Written by: Geoff Nudelman
Working and living in Malibu, California, for more than 35 years, architect Doug Burdge has been through too many wildfires to count. In the last decade, he’s endured more of them, and they’re getting worse. “Now it seems like every five or ten years there’s a major wildfire, and you can plan as much as possible, but these fires can quickly spiral out of control,” says Doug, founder and principal of Burdge Architects, an architecture firm with offices in Malibu and Sun Valley, Idaho, where he also spends time.
How one architect is rethinking luxury homebuilding in the West’s most wildfire-prone areas
Although the two locales are nearly 900 miles apart, they share a number of similarities for homeowners living within wildfire urban interfaces (WUI), the spaces where human construction meets the bounds of nature. These are often the most desirable locations for luxury homeowners, but also come with elevated risks of increased and more intense wildfires.
Doug has seen the destruction first-hand and has taken a novel approach to help homeowners prepare for the inevitability of the next big wildfire. In doing so, his firm has become a leader in the American West, not only rebuilding homes after a wildfire but also building with prevention and resilience in mind.
“We have projects from Idaho to California, and we’re applying similar techniques when designing a home because a major wildfire could happen in any of these neighborhoods,” he says.
“THERE ARE EXAMPLES OF BEAUTIFUL MODERN HOMES MADE OF CONCRETE AND GLASS THAT ACTUALLY MADE GOOD PROGRESS IN BEING MORE FIRE-RESISTANT.”
Doug shared some notes from a home rebuild his team designed in 2025 following the wrath of the Palisades fire in Pacific Palisades, east of Malibu. The residence was a good example of the kinds of updated roofing and fire-resistant openings that are not only coming at the request of clients, but will also meet anticipated updated city codes when it comes to wildfire prevention. Other features include exterior sprinklers and more efficient irrigation systems that can act as a first line of defense against a fast-moving fire.
Doug has spent years studying wildfire movement to understand how it spreads within tight-knit and forested residential areas. He notes that much of what causes the destruction is embers that get caught in traditional features like crawl spaces, attics, or roof overhangs, so those are being reconsidered or eliminated in new home construction and rebuilds.
“We only control what we can control,” he says. “That little ember that gets into a house can be what ultimately causes it to burn down, because during a wildfire, there may not be anyone near the home to put out a small blaze that starts from that ember. Ember control is the number one thing.”
Burdge Architects Fire Rebuild Standards
In Sun Valley, specifically, Doug linked up with fellow architect Susan Desko and began working with local homebuilders to advise on some of the same resilience measures they were seeing in Southern California, while still maintaining the aesthetics that continue to draw many to Sun Valley.
“Some buyers don’t want a modern white box. There are examples of beautiful modern homes made of concrete and glass that actually made good progress in being more fire-resistant,” Doug says.
Herein lies one of the difficulties of rebuilding in areas where higher-end homeowners are used to building with tried-and-true materials and designs: those choices simply don’t stand up to this new, more intense era of wildfire and living within a WUI remains highly desirable.
Doug is encouraged by some of the work happening in Malibu, such as bringing power lines underground. Overhead power lines are cited as sparking at least a couple of the more destructive fires in the area. He cites the success of the measure as something Sun Valley already did, providing resilience and better aesthetics.
“THERE ARE EXAMPLES OF BEAUTIFUL MODERN HOMES MADE OF CONCRETE AND GLASS THAT ACTUALLY MADE GOOD PROGRESS IN BEING MORE FIRE-RESISTANT.”
He also hopes to take some of the measures from homes he’s designed in hurricane-prone areas in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, where the home’s structure is hyper-resilient against major storms, typically only requiring interior and finish rebuilding after an event. He sees this as a potential safeguard against large insurance demands that can prolong a homeowner’s journey to rebuilding.
“You never used to think you would need wildfire insurance for a beach home with the Pacific Coast Highway as a fire break, but that’s a reality now,” Doug says.
For a seasoned architect like Doug, his practice is now much more holistic, requiring him to be knowledgeable about all aspects of the interplay between wildfire and modern luxury living.
“My job requires understanding how fire works,” he says. “What happens when it gets to your structure, and how it’s going to best pass through.”
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