Interiors  ·  Residential

Step Inside Vanessa Hudgens’s Transporting Los Feliz Home

September 29, 2023

With its lush surroundings, it makes the actress feel like she’s in Europe

by Sheila Yasmin Marikar
Photos by Jenna Peffley
Vanessa Hudgens has a tradition. “When I’m in L.A., the first night that I’m home, I take a bath,” the actress says. It’s a literal and figurative immersion into the sanctuary that she’s crafted for herself in Los Feliz, a verdant, hillside neighborhood adjacent to the Hollywood Hills. She spent five years searching for the Georgian colonial house that she now calls home. “There were so many things about it that struck me,” she says. “Walking through the gate and seeing this house covered in ivy, surrounded by olive trees, it was like I had been transported to France or Italy. It felt like such an escape.”
The home’s history lured her further. Called the Little DeMille, it was built by the director Cecile B. DeMille in 1922, purportedly for his mistress. Prior to Hudgens, it was owned by the actor Gary Oldman, who’d put in 18th-century French oak floors. “I wanted an old home,” Hudgens says. “To me, there’s something so romantic about that, a home with character and quirks. I love the old Hollywood elements: The Art Deco air vents, the chandelier over the staircase, the yard that feels like a park.”
After purchasing the home in 2018, Hudgens hired the interior designer Jake Arnold to remodel the primary suite. She took on the task of renovating the kitchen herself during the pandemic. “I figured, Why not?” she says. “I got new marble, painted the cabinets, got new knobs and drawer pulls—I really wanted brass. My girlfriend Ashley Tisdale,” of the High School Musical series, in which Hudgens also starred, “does interior design, and I got her advice on where to shop.”
Hudgens thought she knew what she wanted to do with the living room. “I originally had the idea of it being very white and monochromatic,” she says, “and I ordered a massive, white linen sofa from RH.” It arrived. It didn’t work. “I popped over to a vintage store and found this pink mohair sofa that I fell in love with.” New plan: “‘Okay, we’re going for soft femme colors.’ I wanted the house to be super feminine, to celebrate women’s bodies, to be a kind of femme palace. The sofa plays into that.”
The homage to the feminine mystique continues outside. Hudgens enlisted the artist Carly Kuhn, known as the Cartorialist, to paint a sinuous mural of faces on the wall surrounding the pool. “I wanted to add a little bit of me to the backyard,” Hudgens says. A long table plays host to al fresco dinners that sometimes include the most local of produce. “I have two massive grapefruit trees that produce huge grapefruits—not as big as my head, but they’re close,” Hudgens says. Also out back Hudgens enjoys a bountiful avocado tree. “We make amazing guacamole,” she says. An ideal night involves the laughter of friends, the ballads of Edith Piaf, flickering tapers, and the head of the house immersed, at some point, in her favorite spot to soak it all in.
“Jake came with a couple of suggestions for the primary bed and bath, but for some reason, I gravitated towards the cave vibe,” Hudgens says. “I fell in love with the idea of sitting in this deep, ceramic bathtub with the windows open, hearing the French music outside waft up through the windows, watching the candlesticks burn.” Of late, Vanessa Hudgens has spent a lot of time on the road: She stars in Lin Manuel Miranda’s upcoming directorial debut, Tick, Tick. . . Boom! “It’s nice to know that when I get home, I’ll have a bath waiting for me,” she says. “I always savor that first soak.”
1/18
“I had a Pinterest board of homes that I loved and when I looked at it, I realized that all of the photos were of historic homes,” says the actress Vanessa Hudgens, whose Los Angeles home was built by Cecile B. DeMille in 1922. “When I saw this house and learned about its history, I felt like I needed to be here.”
2/18
Hudgens’s High School Musical co-star, interior designer Ashley Tisdale, introduced her to the green armchairs in Hudgens’s living room. “Ashley had them and I fell in love with them,” Hudgens says. “She told me where to get them, so I did.” The silver gelatin print is by Peter Tomka.
3/18
“The piano came from my previous house,” Hudgens says, “but I don’t play. I don’t read music, really. I’m great at faking it.”
4/18
Rugs from Lawrence of La Breawere used throughout the home.
5/18
“I’m normally a ‘Let’s get everyone over, have a drink or two, put on a playlist, and then we all figure out what we want to eat and I just order it’ type of host,” Hudgens says. “Unless it’s a birthday party, and then I’ll hire someone to cater.” The dining room chandelier was a 1stdibs find. 
6/18
“I remodeled the kitchen during the pandemic,” Hudgens says. “I figured, Why not? I did what I like to call a facelift to it.” Extra tile from the primary bath turned into a backsplash. The sinks used in the kitchen are Shaws products. The countertops are made out of Carrara marble.
7/18
“I painted the cabinets, removed some cabinets, and put big oak beams for open shelving,” Hudgens says.
8/18
In the breakfast nook, House of Hackney wallpaper meets a 1950s pendant light from Germany and a sumptuous leather banquette. “I had the booth made for this space,” Hudgens says. “I was really inspired by the restaurant Maison Premiere, this absinthe and oyster bar in New York. It’s the dopest place ever.”
9/18
“Simple things like vases, florals, even a bed quilt, it’s something that I never thought I needed by here we are,” Hudgens says of the primary bedroom. Throughout the home, Hudgens included pieces sourced from some of her favorite vintage and antique shops, such as Gallery Half and Obsolete.
10/18
“I hired Jake Arnold to do the remodel of the primary suite because it was a lot,” Hudgens says. “The bathroom had to be moved, we had to knock down walls. I wanted to make sure that what I was doing would add to the history. I think there’s a beauty to homes that have been passed down, that have marks from previous residents.”
11/18
Hudgens was drawn to a cave-like aesthetic for the primary bathroom, which features a ceramic, egg-shaped Native Trails tub.
12/18
“The bathroom is a sexy cave,” Hudgens says.
13/18
“I wanted a yard that felt like a park where I could run around with my friends, have space to play, and just feel safe,” Hudgens says.
14/18
“A lot of my entertaining has happened outside,” Hudgens says, “because (a) COVID and (b) it’s just so fun to be out there.”
15/18
The serene pool area. “All the limestone tile, the plants, the foliage, help make the grounds feel like something out of a European retreat,” Hudgens says.
16/18
“I’m a go-getter,” Hudgens says. “I had a vision for what I wanted to do. I love interior design, decorating, and throwing parties. I’ve never had a space to do it, so this was my project.”
17/18
A mural by the Cartorialist rings the pool. “I wanted to add a little bit of me to the backyard,” Hudgens says.
18/18
Hudgens lived in the guest house while the primary suite was being remodeled, and it still plays host to movie nights with friends. Its bookshelves (not pictured) were painted in black, brown, and gray shades from Portola Paints & Glazes.
This article is originally available at www.architecturaldigest.com