Inside Chrissy Teigen and John Legend’s Loving Family Home
The superstar couple hired AD100 designer Jake Arnold to help craft the luminous Beverly Hills property
Chrissy Teigen and John Legend have grown accustomed to moving homes. “We’re used to it by now. We’re always open to a new house, or to changing the house we’re in,” says Teigen, the effervescent model, television personality, and home-cooking guru. “When she says we, she means she,” interjects Legend, her megastar musician husband, who lists no less than 12 Grammy Awards and an Oscar for best original song on his stellar résumé (as well as an Emmy and a Tony to round out the set). “But it’s true. We’re not afraid of switching things up,” he adds.
The couple’s propensity for serial home buying is not simply a matter of caprice. “Every house we’ve ever had reflects the moment we were in in our lives, like chapters in a book,” Teigen avers. “Our last house was darker and more cloistered, like a sanctuary,” Legend continues. “We were attracted to this place because of its lightness and airiness. We love how open it feels, and how it’s so connected to the outdoors. We wanted to create something magical, especially for the kids,” he says, referring to seven-year-old Luna, five-year-old Miles, baby Esti, and their newly arrived son Wren, whose delivery via surrogate in June was heralded on Teigen’s Instagram to the delight of legions of fans.
Enter AD100 talent Jake Arnold, the duo’s design collaborator, who tackled the renovation and reimagining of their new home in Beverly Hills after working on Legend’s recording studio and an office space for Cravings by Chrissy Teigen, the model’s food and cookware enterprise. “We hired Jake because we love his taste, although if it were up to him there’d probably be more earth tones,” Legend says, hinting at the designer’s penchant for warm, neutral palettes animated by strong, sculptural forms and luxurious textures. “We like bright pops of color. We wanted to crazy it up a bit, to add a little funk,” Teigen offers.
Arnold freely admits that his clients spurred him to expand his aesthetic lexicon into somewhat unfamiliar territory. “They like elements with a little glam and fun, and they’re drawn to work by bold, contemporary artisans, which is not my usual thing,” he confesses. “But Chrissy and John are the most welcoming, supportive people, and they trusted me. My challenge was to take this very contemporary, shiny new house and apply my philosophy to it—to make it inviting and livable, a version of what I do that speaks directly to their personalities.”
Arnold replaced the existing staircase—a sharp, angular construction of glass and steel—with a sinuous, floating plaster staircase detailed with an illuminated, incised brass rail. “I wanted to do lots of rounded silhouettes to offset the rectilinear architecture,” the designer explains. “They use every room in the house, and no place is off-limits to the children, so it all had to be casual and comfortable.” The stairway’s voluptuous curves are echoed in a broad array of furnishings and built-ins within the conjoined living, dining, and kitchen sweep: a signature Nacho Carbonell freestanding light sculpture; a Jeff Zimmerman light branch that hangs above a gently rounded Joseph Dirand dining table; a crescent-shaped Pierre Yovanovitch oak sofa that rests on a plush, biomorphic mohair rug; and a radiused marble island and plaster hood that anchor the entirely transformed kitchen.
Rounded forms reappear in the lounge adjacent to the living room—in the serpentine lines of the multitiered custom bar of marble, plaster, and brass; the gilded de Gournay wallpaper that wraps the space; and, of course, Legend’s grand piano. A nearby powder room, sheathed almost entirely in rose-hued marble, is animated with Murano sconces covered in sparkly glass florets and a shapely, domed pendant light. “John’s taste can lean feminine,” Teigen says of her husband’s predilection for unapologetically pretty lighting fixtures. “It’s true. I think every chandelier should be curvy and feminine. I’m also open to pinks,” the musician affirms.
In the primary bedroom, Arnold initially created a retreat as light and airy as the rooms on the first floor. After it was completed, however, Teigen and Legend had one of their trademark changes of heart. “For the second iteration we went for something much more quiet and moody, with rich, deep plaster walls, walnut-framed seagrass behind the bed, and a patinated-brass hood over the fireplace,” Arnold notes. Instead of using the existing separate bathrooms and closets, Teigen and Legend opted to reorganize the floor plan and share the amenities. “We like to be together, so the his-and-hers thing seemed wasteful,” Legend explains. His wife puts a finer point on the subject: “We’re not an old-school Victorian couple that needs to dress separately and then present ourselves all done up.”
Arnold’s imagination kicks into high gear in the design of the children’s bedrooms. Luna’s refuge is a fantasy in lavender—replete with a tented ceiling and a ball pit stocked with pearlescent orbs—while Miles’s boy cave is tricked out with a climbing wall, a custom Jeep-like bed parked on artificial turf, and curtains of camouflage netting. “We know the rooms will evolve as the kids grow up, but they’re perfect for right now. They’re like little dreamworlds,” the designer avows.
Indeed, life chez Teigen/Legend seems pretty dreamy for grown-ups and kids alike. Whether it’s a soiree for the Vanderpump Rules finale, a catered feast of hibachi delights, a bouncy-house blowout, or a classic pajama party, there’s a constant flow of friends and family at the couple’s eminently hospitable homestead. “That’s the way we like it,” Teigen insists. “It’s always open house here.”
Chrissy Teigen and John Legend’s home appears in AD’s Style issue. Never miss an issue when you subscribe to AD.
Teigen: Hair by Irinel de León; makeup by Kristine Studden. Legend: Hair by Ron Stephens II; grooming by Pamela Farmer. Florals by Amanda Plott of Moonbloom Flower Club.1/20John Legend (in a sweater and pants by DSquared2 and Christian Louboutin boots) with wife Chrissy Teigen (wearing a Saint Laurent top and skirt, earrings by Jacquie Aiche and Roseark, a gold ring by Roseark, and a David Yurman bracelet) and their children Miles (in a Gucci coat, with Petey the poodle), Luna (in a Gucci dress), and baby Esti (In a Noralee dress). Fashion styling by Alana Van Deraa and Apuje Kalu. Hanging fixture by Anna Karlin.
2/20A Nacho Carbonell light sculpture flanks the sinuous staircase. Paint throughout by Portola Paints.
Art: Valéria Nascimento/Sage Culture Gallery3/20A Jeff Zimmerman pendant is suspended above a Joseph Dirand travertine dining table with custom chairs in a Maharam velvet. Porcelain wall sculpture by Valéria Nascimento.
4/20In the living room, a custom cabinet covered in a Jim Thompson fabric is flanked by Venini sconces, and a chair by Cox London sits beside a Philip and Kelvin LaVerne side table.
5/20The open kitchen features slabs of calacatta macchia vecchia marble, stools by (wh)ORE Haüs Studios in a Pierre Frey fabric, Vola fixtures, and Apparatus monopoint lights.
6/20The living room is outfitted with a Pierre Yovanovitch sofa, a Vincenzo De Cotiis cocktail table, and a Dimorestudio floor lamp.
7/20Teigen (wearing an Isabel Marant top, a Saint Laurent skirt, and jewelry by Jacquie Aiche, Roseark, and Chanel) and Legend (wearing a King & Tuckfield sweater, a David Yurman necklace, DSquared2 pants, and Santoni shoes) sit poolside. Plants and planter by The Tropics Inc.
8/20The lounge/music room is wrapped in a de Gournay wallpaper. The curvaceous custom bar is a tiered design of opera fantastico marble, brass, and plaster. Pendant lights by Giopato & Coombes; side tables by Hoon Moreau; banquette fabric by Schumacher.
9/20A close-up look at the Yamaha piano. Chandelier by Alison Berger.
10/20Luna’s fantasy bedroom has a custom bed and slide, and a ceiling tented in a Designs of the Time fabric.
11/20Miles’s bedroom has a custom car bed with operable lights, a climbing wall, and curtains of camouflage netting.
12/20The primary bedroom is furnished with a De La Vega bed in a Zak+Fox velvet, an Anna Karlin chaise longue, nightstands with vintage VeArt glass orbs, and Cowtan & Tout seagrass wall covering panels. Artwork by Flora Hauser.
13/20The bedroom sitting area has a Pierre Jeanneret and Le Corbusier sofa, a Hoon Moreau side table, and a cocktail table by Philip and Kelvin LaVerne.
14/20The primary bath features a custom marble-and-walnut vanity, broad expanses of calacatta monet marble, and fixtures by Vola and Newport Brass.
15/20Wicker chairs from Radnor and planters and plantings from The Tropics Inc. line a terrace.
16/20A custom banquette covered in a Schumacher fabric sits beneath Verónica Mar sconces in the lounge.
17/20The home theater features custom lounge seating upholstered in cozy Skandilock sheepskin fabric.
18/20An Anna Karlin chandelier crowns the kitchen breakfast area.
19/20A powder room is wrapped in arabescato rosa marble.
20/20A Dimorestudio pendant hangs in Teigen’s section of the primary closet.
