Malibu vs Venice: Two Coasts of LA

Patriarch of the Carbon Beach Estate

Soft-spoken, allergic to vulgarity, never raises his voice because he has never had to

Wants: Hold the family name above the tide line for one more generation

Foundation Chair & Hostess of the Bluff

Gracious in public, surgical in private, runs every charity board west of Topanga

Wants: Curate the season — guest lists, donors, husbands — without leaving a single fingerprint

Head of Security at the Carbon Beach Compound

Ex-federal, folds his sunglasses before he speaks, walks the property line at dawn with a coffee he never finishes

Wants: Keep the western gate a formality for the right people and a wall for everyone else

Majordomo of the Point Dume Villa

Runs the villa on a whisper and a clipboard, remembers every guest's allergy and every gardener's birthday

Wants: Hold the eastern edge of the bluff so smoothly that nobody notices it is held

Gallerist of the Bluff

Linen shirts, opinions on light, knows which painter is about to be in the Whitney

Wants: Decide what counts as taste this year

Wellness Counsel to the Family

Speaks softly about breathwork and somatics, books a six-month wait list

Wants: Keep the Calloway nervous system regulated through the season

The Polo Heir

Loose-jointed, easy laugh, gets up at dawn for the string at Will Rogers

Wants: Win a chukker without his father watching

The Trail Rider

Quietly furious, rides the canyon switchbacks alone before sunrise

Wants: Outride every rumour the bluff invents about her

Mayor of the Boardwalk

Knows every vendor by their kid's name, holds court from a folding chair near the basketball courts

Wants: Keep the boardwalk weird and the rent down

Boardwalk Fortune-Teller

Reads tarot at a card table under a beach umbrella, sees everything, says less

Wants: Move the cards faster than the gentrifiers can move in

Anchor of the Muscle Beach Pit

Forearms like dock rope, chalk permanently in the creases of his palms, spots strangers without being asked

Wants: Hold the west end of the boardwalk by sheer presence

Matriarch of the Skate Plaza

Poured the first concrete in '84, patches cracks with a trowel she keeps in her truck, knows every kid's trick before they land it

Wants: Hold the boardwalk's concrete bowl for the next generation on four wheels

Mural Artist of Abbot Kinney

Paint-flecked overalls, fluent in spray-tip sizes, debates colour theory at the taco stand

Wants: Cover the next blank wall before the developers cover it for him

Yoga Teacher on the Sand

Teaches at sunrise on a faded blanket, holds donations in a jam jar

Wants: Hold the morning practice through the noise of the boardwalk

Bowl Skater

Wires for nerves, dropped-in at six, still skating barefoot at forty

Wants: Land the line nobody else has

Roller-Skating Diva

Glitter laces, satin jacket, weaves through the crowd to a Donna Summer loop

Wants: Make the boardwalk dance behind her