Celebrity Homes: Step Inside Gwyneth Paltrows’ Serene House

A superstar on and off the big screen, Gwyneth Paltrow is an American icon in cinema. We love her high-end style, whether it be in fashion or interior spaces, and today we’re taking a look inside her serene Montecino home.

In an interview with Architectural Digest, Gwyneth reveals how she first gravitated towards this home. She admits that she first fell under the spell of Montecito during her two semesters at UC Santa Barbara. This was in the period before she decamped to pursue a career in acting. “I’ve always gravitated toward Santa Barbara. Even when I was living in London, we’d take the kids there for holidays. It was our sweet gem of an escape in the U.S.,” she says.

On one visit in 2015, Gwyneth checked in on Redfin, her “favourite pornography app,” and discovered a generous lot for sale with a teardown but tons of potential. “It was like Grey Gardens,” she recalls. “There were wild animals living there and swarms of bugs, but I fell in love with the land and the views.”

A dream build

Needless to say, the actress was hooked. And so began the dream of building her first ground-up house. “That was chapter one of a long and arduous journey,” she notes wryly, citing the many technical complexities, unforeseen setbacks, and existential quandaries that inevitably arise in the process of homebuilding. To tackle the assignment, Gwyneth tapped her longtime collaborators Robin Standefer and Stephen Alesch of Roman and Williams, the AD100 firm that had previously designed the actress’s Tribeca loft, the first Goop pop-up shop, and the company’s first permanent boutique, in the Brentwood Country Mart. “Robin and Stephen brought a real elegance to a very spec-y New York apartment, and I wanted to replicate the feeling of serenity they managed to conjure,” she says.

The realisation of the build took much endurance. However, in the end, we see this gorgeous retreat – a home that boasts a serene and tranquil style. Here you’ll find elements like Vitruvian proportions, sacred geometries, and a host of finely crafted architectural details that together represent a nuanced interpretation of wellness by design.

Furthermore, the property is powered on solar energy, with a grey-water system, reflecting Gwyneth’s commitment to environmentalism as an essential consideration in any homebuilding project.

A home of many layers

When it came time to furnish the house, Paltrow, a self-proclaimed “furniture obsessive,” originally planned to do the decorating herself. “I thought I’d get a few great pieces and it would all be fine, but as time went by, I realized that there were so many layers, so many things that needed attention, that I couldn’t pull it off by myself,” she recalls.

Gwyneth eventually called upon AD100 designer Brigette Romanek, a close friend of more than two decades, to join the adventure. “Brigette’s more contemporary than I am, but I wanted to push myself. Plus, I knew it would be fun,” the actress notes.

In the end, it has become a home that she loves. “This house has taught me so much about patience and gratitude. If you commit to design integrity and character, you’ll never be sorry.”