walls, the whole warmed by a tiled ribbon fireplace — a palette closer to a well-appointed California bungalow of the 1910s than conventional resort luxury. The cooler, more contemporary rooms shift toward upholstered linen headboards, shiplap fireplace surrounds, and bleached-oak nightstands, trading period warmth for coastal restraint. The brick-paved dining terrace, furnished with bronze-finish cast aluminum chairs and cushions in pale aqua, extends the same unhurried California outdoor living sensibility across every public surface.

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