You'd never guess this luxury beach house in Malibu is actually a double-wide trailer

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Sisters Tessa and Alyssa Hendrie transformed a rundown, double-wide trailer at the Point Dume Club in Malibu into a chic, four-bedroom beach house with stunning views of Zuma Beach. “We didn’t want the interiors to distract from the view,” says designer Tessa Hendrie.

(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

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A master bedroom (one of two) is separated from the main living area by a monster slab slider door made of American elm, which is also the wood of the dining table and a writing desk.

(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

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Sisters Alyssa, left, and Tessa Hendrie are pictured in the living room of the Malibu mobile home they redesigned.

(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

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The new entrance to the trailer home that sisters Tessa and Alyssa Hendrie transformed for a client into a place so grand they now refer to it as a “villa.”

(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

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A large flat-screen TV can hide behind folding doors above the fireplace. Curtains purchased at Target blow in the wind.

(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

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A cedar hot tub and foot bath sit just outside a shabby chic-style master bedroom in the mobile home.

(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

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Designer Tessa Hendrie’s cowboy boots contrast nicely with the heated floor tiles in one of the master bathrooms.

(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

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The new kitchen features a backlighted onyx slab that the sisters found discounted at Walker Zanger.

(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

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As a way to bring in more light, and showcase the onyx in the shower, sisters Tessa and Alyssa Hendrie added an electronic “doggy door” between the kitchen and master bathroom.

(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

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A detail of the onyx wall in the shower, with designer Alyssa Hendrie’s hand, as seen through a “doggy door” between the kitchen and master bathroom.

(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

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“Little things, like switching out cabinet knobs for unique crystal knobs, at right, or ones with a contrasting color, can really spruce up the interiors,” Tessa Hendrie said.

(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

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A Moroccan-theme secondary room features a space-saving hanging bed.

(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

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A detail of a bedroom ceiling panel, which was hand-painted in Morocco.

(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

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The Hendrie sisters used Rocky Mountain hardware in brushed bronze and silver throughout the mobile home.

(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

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An alcohol-burning fire feature, left, is installed between the dining room and one of the master bedrooms.

(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

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A view of the California coastline and Santa Monica mountains from one of two master bedrooms in the mobile home.

(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

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Tessa Hendrie likes to keep decor consistent: “Tie in all of your eclectic belongings by using variations of a unified color palette for your rugs/pillows/blankets/curtains,” Hendrie said.

(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

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A humidiwall, at left, adds moisture to the master bedroom seen here. A monster slab slider door is made of American elm.

(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

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The master suite’s bathroom, with sunken tub and multi-head shower, on the other side of the “doggy door” looking into the kitchen.

(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

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Sisters Tessa, left, and Alyssa Hendrie often spot whales, dolphins and sea lions from the deck of the mobile home they transformed. They are renting the home from their client.

(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

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A shabby chic-style master bedroom is seen reflected in a glass wall that wraps around the back deck of the mobile home.

(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

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Brown metallic paint makes a statement in the powder room.

(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

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“Lighting is a fantastic opportunity to change the look and feel of your home,” says Tessa Hendrie of Postmodern pendant lamps by Günhter Leuchtmann used in her project.

(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

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The Point Dume Club in Malibu features a wide assortment of mobile homes, many perched on the cliffs looking down on Zuma Beach.

(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

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A view of some of the mobile homes in the Point Dume Club in Malibu, perched above Pacific Coast Highway, looking down on Zuma Beach.

(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

By Lisa BooneStaff Writer

Sept. 2, 2017 7 AM PT

Tessa Hendrie’s interior design career began when she was 8 years old.

“She started by redoing her bathroom,” recalls her mother, Stephanie.

It turned out so well, she encouraged Tessa to move forward with a red and black jazz-lounge-themed bedroom.

Stephanie knew her daughter was serious about interior design when she made the paint attendant at the hardware store remix a gallon of red paint “about 50 times.”

“Tessa kept saying, ‘Red is not red,’ ” her mother says now with a laugh.

An aspiring interior designer, Tessa, now 29, realized her dream eight years ago when she and her sister Alyssa, 36, purchased a rundown beach house in Dana Point.

“It was advertised as the cheapest house in Dana Point,” says Tessa, who was a student at San Diego State at the time.

It may have been the cheapest house — the sisters had saved their money for years to purchase a home — but it was also, well, sketchy.

Still, Tessa looked at the forlorn property and imagined a Caribbean-style boutique hotel.

Commuting from San Diego, Tessa and Alyssa updated the house, doing much of the work themselves. They painted the walls and exterior in colorful hues, furnished it with Craigslist finds and christened it the “Bitchin’ Beach House.” Before long, the rental was booked regularly and bringing in more than $200 a night.

After seeing what they could do, family friend Debe Vicharelli hired the sisters to find and design a high-end version of what they had accomplished in Dana Point.

The only requirement: The house had to have a view.

Now a licensed Realtor, Tessa found a dated double-wide trailer in the gated Point Dume Club just a few miles from Zuma Beach.

Although unremarkable, the trailer was perched on a hillside and featured unobstructed views of the Pacific Ocean and Santa Monica Mountains.

With Vicharelli’s blessing, the sisters kept the chassis and removed everything else as they worked to create a mobile home so grand they now refer to it as a villa.

With views a top priority, the sisters moved the home’s entrance from the side of the house to the front. Now, when you walk through the front door, you are instantly transported to Zuma Beach.

The women chose understated, natural elements for the interiors, including seamless beige travertine floors and walls, transparent onyx slabs in the kitchen and bathroom, and a massive sliding divider door made of natural-edge American elm.

The dark trailer is now a light-filled space brightened by 13 skylights, a white palette to emphasize the ocean and a wraparound deck from which you can see dolphins, whales and sea lions.

While incredibly elegant, the luxurious, four-bedroom abode features a whimsical charm. An electronic “doggy door” over the kitchen sink opens to reveal a slab of onyx that, on the other side, forms a wall of the bathroom shower in one of two master suites. A Moroccan-theme secondary bedroom features a hanging bed that rocks you to sleep. And on the deckt outside a shabby-chic master bedroom sits a foot bath, in case you want to wash your feet.

The mobile home proved to be a charmed project for the Hendrie siblings since Vicharelli, who is retired, is not ready to move in. So the sisters are renting the trailer while Vicharelli travels the world.

Now caretakers, the enterprising sisters can appreciate the special environment they created.

“We knew we could create something beautiful here,” Tessa says. “But we had no idea we would be living here. It is truly amazing. It’s hard to feel stressed out when you can look outside and see the ocean.”

Here, Tessa shares five tips on how to spruce up your home:

Look to lighting

Lighting is a fantastic opportunity to change the look and feel of your home, while adding style and flair. Gorgeous pendants, sconces and lamps can be lifesavers.

Postmodern pendant lamps by Günhter Leuchtmann hang in the powder room. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

Be consistent

Find a common thread. Tie in all of your eclectic belongings by using variations of a unified color palette for your rugs/pillows/blankets/curtains. Keep things consistent. Bring in things that tie it all together.

A casual and consistent color palette in the bathroom. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

Work with what you have

Use your environment to your advantage. Highlight the beautiful and learn quick tricks to hide what you don't want to see. If it's not in the budget to move a window and you don't have a great view, add light-filtering patterned window film or beautiful plants just outside.