A 3-meter-long crystal chandelier and a set of custom-made silver thrones could not scream “modern farmhouse”. However Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher felt sort of at dwelling of their opulent but rustic hilltop home in Los Angeles.
The couple invited Architectural Digest journal to their six-acre property and delved into the design course of behind what Kutcher calls a “home, not a mansion.”
“We needed the home to appear to be an previous barn, one thing that stood right here for many years after which was transformed right into a home,” Kutcher is quoted within the journal’s June cowl story.
However their dream of making an genuine barn-style home stood in the best way of a significant impediment: They weren’t restoring an previous farmhouse, they have been constructing one from scratch.
“Constructing a home from scratch isn’t any small matter,” Kunis is quoted as saying. “That will both make us or break us.”
Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher gave readers a style of their opulent, but rustic, hilltop dwelling in Los Angeles. Picture credit score: Douglas Friedman / AD
The structure agency Backen & Gillam Architects was commissioned to make the property each homely and “fashionable and related”, as Kutcher put it, so as to deliver their imaginative and prescient to life.
The ensuing design, which took 5 years to finish, features a major home, a visitor barn, a pool and a barbecue pavilion. The property options reclaimed timber beams, towering glass-clad sliding doorways, and concrete partitions that mimic the feel of the wooden grain.
Architect Howard Backen stated the couple have been concerned in even the smallest of particulars.
“We talked about all the things from the beam sizes to the small print of the cross bracing to the joints between the wood planks and the concrete,” Backen instructed the journal. “These are usually not the forms of conversations now we have with each buyer.”
Backen stated his movie star prospects are notably involved in sustainability. Based on Architectural Digest, the photo voltaic panels hidden within the porch roof of the property produce “considerably extra” vitality than the family consumes.
“Considerably extra modern”
When it got here to the inside of the home, Kutcher and Kunis enlisted the assistance of Vicky Charles, who was about to depart a place as head of design on the unique Soho Home members’ membership.
Kunis stated the 2 have been “obsessed” with Charles’ work, together with adorning the Soho Farmhouse, a British nation property allegedly beloved by celebrities from Victoria and David Beckham to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.
“We preferred the best way she combined materials, patterns and textures – actually her entire aesthetic,” Kunis is quoted as saying.
A 3-meter-long chandelier hangs within the property’s visitor barn. Picture credit score: Douglas Friedman / AD
Charles stated the actors’ precedence all through their discussions was creating a cushty dwelling for his or her household, which incorporates their two younger youngsters, Wyatt and Dimitri.
“We spent months in search of supplies and colours to seek out the proper imagery,” stated Charles, who additionally spoke to the journal. “Our conversations weren’t solely in regards to the nation and the structure, but in addition about the way forward for your loved ones.”
Charles balanced the need of their prospects for easy modernity and farmhouse heat and mixed darkish woods with impartial grey and brown tones. Plush accents got here with emerald inexperienced velvet sofas by designer Montauk and fashionable lights by Hector Finch.
“Over time, the design has moved from a standard farmhouse aesthetic to one thing extra fashionable,” stated Charles.
A “bed room” within the couple’s visitor barn. Picture credit score: Friedman / AD
In the meantime, a huge chandelier and a set of silver thrones that Kutcher had commissioned on a visit to India gave Charles the chance to do one thing playful with the interiors. The thrones went into the grasp lavatory whereas the chandelier was moved to the visitor barn.
“We thought it might be enjoyable to have this extremely opulent (chandelier) hanging in a barn,” stated Charles.
