Interiors  ·  Residential

Step Inside Hilary Duff’s Cheerful Los Angeles Home

October 3, 2023

The actor and musician has taken her time creating a tailored, private sanctuary for her family

by Ariel Foxman
Photo by Jenna Peffley
“A lot of people move to the Hills for the view,” says Hilary Duff, discussing her decision to purchase the 5,260-square-foot Georgian-style Beverly Hills house she has lived in for close to a decade. “But I liked that this home felt really nested. I actually have hedges in my backyard, and then right behind that it’s just this big mountain. I feel like I’m getting this nice, warm hug.”
The actor and musician had been living in L.A.’s Toluca Lake for some time but was looking for something with a bit more privacy, especially since, at the time, she was expecting her first child. “My mom had lived down the street from me then, and every time I would walk down to her house there was this paparazzi waiting outside. It was a nightmare,” she explains.
“I love this couch because even though it seems modern, it also reminds me of the ’70s. I think my next house will be like all ’70s, really funky,” says Duff. (The couch is a custom design by Bespoke Furniture, with a Needlegrass rug from DISC for Marc Phillips) “I thought this would be the one room that would be for adults, but my kids freakin’ love hanging out in there. But I don’t mind; that’s what makes a happy home.” A pair of Kelly Wearstler Laurel Lounge chairs, in montage and shell, are a treasured possession. “I feel like I am going to have these until I am 98 years old, a grandma that’s still going be sitting in those fantastic chairs.”
Still, while this new refuge fit the bill in terms of seclusion, it would require a major overhaul. There were these grandiose fountains everywhere. And the buttery-yellow exterior. And these elaborate “super-’80s” wooden floors. A thorough gutting would leave many of the structure’s bones while creating larger and brighter living spaces.
“I’ve remodeled twice since the initial remodel,” says Duff, who is chief brand officer for both Happy Little Camper and Veeda, and stars as Kelsey Peters in Younger on TV Land. “I had a couple of big life changes—a divorce, a second child.” Most recently, she teamed up with interior designers David Ko, of Maison Ko, and Shannon Wollack and Brittany Zwickl, of Studio Life/Style, to ensure that the space would finally feel like her own. “I painted my front door this beautiful blush color. I was ready—to get rid of some of the dark colors, to move away from everything being so tonal, and to lighten up a lot of the furniture.”
Actor-musician Hilary Duff worked with her team from Studio Life/Style to pick the perfect trio of rugs to line the foyer stairway in her Beverly Hills home, an idea she had favorited on Pinterest. From Woven in West Hollywood—a store Duff says, “I lose all my money at”—the vibrant rugs were cut and then sewn together into a singular design. “To lay out the rugs on each step, deciding where to make the cuts was…very, very scary.”
“When I was meeting with my girls at Life/Style, I said I want either mint green cabinets or, like, an intense blue,” says Duff. “But when we were shopping we saw these titles, and I was dead over them. They are playful and vibrant but not over the top. Though, I will admit, I had a freakout when they were first installed. I was like, “Guys, I was wrong.” But there was nothing else in the kitchen, no hardware, no plates or bowls. They told me not to worry, to go back to New York where I was working. And they were so right. It all came together and I am so happy. I feel like I went with something bold, and that’s a big part of my personality.” The Pacha by Popham Design Field Tile tiles are from Ann Sacks, and the medium-dark blue paint color is Lucerne AF-530 by Benjamin Moore. A brass Twig 5 light fixture, by Apparatus Studio in New York, hangs above the island.
“We don’t eat dinner there as often as we should,” says Duff of her kitchen’s dining area, “but with the age difference going on here, I feel like we’re not going to sit down and eat at the same time for a couple of more years.” Still, the family makes plenty of use of its table from Galerie Half on Melrose. Explains Duff, “There’s coloring, and doing homework, and even meetings. And it’s definitely our holiday table.” The chairs are vintage, from Belgium. The chandler is by Lindsey Adelman Studio. Accordion doors open completely to the outside.
The kitchen’s strong palette and expressive pattern extends to the outdoor dining area, where Duff loves to entertain family and friends. “It’s always a conversation starter when people come over,” she says. The table and chairs are from RH.
The room just off the living room is a dedicated kids’ playroom, with lots of easy-to-clean textured fabrics. The hanging lantern predates Duff’s children, however. “I found that on 1stDibs, like, 15 years ago,” she says. “I had it hanging in my old house, in this room that we used to call the cognac room back in the day. Then it hung in a dining room, and then in a kitchen. It’s one of those pieces that I am just obsessed with and that will follow me wherever I go. It’s cool and it’s really old.” The scoop chair in shearling is by Stahl + Band.
“I don’t ever have enough time to get ready, so it was important to have a closet with a natural organization element. Bags here, tees here,” says Duff. “But my closet never looks this organized. Normally, that chair is covered in clothes, and I can’t even see how pretty it is.” The seat in question: a Parker chair by Interior Define, in sapphire and white oak.
Sometimes Duff takes a breather from her kids. “I will hide from them in my bathroom”—even taking weekly guitar lessons in the fully furnished suite. “My husband [Matthew Koma] thinks it’s sad that we don’t share a bathroom. He’s like, ‘We miss so much good hanging out time. I want to get ready with you,’” says Duff. “I don’t think I always want to get ready with you, but when I am putting on my makeup, he will sit on that couch. It’s sweet.”
A colorful painting entitled A Lot of Little Hopes by L.A.-based artist Austyn hangs on the second-floor landing. “I became friends with her and she put this aside for me,” says Duff. “The colors work really well with the runner in the hallway, and I like that it’s facing my daughter’s room, keeping an eye on her.” The large wooden door is a holdover from an earlier remodel closer to when Duff had first moved in. “It’s old-timey and has this circus vibe, and I just never replaced it.”
Duff’s daughter Banks’s nursery features a pastel mural and string installation by Laura Stewart. “When I first found out I was having a girl, I thought I was going to be a lot cooler than I was. But then, all of a sudden, it turned into a pink explosion in there,” says Duff. “Still, I have tried my best to keep it cool in there because I don’t really know who she’s going to grow up to be. Picking colors with Laura was a very fun, very collaborative process.” The hat on the wall hangs in anticipation. When a pregnant Duff saw that one of her favorite cowboy hats came in a kids’ version, she had to have it: “I can’t wait to be in a magic matching hats with my daughter!”
Banks’s bathroom is awash in rose-colored subway tiles, hung vertically. “I am a real lover of Pinterest, and I really liked images I had seen with tiles going that way,” says Duff. “And while the color is so sweet, she could still definitely grow into that bathroom in the coming years.”
When she was pregnant with Banks, Duff decided to transform a large guest room she had rarely used into a bedroom for her older son, Luca. “The room is so tall, and so we made the most of all of it,” says Duff. The lofted space features two single bunk beds with a sturdy climbing net between them. “As a family, we have really been into American Ninja Warrior, and Luca loves for me to give him these fun, timed challenges. Climb up the ladder, climb down the ladder…” explains Duff. “It also helps him burn a lot of energy.” All of the custom woodwork was done by PSS Design Cult.
Gray tiles, a water feature, and an incredible kids’ clubhouse complete with water slide—by Craig Williams Construction—were all added to the home’s original pool area. “My son is more interested in jumping off the side, which gives me a heart attack,” says Duff. “But the kids go crazy for it.” As for the landscaping, Duff adds, “I dream of changing the brick path in the lawn—that was an O.G., original of the house—but I think it bothers me way more than it bothers other people. I will have conversations about it and they’re always like, ‘Wait, what’s wrong with it?’”
The chicken coop was a Mother’s Day gift from Duff’s husband. “I had been wanting to get chickens for a while, and on Mothers Day I received a bag of chicken feed and a stuffed animal. A month later the coop was built, and we went to a farm and picked out chickens,” she explains. “They haven’t started laying eggs yet, but they’re getting so big! I love going out there and being a chicken mom. I have two dogs, and we have a lizard and some fish and, like, 12 chickens now.” The coop’s seating area features a vintage rolling table, RH chairs, and a lantern from Serena & Lily.
“This house is used by kids,” says Duff, mom to a young boy and toddler girl. “We have found this really nice balance. I care a lot about interior design, and I do like to invest in furniture—but furniture that I feel like I’m going to love and reuse in many different ways, and also that my kids can, like, climb on and beat up a little bit. Now, it feels like our family’s home.”
This article is originally available at www.architecturaldigest.com