My Houzz: Color and Ceramics Brighten a Southern California Home

“My favorite thing about the house is that when I close the front door, I feel like I am in a retreat — and not two blocks off the boulevard,” Mary Kay Wise says. A retired research scientist who now works as an advocate for patients at a local hospital, Mary Kay also an artist at heart. This is apparent in the home she shares with husband Greg, who combines his work as a packaging executive with his love of creating pottery. The couple’s home was inspired by the bold, colorful themes of early California and of San Diego’s Bazaar del Mundo, with touches of Hawaiian culture. Inside and out, Mary Kay and Greg have created a home where art and nature mingle.

Houzz at a Glance
Who lives here: Mary Kay and Greg Wise, and their dog, Koa
Location: Dana Point, California
Size: 2,015 square feet (187 square meters); 4 bedrooms, 2½ bathrooms
Year built: 1983

The couple designed their home to host gatherings and celebrations for family, friends and the charities they support, especially Habitat for Humanity. As a result, the landscape design included creating a backyard space that allowed for easy entertaining.

Mary Kay says she and Greg used drawings and magazine clippings to communicate their vision of outdoor rooms to landscape designer Jill Price of Greener Living and to their contractor. “The designer said, ‘Let’s turn the fireplace at an angle instead of having it placed dead center to draw people into this area,’” Mary Kay says.


A small fountain area featuring vivid cobalt tiles and a reflecting pond adds to the tranquility of the backyard, while a built-in surround provides plenty of seating.

Two angled walls with decorative uplighting mark a transition from one area to the next. The space works for both smaller family gatherings and larger events.

It has also proved ideal for the typical Southern California event, for which a catering company comes in with a grill and the fixings for a casual meal of soft tacos. “I wanted to create spaces around the house,” Mary Kay says. “We can have the taco man come and set up, and a full band. In a small footprint, we have a lot of privacy and different individual spots.”


The hardscape features colorful Catalina tiles from a Southern California supplier who purchased a historic company’s original molds and re-creates the tiles in small batches. “We learned a lot about the history of Catalina tiles,” Mary Kay says. Although she doesn’t think of herself as a bird person, she chose the avian motifs in keeping with the traditional style and design of the manufacturer. “I tried to stay authentic,” she says.

Flagstone patios and pathways meander around large trees and drought-tolerant landscaping, which was designed to attract butterflies and bees. “They adore Jerusalem sage,” says Mary Kay, who also lists foxglove, milkweed, yellow kangaroo paw and alyssum as some of her butterfly-friendly plantings.


Artwork and paintings created by Mary Kay, such as this Madonna that graces one of the outdoor walls, along with numerous pots, bowls and ceramic sculptures done by Greg, can be found throughout the landscape and inside the home. “I’m always looking for new art,” Mary Kay says.


Inside the home, the dining room is referred to as the “Mission room.” It’s where a collection of artwork, tiles and Dia de los Muertos pieces create a Mexi-Cali-inspired gallery on the walls.

“A lot of people bring us stuff because they see that there’s a place for that wacky thing that they really like and need to buy. They know they can find it a place to rest here,” Mary Kay says. “I do try to honor my friends. I date it and put who it was from and where it was purchased on the back. It’s fun because it’s a community.”


Whimsical and colorful ceramic masks that Greg made watch over dining room gatherings.



Greg gave Mary Kay a Dia de los Muertos mask for her birthday, and she knew immediately that it would become the focal point in their laundry room. She painted a folk-art style frame and glued beads and shells to the wall. The surrounding artwork has been hung gallery-style, and hooks on the walls hold aprons.

On the shelf above the washer and dryer, Mary Kay painted Dia de los Muertos skeletons with personalities inspired by each member of the family. There’s a mermaid, Rastafarian man, scuba diver and hula dancer, and a Celtic heart and hands as a nod to her Irish heritage.

“You know, you spend so much time in there, it’s like, ‘Come on, let’s make it fun,’” Mary Kay says.


The living room is designed for entertaining. By including a wall of glass doors that open to a front-yard patio, the couple created an indoor-outdoor living space that blurs the boundaries of the home’s square footage. “Since we can’t live in Hawaii, we try to make it that way,” Mary Kay says.


On the porch outside the living room, lanai-style furniture, potted plants and a colorful area rug add up to a tropics-inspired outdoor seating area, complete with Mexican banner flags overhead.

The exterior was originally painted a light beige that was almost white. When the couple remodeled their upstairs bathroom and closet, it had to be repainted. “The painter said to me, ‘Well, you love Mexico. Let’s do it a hacienda color.’ So he brought this color to me, and when he started putting it up, it kind of took our breath away,” Mary Kay says.


The upstairs remodel added 150 square feet. The new decor was inspired by the family’s love of Hawaii. The quilt that hangs on the wall and the linens are from Hawaii.


The couple bought the glass tiki sculpture seen here from a local artist at a Hawaiian art show, and it set the tone for the color palette and tile choices for their bathroom remodel. “He really kicked off the remodel and my commitment to the Hawaiian theme,” Mary Kay says about the artwork, which is made of recycled glass.


The second-story bathroom includes a deep soaking tub and a doorless glass-enclosed shower with a coved ceiling.

Perhaps the most inspiring part of the design was installed by Greg for less than $70. In an effort to conserve water, the couple took advantage of the shower’s window, the handheld shower head and the room’s location on the top floor to create a DIY water conservation and collection system.


While the shower water is warming up, water usually lost down the drain is directed out the window (using the handheld shower head) and into a funnel attached to PVC pipes. The pipes drain into two 55-gallon Rubbermaid barrels below.

The couple uses the captured water to irrigate the landscape with both watering cans and drip systems. “I do a passive drip [from the barrels] out to the front yard for my big trees, because I’m worried about them,” Mary Kay says. Due to the statewide drought, Dana Point residents are restricted to watering once a week. Neighbors with similar floor plans are now following suit.

In spite of the fact that the water warms up for only seconds each day, according to Mary Kay, by the end of the week the buckets are full. In addition to a thriving landscape, Mary Kay has also noticed a decrease in their water use and bills.


Greg carved out a pottery studio in the garage, complete with potter’s wheel, workbenches, storage and a kiln. This creative space is where Mary Kay says her husband goes for “therapy.” Greg creates bowls, masks, mugs and other items, which he sells once a year, with all proceeds benefiting Habitat for Humanity.


Greg designs gifts such as wedding and anniversary bowls carved with the names of the couples for friends and family. He also makes decorative planters, which Mary Kay uses to create garden-inspired gifts of her own.


She is especially fond of the bowls her husband designs just for her. “It’s like an addiction,” she says. “I love to cook, and he always asks me what kind of bowls I need.”


Greg is currently at work on Hawaiian-themed mugs for use in the family condo in Hawaii..



Mary Kay has added a potting bench to a side yard as part of her own gardening sanctuary.


Here she starts succulents and drought-tolerant plants from cuttings, such as this one in a planter that Greg made. What she doesn’t use in the yard, she shares with friends and family.


“This house is a place for people to come and rest and to breathe,” says Mary Kay, pictured. “It’s kind of an old form of hospitality. It’s a respite in the desert.”

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