“I was ideating for a future self that didn’t exist yet,” actress and entrepreneur Gwyneth Paltrow tells Architectural Digest about the design process for her first ground-up house. Located in Montecito, California, Paltrow fell in love with the location while studying at UC Santa Barbara, before purchasing a teardown property in 2015 after perusing Redfin, her “favourite pornography app.”
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Far from being strewn with jade eggs and vagina candles or featuring a Peloton centrepiece, the oceanview Montecito home takes a quieter approach to wellness. Designed alongside frequent collaborators Robin Standefer and Stephen Alesch of Roman and Williams, who previously designed the actress’ NYC loft, the inaugural Goop pop-up shop, and the company’s first permanent boutique, Paltrow adumbrates the idea for the home as “a Parisian apartment set within an old European barn, something with high ceilings, flooded with light, a place that feels generous yet manageable at the same time.”
Deriving inspiration from the laidback rugged elegance of old world barns, the Roman and Williams team closed the gap between classic and contemporary, crafting a singular long, lean structure with a shingled roof and stone walls. Primarily laid out over one floor, it approximates the timeworn texture of dry-stack construction. Naturally, the property boasts some eco-friendly properties, being powered by solar energy and incorporating a greywater system.
“A home should reflect the physicality and ethos of its owner, and this house takes its cues from Gwyneth’s height, beauty, and focus on distillation,” says Standefer. In this case, Paltrow’s stature and appearance can be seen in the home’s “tall bones, the attenuated proportions, the radiused corners, and the slender moulding profiles.”
Visitors to chez Paltrow are greeted by a light-filled foyer with an 18th-century fireplace mantel and reclaimed black-and-white stone floors. Inside the living room, a lighting installation by Lindsay Adelman blends contemporary and classic elements, a marble wet bar in shades of pink and cream anchors the room, and a very avant-garde painting (it literally spells out ‘AVANT GARDE’) sits atop the fireplace. On the other side of the living room, an industrial-style Jim Zivic hammock looks out across the terrace.
The strategic use of wallpaper sets a whimsical tone in both the living room and a powder room. The former is a scenic design complemented by an 18th-century fireplace, Thomas Newman Studio chandelier, and monolithic Martin Massé table, while the latter is a handpainted design by MJ Atelier which serves as the backdrop for an abstract mirror and antique marble sink. Other highlights include a kitchen with a full-wall plate rack exclusively stocked with blue-and-white Hermès dishes, as well as a rolling ladder and central cooking range.
The most ‘goop’ part of the house? Undoubtedly the expansive Parisian-style spa room clad from floor-to-ceiling handmade tiles. Taking on a vaguely unnerving shade of blue-green, the room features a plunge pool, a sauna, and a hot tub, with the latter also lined in handmade tiles.
Words by AR Staff
