C California Style & Culture by C Magazine

Hollywood DREAMS

Gucci

Christian Dior

FEATURES

Fashionable Living 2024

STATEMENTS

A Diane von Fürstenberg retrospective sashays into the Skirball Center................................

Louis Vuitton finds a new home in South Coast Plaza............................................................................

Bottega Veneta opens at The Americana at Brand....................................................................................

LADP debuts Romeo & Juliet Suite.............................

The Jimmy Choo accessories to choose.............................................................................................................

Van Cleef & Arpels’ Poetry in Time pops up in Costa Mesa...............................................................

Eight little black bags to get you through the year....................................................................................

DISCOVERIES

A new crop of wine country retreats around the globe..................................................................

The latest trends in California beauty...........................................................................................................

STYLE NEWS

JENNIFER SMITH Founder, Editorial Director & CEO

JENNY MURRAY

Editor & President

Chief Content Officer ANDREW BARKER | Chief Creative Officer JAMES TIMMINS

Beauty Director

KELLY ATTERTON

Contributing Fashion Editor

REBECCA RUSSELL

Senior Editors

GINA TOLLESON

ELIZABETH VARNELL

Managing Editor

SARAH RUTLEDGE

Photo Editor LAUREN WHITE

Graphic Designer DEAN ALARI

Research Editor CAITLIN WHITE

Masthead

Contributing Editors: Caroline Cagney, Elizabeth Khuri Chandler, Kendall Conrad, Kelsey McKinnon, David Nash, Diane Dorrans Saeks, Stephanie Steinman, Nathan Turner, Stephanie Rafanelli

Contributing Writers: Anush J. Benliyan, Max Berlinger, Catherine Bigelow, Samantha Brooks, Alessandra Codinha, Kerstin Czarra, Helena de Bertodano, Richard Godwin, Robert Haskell, Martha Hayes, Rob LeDonne, Christine Lennon, Jessica Ritz, S. Irene Virbila, Chris Wallace

Contributing Photographers: Juan Aldabaldetrecu, Christian Anwander, Guy Aroch, Mark Griffin Champion, Gia Coppola, Roger Davies, Victor Demarchelier, Amanda Demme, Francois Dischinger, Graham Dunn, Sam Frost, Adrian Gaut, Lance Gerber, Alanna Hale, Rainer Hosch, Bjorn Iooss, Danielle Levitt, Blair Getz Mezibov, Dewey Nicks, Frank Ockenfels, David Roemer, Jessica Sample, Jack Waterlot, Ben Weller

Contributing Fashion Directors: Chris Campbell, Cristina Ehrlich, Petra Flannery, Fabio Immediato, Maryam Malakpour, Katie Mossman, Jessica Paster, James Sleaford, Christian Stroble, Samantha Traina

RENEE MARCELLO Publisher

Executive Director, West Coast

SUE CHRISPELL

Director Digital, Sales & Marketing

AMY LIPSON

Sales Development Manager

ANNE MARIE PROVENZA Controller LEILA ALLEN

Information Technology Executive Director

SANDY HUBBARD

C PUBLISHING

2064 ALAMEDA PADRE SERRA, SUITE 120, SANTA BARBARA, CA 93103

T: 310-393-3800 SUBSCRIBE@MAGAZINEC.COM MAGAZINEC.COM

True Love Always

I adore this annual edition of C Magazine , as we delve into the way people in California make their homes and gardens an extension of who they are. I have been working on my dream home for a few years, and I’m almost finished with the renovations. I can’t wait to live in an environment where I’m surrounded by all my favorite pieces and mementos. The same might be said for our subjects who we visit in their special spots, north and south.

Take our cover star, actor Michelle Monaghan, who we photographed at home in this season’s sartorial best. She has lived with her family in an old-world Hollywood haven for more than a decade, but it still evolves with artwork (some created by her husband) and vintage finds she brings into the space. She travels extensively for work (her recent stint in Thailand filming the third season of The White Lotus took her away for more than six months), and coming home is so much sweeter with an abode as well-collected and cherished as hers.

EDITORS’ PICKS

LAURENT RIVE DROIT

Ally Hilfiger and Steve Hash’s La Quinta escape came to fruition during the pandemic from a desire to have a place to breathe and be free to pursue their artistic endeavors. Their home is a bohemian rhapsody full of their own artworks, vintage finds, and life lived fully within their sunny desert oasis.

Nicole Hollis has made quite a name for herself in the very competitive world of interior design. She has created homes on both coasts that have a singular style and are visually striking. With a new book out this fall, we present some of her recent hits and sit down to chat about working with artisans and her enduring love for the color black in her own homes.

And isn’t that the point of home, to create a world so quintessentially you that you never want to leave? Happy nesting!

JENNIFER SMITH Founder, Editorial Director and CEO

This month’s wish list CHANEL

Pétanque set, $3,375, chanel.com SAINT

Turntable, $7,500, yslrivedroite.com .

Founders Note

Boots, $2,450, givenchy.com

On the Cover

Photography by BRAD TORCHIA. Fashion Direction by PETRA FLANNERY STUDIO. Hair by BRIDGET BRAGER at The Wall Group. Makeup by SARAH USLAN at Visionaries Agency.

MICHELLE MONAGHAN wears LORO PIANA jacket and skirt, CHRISTIAN LOUBOUTIN shoes, and VRAI x PETRA & MEEHAN FLANNERY jewelry.

ALESSANDRA CODINHA

The author of “Bohemian Haven,” p. 74, Alessandra Codinha moved to Los Angeles from New York three years ago. Previously she was the style director for Departures magazine, was an editor at Vogue, and wrote and edited for Harper’s Bazaar and WWD, among other publications. She publishes a monthly newsletter, “Here We Go,” on Substack of timely recommendations and travel tips. MY C SPOTS Megan Roup’s workout at The Sculpt Society is a guaranteed mood boost, every time • Highbrow Hippie salon handles the best hair in town for a reason • Baroo for seriously delicious date nights.

Lance Gerber, who shot “Bohemian Haven,” p. 74, is a contemporary photographer renowned for his expertise in fine art documentation, interior design, architecture, fine art, and still-life photography. Based in Southern California, he finds inspiration in the desert landscapes, where he explores the powerful transformative effects of the natural world and its ongoing role in his personal and artistic discovery. MY C SPOTS Mount San Jacinto, which is in my backyard • Hancock Park in L.A. • The Mojave Preserve, a photographer’s dream.

Contribs

CATHERINE BIGELOW

“Where the Wild Things Are,” p. 52, was written by San Francisco reporter-columnist Catherine Bigelow, a chronicler of bold-faced philanthropic and cultural events and a regular contributor to C Magazine MY C SPOTS Seasonal dinners at Florio Cafe, beloved bistro of the Pacific Heights set • Haute bohemian escape to Nick’s Cove, 12 exquisite cottages overlooking Tomales Bay • I’m looking forward to attending a Beat Poets exhibition, “Opening the Mountain,” at the Marin MOCA Annex in San Rafael.

Degen Pener, who penned “Holistic Approach,” p. 82, is a writer and editor based in West Hollywood who covers environment, design, and culture stories. He was most recently the deputy editor of The Hollywood Reporter, where he oversaw style, lifestyle, e-commerce, and culture coverage. He has previously written for The New York Times, Out, InStyle, Entertainment Weekly, Elle, Details, Los Angeles Magazine, Santa Barbara Magazine, Wallpaper, Veranda, and New York Magazine MY C SPOTS Lotusland in Montecito • Carmel restaurant in L.A., a Tel-Aviv–style hotspot • Wineries in Paso Robles, especially Adelaida.

LANCE GERBER

DEGEN PENER

Cut-to-Order Gardenias and fragrant hand-poured wide-wick candles delivered overnight.

Statement Opener

THAT’S A WRAP

An exhibition devoted to DIANE VON F sashays into the Skirball Cultural Center

BCONTRIBUTORS

MAX BERLINGER

KERSTIN CZARRA

DAVID NASH

REBECCA RUSSELL

JOAN TAPPER

ELIZABETH VARNELL

S. IRENE VIRBILA

orn in Brussels in 1946 to a Romanian émigré father and a mother who survived the Holocaust (after being interned at both Auschwitz and Ravensbrück), Diane Halfin would later say her mother’s greatest teaching was “fear is not an option.” Halfin went on to have a storied career as fashion designer Diane von Fürstenberg. Including her marriage to Prince Egon von Fürstenberg in 1969, the first appearance of her iconic jersey wrap dress in 1974, a 13-year tenure as chair of the Council of Fashion Designers of America, and the philanthropic work she does alongside her second husband, media mogul Barry Diller, Diane von Fürstenberg: Woman Before Fashion tells the whole story at the CULTURAL CENTER in Los Angeles. The retrospective exhibition features more than 60 garments pulled from the DvF archives, as well as fabric swatches, artwork, media, and other ephemera that highlight the 77-year-old designer’s journey.

Clockwise from top left: A display of press clippings from the exhibition’s premiere at the Brussels Fashion & Lace Museum in 2023; the designer in her New York City showroom in the 1970s; the wrap dress made its debut in 1974 and has remained a classic for 50 years.

Statement - Turn

Clockwise from top left: A selection of dresses as seen at the inaugural show at the Fashion & Lace Museum in Brussels last year; a look from the Resort 2024 collection; von Fürstenberg’s clothes became a symbol of the women’s rights movement in the 1970s.

IN WITH THE OLD

Organized in four sections, the multidisciplinary show opens with a display of von Fürstenberg’s wrap dresses paired with archival pieces from designers like Donna Karan, Madeleine Vionnet, and Sonia Rykiel. The next part centers on her bold designs, including a look at her art-inspired collaborations and how her clothing became a symbol of the women’s rights movement in the 1970s. The third section chronicles how, at age 26, the designer started her brand and has remained a household name for six decades. The exhibition concludes with “WeAr(e)Able Stories,” a tribute to her global advocacy for human rights and gender equality.

“Now that I am older, I would like to spend the rest of my life using my voice, my knowledge, my connections — anything I have — to help all women become the women they want to be,” she says. “I came to America with a suitcase full of dresses and hope. Thanks to the wrap dress, I lived the American dream.” Oct. 17, 2024–Aug. 31, 2025.

2701 N. Sepulveda Blvd., L.A., 310-440-4500; skirball.org D.N.

The retrospective exhibition includes more than 60 garments.

RALPH LAUREN clothes are meant to be worn. The brand is now offering, online and in select stores, a curated assortment of handsourced vintage pieces that have been restored by a team of in-house experts and will be replenished monthly. A glimpse at the first delivery is an exhaustive, kaleidoscopic vision of America, including patinated denim jackets and tweed jackets with a whiff of upper-crust Anglomania. ralphlauren.com M.B.

RALPH LAUREN’s vintage collection brings back refurbished favorites.

Photography by RAINER HOSCH Styling by REBECCA RUSSELL

VALENTINO GARAVANI bag, $2,850, necklace, $4,170, shoes, $1,050, and turban, $1,690.

Shot on location at THE PROSPECT HOLLYWOOD. Model CHIARA BALLARD at Photogenics Media.

FAST LANE IN THE

Both Carolina Cucinelli, daughter of the designer BRUNELLO CUCINELLI, and her husband, Alessio Piastrelli, took their first motorcycle rides as children. Today riding has become a beloved pastime, a way to relax when they’re not working (Cucinelli is a vice president and co–creative director of the brand; Piastrelli is the creative director of men’s). Since moving to L.A., they have taken their love to the streets, driving along PCH or up to Griffith Observatory. This passion has led to the brand’s release of Road to Solomeo, a riding-inspired collection available exclusively at Neiman Marcus. Highlights for women include a cropped jacket made from

HEIGHTS OF FASHION

TREASURE TROVE

buttery Nappa leather and Chelsea boots with a sparkling strap for a touch of feminine allure; for men, a leather riding jacket with a shearling collar and leather gloves. Tailoring, hats, and a handkerchief in a rich, earthy palette round out the collection. brunellocucinelli.com. M.B.

Statement - Style

Style-savvy San Franciscans no longer need to cross the Bay Bridge to get their high-fashion fix from Sherri McMullen’s eponymous Oakland flagship: McMULLEN has opened a highly anticipated second location in Presidio Heights. Outfitted by San Francisco interior designer Noz Nozawa, the boutique offers an inviting approach to retail therapy with its bright white walls and well-curated mix of furnishings. The design concept enhances the retailer’s eagle-eyed aesthetic and knack for selecting the best pieces from designers and brands like Christopher John Rogers, Proenza Schouler, Dries Van Noten, Khaite, Lisa Folawiyo, Kamperett, Wales Bonnner, and Malene Birger. 3687 Sacramento St., S.F.; shopmcmullen.com. D.N.

For nearly 40 years, AUGUSTINA’S has been keeping things classy in downtown Carmel-by-the-Sea — first with owner Tracy Delaney Odle’s Augustina’s Leather shop (opened by her sister Jamie in 1987) and, later, a dedicated designer boutique. Both locations of the fashion retail mainstay offer a wide array of clothing, jewelry, and accessories for men and women, including Herno down-filled coats, Iris von Arnim cashmere sweaters, soft tees from Majestic Filatures, Sophique Milano suede loafers, sneakers from P448, and Jimmy Choo evening bags. Maybe pick up a little something from Buccellati, Sidney Garber, or Pomellato, or snag one of the boutique’s bespoke limited-edition denim jackets embellished with designer fabric and textile elements. San Carlos & 6th Ave. and Ocean Ave., Carmel; augustinasdesignerboutique .com, augustinaleathers .com. D.N.

RING IT UP Sculptural bands with desirable details 1. 2. 4. 5. 3.

McMULLEN opens in Presidio Heights.

Piastrelli and Cucinelli hit the highway.

ANDIAMO TO GLENDALE!

The elegant conceptual designs creative director Matthieu Blazy creates for BOTTEGA VENETA are landing in Glendale at the house’s new boutique at The Americana at Brand. His men’s and women’s lines, along with interior objects — all studies in understated elegance — are here, as are coveted bag and shoe designs often incorporating or riffing on the atelier’s signature intrecciato technique. The house’s roster of ready-to-wear and carryalls, including its Andiamo bag (inspired by the notion of designs made to move), a messenger version for men, and all manner of Blink mules and Sunday slippers, are debuting just below the Verdugo

TRUNK SHOW

Mountains. 798

Americana Way, The Americana at Brand, Glendale, 818-864-0165; bottegaveneta.com E.V.

FLIP SERVICE

Statement - Style

Underneath a ceiling shaped as an undulating wave in Costa Mesa, an immersive video wall depicts LOUIS VUITTON women’s shows worldwide while the house’s newly redesigned South Coast Plaza boutique also includes an expanded selection of its Nicolas Ghesquière–designed ready-to-wear. Watches, jewelry, leather goods, accessories, and fragrances are also here. Aboriginal artist Liddy Walker Napanangka’s painting Wakirlpirri Jukurrpa (Dogwood Tree Dreaming) is an homage to female creatives, and the boutique’s bespoke offerings include Paris-trained artisans who hand-paint, hot stamp, or engrave luggage, leather, and fragrance bottles. 3333 Bristol St., South Coast Plaza, Costa Mesa, 714-662-6907; louisvuitton.com. E.V.

6. 7.

Beauty entrepreneur Nyakio Grieco is the latest to collaborate with San Francisco fine jewelry line CAST, joining a roster of creatives — including artist Windy Chien and actor Eva Mendes — who have dreamed up new designs for the company since its inception. Grieco’s Mombasa Flip ring, a mix of pink sapphires, white diamonds, and turquoise — all set in gold — is named after her favorite beach in coastal Kenya, the country where her parents were born. Like the rest of Cast’s line of transformable rings, the piece can be adapted to pair the stones with a given mood or look thanks to a rotating mechanism within the design itself. Whether discovered online or inside Cast’s candycolored boutiques, a portion of the price of each Grieco-designed ring goes to L.A. nonprofit Art of Elysium. 1536 Redwood Hwy., Corte Madera, 415802-9839; 660 Stanford Shopping Center, Palo Alto; 650-507-5599; castjewelry .com. E.V.

10. 8.

NYAKIO GRIECO x CAST Mombasa Flip ring.

Photography by RAINER HOSCH Styling by REBECCA RUSSELL

GUCCI bracelet, $1,900, bag, $3,950, and scarf, $495. Shot on location at THE PROSPECT HOLLYWOOD. Model CHIARA BALLARD at Photogenics Media.

BEYOND BOOKS

GODMOTHERS bookstore, which opened on Sept. 8, has a wide selection of fiction, nonfiction, nature, cookbooks, YA and kids books, and everything in between, including a healthy selection of gorgeous coffee table tomes. In keeping with the name — which pays homage to the “godmothers who lit our way,” according to an entryway sign; that is, women who are often unsung supporters and advocates — co-owners Jennifer Rudolph Walsh and Victoria Jackson have big plans for the handsomely renovated 1920s barn, formerly home to Garde and multiple antiques stores. There’s a fireplace and a couch and a couple of chairs on a raised spotlighted platform, perfect for a cultural hub and a place to discuss books and ideas. There’s a food truck on the patio, and a café is on the horizon to accompany the food for the mind. 2280 Lillie Ave., Santa Barbara; godmothers.com. J.T.

PATTERN PLAY

HENRY HOLLAND has a new line of fabric and wallpaper for HARLEQUIN.

International luxury furnishings company Sanderson Design Group tapped English fashion designer and ceramicist HENRY HOLLAND to create a curated selection of fabric and wallpaper for HARLEQUIN inspired by his love of nerikomi, the Japanese pottery technique of thoughtfully stacking, folding, and rolling multicolored layers of clay to create graphic patterns. Holland also hand-selected designs from the British brand’s archive. “This collection’s palette can be interpreted in a multitude of ways for people to curate looks that reflect who they are,” he says. The 19 fabrics and nine

Statement - Design

DESIGNS OF THE DIASPORA

Interiors designed for care and rest that foster a sense of belonging and safety, yet also embrace intense creativity, fuel Liberatory Living: Protective Interiors & Radical Black Joy, a group show at the MUSEUM OF THE AFRICAN DIASPORA in San Francisco. The exhibition, installed across three floors of the museum, highlights the way objects and rooms contribute to Black joy and can incubate

wallpaper designs — available in many colorways — are a translation of organic forms and old-world techniques indicative of the designer’s earthenware collection. A textured ombré effect for the Southborough wallpaper mirrors tones found in Holland’s clay work, and the crewel embroidery of the Pot Shop textile references his signature ceramic shapes. Meant to be mixed and matched, these statement wallpapers and incredibly textural fabrics “cocoon interiors in an earthly palette” while elevating the essence of design as an art form. harlequin .sandersondesigngroup.com. D.N.

liberatory thought and promote the notion of constructing a space of one’s own against a history of uprootedness. Through March 2, 2025. 685 Mission St., S.F., 415-358-7200; moadsf.org. E.V.

STYLE STORIES Coffee table books that read as good as they look 1. 2. 4. 3.

Forever Beautiful: All-American Style All Year Long (Rizzoli, $45). 2. Michael S. Smith Classic by Design (Rizzoli, $75). 3. The Modern Garden: The Outdoor Architecture of Mid-Century America (Rizzoli, $70). 4. Contemporary Living by McLean Design (Rizzoli, $75).

Lorem ipsum credit here.

Benjamin Millepied’s vibrantly expressive Romeo & Juliet Suite — which is performed live with its L.A. DANCE PROJECT cast moving from stage to screen and filmed and broadcast in real time — is premiering in its entirety at The Wallis seven years after its radical origins in Los Angeles at Walt Disney Concert Hall. The live piece, performed front and center and amid interior spaces throughout the performing arts center, taps a singular dance vocabulary to rework Sergei Prokofiev’s ballet while pairing star-crossed lovers navigating current social norms. LADP has performed scenes from the piece with varying leads, mixing genders and roles in a variety of locations, using a series of cameras to follow the dancers and a projection system to bring the audience along for the ride. Now the completed project

STYLE SANCTUARY

is back in town, with its thrilling clashes, embraces, and machinations. Parting is such sweet sorrow. Oct. 10–12. 9390 N. Santa Monica Blvd., Beverly Hills, 310-246-3800; ladanceproject.org; thewallis.org. E.V.

Statement - Design

It has been 30 years since fashion designer ERICA TANOV opened her first shop in Berkeley. That’s where she offered, among other things, her slip dresses and camisoles favored by stars like Tilda Swinton and Sarah Jessica Parker. In the years that followed, Tanov has established a holistic lifestyle brand that includes “relaxed luxury” garments, handsilk-screened wallpaper, architectural tiles, furniture, bedding, linens, and cherry-picked antiques. To mark her three-decade milestone, she has taken up residence in a historical threestory Italianate Victorian mansion in the heart of Berkeley that serves as her brand’s studio and showroom. The 3,632-sq.ft. manse — with its period details and old-world charm — houses the style arbiter’s growing signature home collection alongside exceptional vintage finds. By appointment only. ericatanov.com. D.N.

1. 2. 4. 5. 3.

L.A. DANCE PROJECT’s Romeo & Juliet Suite runs Oct. 10–12.

ERICA TANOV opens in Berkeley.

FRENCH TWIST

Simon Porte Jacquemus — founder and designer of his eponymous French Fashion house, a favorite of fashion editors and influencers — is bringing his love of retro shapes and cheerful hues to reinvigorate a beloved 1960s Italian design collection. Gae Aulenti’s Locus Solus outdoor furniture pieces, produced by Exteta of Milan, are known for their masterful mix of performance and luxury. The JACQUEMUS EXTETA re-edition, available exclusively at Mass Beverly, is a stylish mash-up of la dolce vita and ’80s color and whimsy. The seven-piece line dresses up

TAKING STOCK

Aulenti’s original stainless steel, off-white, tubular, minimal pieces in fresh colors like beige with contrasting brown handstitching and a cheeky, vibrant yellow stripe. “I have always dreamed of developing a furniture line,” says Porte Jacquemus. “I have collected Gae Aulenti vintage chairs for many years, ever since I saw them in the movie La Piscine by Jacques Deray. I wanted to add a Jacquemus touch.” 9000 Beverly Blvd., West Hollywood, 310-271-2172; massbeverly.com. K.C.

SOUND INVESTMENT

Statement - Design

Designer Stephan Jones is busy with a slate of buzzy projects, but he still found time to open a new home decor destination in the heart of West Hollywood. This past summer, Jones debuted a new brick-andmortar design store adjacent to his design offices and rebranded both as STOCK STUDIO

The curated mix of objects and furnishings includes his enviable array

CHAIR GAME Lounge lovers take note

of vintage pieces, including one-ofa-kind finds from Europe, especially midcentury designs often sourced from northern France and Belgium. The clean, minimal space is an ideal backdrop for Irish dining chairs with carved ladderback and turned legs, a Maison Regain Brutalist planked elm sideboard, and stoneware from local artists like Lee Kawasaki. 7317 Santa Monica Blvd., West Hollywood, 323-654-5420; stock.studio. K.C.

Must-have goods at STOCK STUDIO. 1. 2. 4. 5. 3.

San Diego company WRENSILVA crafts record consoles with design details synonymous with fine furniture while maintaining exceptional sound quality for true audiophiles. Their buildto-order pieces are handcrafted in Southern California, and they have a newly opened showroom and listening studio in West Hollywood’s Design District. Imagined by Studio Collective, this lounge-style listening space is designed to fully immerse visitors, thanks to cork-tile panels, vintage rock photography on the walls, and sumptuous furniture. The real stars are the modern hifi consoles, which are outfitted with custom-built speakers, a split-plinth belt-driven turntable, and audio components to ensure expansive, authentic sound.

8625 Melrose Ave., West Hollywood; wrensilva .com. K.C.

ATELIER FM chair, debuting at Salon Art + Design. 2. HERMÈS chair, $21,900. 3. LULU &

REMEMBERING HOWARD BACKEN

From haute homes to WONDROUS WINERIES , the architect’s distinct style will live on in Napa and beyond

Statement - Long Read

With his signature nature-centric style, award-winning architect Howard Backen (June 8, 1936–July 22, 2024) practically defined the aesthetic landscape of Napa Valley. Taking his cues from Mother Nature, Backen envisioned structures that have been referred to as “farmhouse chic” for his visionary use of reclaimed wood, stone, concrete, steel, and glass that, when combined, complemented their environments with discretion rather than standing in glaring contrast. From his three-decades-long design collaboration with Bill Harlan that produced the look and feel

Words by DAVID NASH

of The Napa Valley Reserve, Meadowood, and the rest of Domain H. William Harlan to other wine country mainstays like Screaming Eagle, Continuum Estate (the new home for the Mondavi family’s second- and third-generation winemakers), and Knights Bridge Winery, Backen’s work is identifiable with the region and its world-class wines.

“Howard looked at all the existing architecture around the Napa Valley — which included French châteaux and Italian villas — and he realized it really needed to have a vernacular that set an ideal for architecture here,” says Harlan, the architect’s longtime friend. “When you look back on all the properties he designed, they were very sitespecific and fit the land, and I really feel he made a huge impact on the valley that will continue to make a difference in a very positive way.”

By the time Backen and his former wife, interior designer Lori O’Kane, relocated to Napa in 1994, the architect had already enjoyed a successful 28-year career through his original firm, Backen, Arrigoni and Ross (later known as BAR Architects). While at BAR, he designed

Clockwise from top: The exterior of a moviestar couple’s residence; Bracken at work; Padaro Beach House in Santa Barbara.

several high-profile film industry projects, including Robert Redford’s Sundance Institute in Park City, Utah; George Lucas’s Skywalker Ranch in Marin County; and Disney’s Burbank Sound Studios. In 1996, following his move to Northern California’s idyllic wine country, he founded Backen & Gillam Architects with James Gillam. “In his first 25 years up here, I worked with him twice a week for three hours a day — we always had something under construction or in design,” Harlan says. “Jim [Gillam] was really good at rendering and Howard did all the design; you put the two of them together and it was beautiful.”

To commemorate 22 years of its design emphasizing the simplicity and elegance of natural materials, Rizzoli published From the Land: The Architecture of Backen, Gillam & Kroeger in 2013. The hefty tome, written by Daniel P. Gregory with a foreword by friend and client Academy Award winner Diane Keaton, chronicles 38 of the firm’s most compelling projects, including the home of vintner Tim Mondavi. “When we built the home — which began around 1980 — I actually worked with Howard’s partner at BAR, Bob Arrigoni,” Mondavi says. “Then many years later I wanted to renovate the home and pursued Howard because, during the original construction, it became evident that it was actually his [design] style I adored, and he [jokingly] said something like, ‘I’d be delighted to help you fix my former colleague’s mistakes.’ He had a great sense of humor.”

Following Gillam’s departure from the firm, it was renamed Backen and Backen – Architecture | Lifestyle | Wellbeing in partnership with his wife, Ann Ernish-Backen. The couple maintained a practice centered around the ideas of regenerative design, environmentally conscious systems, and context-centered architecture. “Howard added to Napa Valley’s beauty in ways that no one else has or perhaps ever will,” says Ernish-Backen. “His works, which were built for and from the land, have become synonymous with the sublime character of the Napa Valley itself.” Since its inception 28 years ago, the firm not only made its mark by designing upward of 60 wineries, but its more than 300 residential projects also included

monumental homes for Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis, Ellen DeGeneres, and Jeffrey Katzenberg, as well as a multitude of resorts, restaurants, and several lifestyle projects for RH. Serving as creative director and CEO, Ernish-Backen — alongside principals turned partners John Taft, Tony Selko, and Tom Spoja, and a broader team — will continue to execute Backen’s inimitable vision long into the future. “When we purchased Knights Bridge vineyard in 2006, I envisioned building a winery and a home where we could entertain our friends, and a place where my sons and their young families would visit and stay,” says winery owner Jim Bailey. “I am proud and grateful his legacy will forever be part of the Knights Bridge estate.”

Statement - Long Read

Having celebrated his 88th birthday a month and a half before his passing, Backen lived an aesthete’s dream, surrounded by the natural beauty he endeavored to celebrate in his work through an oeuvre spanning more than 60 years. “Now that I have to finish a project I started with Howard, I didn’t realize how much I would miss him if he went away,” Harlan says. “Not only as a friend, but [as a design visionary], he could turn whatever ideas I had into something way more magical than I could conceive on my own.” •

Backen had a visionary use of reclaimed wood, stone, concrete, steel, and glass.

From top: An estate on Diamond Mountain in Calistoga; Dana Estates.

If the shoe fits, MATCH the bag and glasses

Photography by RAINER HOSCH Styling by REBECCA RUSSELL

JIMMY CHOO bag, $3,795, sunglasses, $638, and shoes, $1,750. Shot on location at THE PROSPECT HOLLYWOOD. Model CHIARA BALLARD at Photogenics Media.

HARD TO BEAT

Although a visit to one of Northern California’s RH GALLERIES might whet your appetite for design, a stop at one of its restaurants will quell any hunger pangs. First introduced at the recently opened Palo Alto outpost, the lifestyle brand has now unveiled its new menus at restaurants in San Francisco, Marin, and Yountville. Start your day with “impossibly thin” Swedish pancakes topped with Vermont maple syrup. The Chinese chicken salad will become a lunchtime favorite. For dinner, don’t miss mini lobster rolls with caviar (below). 180 El Camino Real, Palo Alto; 590 20th St., S.F.; 1750 Redwood Hwy., Corte Madera; 6725 Washington St., Yountville;

SIZZLE AND SPICE

Statement - Dining

RAISING THE BAR

Los Angeles chef Wes Avila gave up fine dining more than a decade ago to open a taco cart (later a truck) called Guerrilla Tacos. People lined up. Next came the late, great Angry Egret Dinette in Chinatown serving Mexican and American breakfast all day long. Now, after a trip to Mexico’s Monterrey sparked the chef’s interest in the region’s grilled meats, he’s opened the glam Mexican steakhouse MXO, which stands for Mexican Origins, in WeHo. Instead of the usual steakhouse apps, you can start with whole grilled prawns,

lobster ceviche, a cabbage Caesar, or maybe even a Oaxacan-style tlayuda. Then get down with a dry-aged porterhouse or bone-in rib eye cooked over a wood fire on a Santa Maria–style grill. Even better, get together 8 to 12 friends, order ahead, and feast on the giant birria beef Martello (hammer), a whole braised Wagyu beef shank served with roasted bone marrow and consommé. Eat indoors or outside around one of the patio’s firepits. Restaurateur Giancarlo Pagani and Sam Nazarian’s ubiquitous hospitality group SBE are fronting this ambitious venture in partnership with music legend Marc Anthony’s company Magnus. Pretty swell. 826 N. La Cienega Blvd., L.A., 323-805-0696; mxola@sbe.com S.I.V.

Jos Gozain, the third-generation Mexico City restaurateur behind the Silver Lake sushi bar Santō, just opened a natural wine bar next door. His partner is his neighbor, Olivia Lopez, who’d been scheming to open a Europeanstyle wine bar in the neighborhood — intimate café by day, wine bar by night. And that’s just what 25-seat BARR SECO is. Chef David Potes’ Mexican-Japanese freestyle menu flirts with accents from Spain, Portugal, and South America. Stop in for his tostadas made with huitlocoche (corn smut) from Oaxaca, for the jamón and Manchego bocadillo, or a plate of spicy vodka strozzapreti with a wine list written by ex-Kismet sommelier Kai Whalen. The daytime café proposes a small menu of pastries from Out of Thin Air bakery, endive Caesar, and a trio of bocadillos. But come 5 p.m., the bar makes its entrance. “I am the customer for Barr Seco,” says Lopez. “I wanted to create a place I’d really like to go to.” 3820 W. Sunset Blvd., L.A.; barrseco.com S.I.V.

RH has updated its menus.

MXO is open for dinner Tuesday through Saturday.

BARR SECO is an intimate café by day; at 5 p.m., it becomes a cozy wine bar.

AT SOUTH COAST PLAZA WAXING POETIC

Dragonflies seem to float by as reflective glass leaves hanging from lacquered half-circles evoke a forest canopy at VAN CLEEF & ARPELS’ new Costa Mesa pop-up, Poetry of Time (Oct. 11–27). The leaves, crafted by Basel-based Matteo Gonet and the Salviati workshop in Murano, are strung like beads in lush shades of green, orange, and gold. They tower over rounded glass vitrines containing the Parisian house’s latest watch designs at the intricate South Coast Plaza display. Here are versions of the Ludo Secret, high jewelry timepieces named for a house founder, Louis Arpels, amid tropical flora, hummingbirds, and butterflies. Nearby are watches from the Poetic Complications collection tapping the house’s embrace of the natural world with vibrant enamel flower-filled gardens or diamond pavé celestial skies depicted on watch dials with interchangeable alligator leather bracelets. Throughout the space, lacquered panels in shades of dark green and azure blue, created by Atelier

Statement - Style

Midavaine alongside gold leaf, reflect light. Walls adorned with architectural embroidery from Studio MTX in Paris play up the Ludo bracelet’s signature brick pattern, also a defining characteristic of the watch design. The evening’s twilight hour seems to be approaching, as birds find places to rest for the night and light reflects off the enamel sapphire crystal on the back of the Lady Arpels Jour Nuit and Lady Jour Nuit watch cases. 3333 Bristol St., South Coast Plaza, Costa Mesa, 714-5459500; vancleefarpels.com E.V.

UNDERARM SERVES A little black bag is always a winner 1. 2. 4. 3.

VAN CLEEF & ARPELS’ Poetry of Time pops up at SCP.

RESORT STYLE

If you thought the Pacific Palisades couldn’t get any more stylish, the new CULT GAIA boutique will prove you wrong. With outposts from urbane New York City to idyllic St. Barts, it marks the sixth — and possibly the most enchanting — brick-and-mortar shop from Los Angeles brand founder and designer Jasmin Hekmat. For the 1,225-sq.-ft. space, the fashion and accessories darling hooked up with architecture and design firm Sugarhouse to create what principals Jess and Jonathan Nahon have named “The Shell” in a nod

FEELING QUILTY

to its subtle seaside design references and proximity to the Pacific Ocean. Plaster walls and pastellone floors incorporate terra-cotta granules re-creating the texture and color of sand, softened edges ripple through the interior contours and furnishings like a waveshaped sofa, and undulating clothing racks and rock formation–like display pieces make for an otherworldly retail experience that showcases a wide selection of the brand’s ready-to-wear, shoes, bags, and accessories. 15225 Palisades Village Lane, Pacific Palisades; cultgaia.com. D.N.

FRESH FACETS

Statement - Style

Designer, author, and lifestyle expert NATHAN TURNER’s new California Collection — a line of linens and clothing that combines classic motifs with an easy, approachable vibe — is his most personal yet. He started with a memory mood board, and prints began to pop out like an English Chintz his grandmother loved: a rustic horse blanket, wild quail, and Westernleaning florals and stripes. From there, the designer gave each of the 33 patterns a Turner twist. The English-inspired florals are more graphic, with crisper palettes like blue, brown, and fresh greens. The stripe, blanket, and quilt prints read more geometric than granny. There’s even a take on a classic French toile, replacing pastoral European gentry with lasso-tossing cowboys and ranch dogs. Each one is an homage to the wild, natural beauty found in the Golden State. nathanturner.com K.C.

Diamonds inspire the angular new LAURENCE GRAFF Signature collection. The line’s first unisex offering, a tribute to the founder’s diamond-cutting legacy and the facets that have become its signature, includes a trove of pendants, earrings, rings, and a stackable new bracelet design based on the shape and geometry of the sparkling stones that launched the jeweler’s ongoing enterprise. Although the architectural pieces take cues from the angles and planes cut into compressed carbon, the line includes sleek yellow, white, or rose gold versions in addition to those adorned with pavé diamonds. 9570 Wilshire Blvd., Saks Fifth Avenue, Beverly Hills, 310-205-2400; 3333 Bristol St., South Coast Plaza, Costa Mesa, 714-3988178; 237 Post St., S.F., 415-926-7000; graff.com. E.V.

6. 8. 5. 7.

CULT GAIA in Pacific Palisades.

GRAFF debuts a new collection.

PRETTY IN PINK

PAUL

the blushing exterior. He’s right for two reasons: the L.A. boutique’s midcentury-influenced interiors and a new exhibition taking shape there this fall.

Statement - Paul Smith

Smith’s Melrose shop is newly reworked in an open layout inspired by adaptable Case Study House spaces pioneered by Charles and Ray Eames. Menswear and accessories are here, as is the designer’s madeto-measure service. “Our customers come to us mainly for tailoring,” says Smith. “And they like that we offer print and color.” The shop also includes women’s ready-to-wear inside walls adorned in original art plus custom mosaics in travertine stone commissioned from British artist Charlie Sheppard. A by-appointment VIP fitting room includes a garden entrance and lounge with Mario Bellini seating and French 1980s wall sconces.

looks worn by stars

SMITH ’S redesigned L.A. flagship and an exhibition of custom

Sir Paul Smith argues that it’s worth stepping into one of his shops because there may be something interesting to behold — there is ready-to-wear and impeccably tailored suits or fabrics in eye-catching patterns or colors — but beyond his designs, Smith points out there is often a difficult-to-find photography book or art volume. And although his Los Angeles boutique — a place Smith calls “my big pink shoebox,” inspired by the intense colors of Mexican architect Luis Barragán’s buildings — is a major draw and arguably the most Instagrammed building in the United States, the designer maintains it’s what’s inside that really makes the place unique: “What we offer is much more exciting” than

Words by ELIZABETH VARNELL

Additionally, a new exhibition on view through October 21, A Frame Around A Picture: Dressing the Greats, gives a glimpse into the world of creatives Smith has dressed over the past five decades. Driven by his penchant for using music, art, architecture, and cinema to inform his collections, it’s no surprise that a slew of actors, directors, singers, and musicians have all stepped out in Smith’s creations. Here a bespoke check look for David Bowie joins Cillian Murphy’s two-piece Oscar luncheon suit and designs for Gary Oldman, Harrison Ford, John Legend, Jenna Ortega, and many others. There’s even a trove of archival pieces sourced from Luke’s founder Luke Fracher, whose new West Coast outpost is also located just down the street. Come for the wall, stay for the wares. 8221 Melrose Ave., L.A., 323-951-4800; paulsmith.com. •

Clockwise from top: New Eamesinspired interiors in Los Angeles; the British designer Sir Paul Smith; a Fall 2024 menswear look; a bespoke pattern created for actor Harrison Ford; eye-catching suit linings.

HAPPY 100, LEGION OF HONOR

Statement - Design

AThe grande dame of SAN FRANCISCO’S CULTURAL SCENE celebrates its centenary

uguste Rodin’s Saint John the Baptist Preaching, a gift from Alma de Bretteville Spreckels, and tapestries depicting Joan of Arc’s daring life are just two of the striking works in California Palace of the Legion of Honor’s centennial exhibition, Celebrating 100 Years of the Legion of Honor. The show’s timeline runs from the San Francisco earthquake of 1906 to the French Pavilion at the

Panama-Pacific International Exposition of 1915 that inspired Spreckels and her husband, Adolph, to give the city a museum replicating the Légion d’Honneur in Paris. It continues from the institution’s opening on Armistice Day in 1924 through the following decades, highlighting a 1930s Diego Rivera exhibition, the 1972 merger with the de Young, the Legion’s expansion after the Loma Prieta earthquake in 1989, and Wangechi Mutu’s recent stunning sculptural takeover. Meanwhile, Rodin’s The Thinker, also a Spreckels gift, meditates in the courtyard. Nov. 9, 2024–Nov. 2, 2025. 100 34th Ave., S.F., 415-750-3600; famsf.org. X

Words by ELIZABETH VARNELL

Clockwise from top: Rodin’s The Thinker and Wangechi Mutu’s MamaRay ; a ceramic container dated to 450 B.C.E. from Greece; Jean-Paul Laurens’ tapestry depicting the execution of Joan of Arc.

GET THE ULTIMATE INSIDER’S GUIDE

Well Opener

2024

LIVING FASHIONABLE

A MODERN RANCH IN CALISTOGA comes with concrete, glass, and some unexpected guests p. 52. MICHELLE MONAGHAN’S family home in the Hollywood Hills is an artful assemblage of old and new p. 62. Why TWO ARTISTS created an Ibiza-style haven in La Quinta p. 74. How NorCal interior designer NICOLE HOLLIS’ singular vision won her fans on both coasts p. 82.

Ghost Donkey Ranch in Sonoma County.

The couple’s miniature donkeys, Sugi (brown) and Jinx (white). Opposite: An airplane-hangar window in the main room glides open on the couple’s 227-acre Ghost Donkey Ranch.

Where THE WILD Things Are

In SONOMA COUNTY a bicoastal couple built their dream home — Bauhausian and light-filled, it came with some unexpected guests

Words by CATHERINE BIGELOW

Photography by FRANCOIS DISCHINGER

Perched atop the rolling, oak-studded hills of Knights Valley in Sonoma County, a modernist farmhouse-style residence announces itself as two glass-and-steel hydraulic airplane-hangar windows slowly glide upward like butterfly wings over a sun-dappled horizon. This Pavlovian signal beckons Sugi and Jinx, two resident miniature donkeys that gambol inside to greet visitors.

“Our cheeky little mini donkeys live near the main house,” says Kristina O’Neal, who designed it with Adam Gordon, her creative partner and husband. But as he notes, “If left to her own devices, Kristina would have the [donkeys] living with us in the actual house. But we have boundaries.”

Such is the bucolic lifestyle at Gordon and O’Neal’s Ghost Donkey Ranch, a 227-acre property that has remained a working cattle ranch for more than 100 years — a rarity among the hectares of vineyards that define this famed wine-growing region.

“Adam has a fascinating ‘dowsing’ ability when it comes to ideal, totally off-market property,” says O’Neal. “He discovered our Knights Valley acreage with the help of Sonoma locals. The first time I saw the land, it seemed impossibly beautiful. I feel that way every time we arrive. It’s easy to get awestruck here.”

Those lush vistas, says O’Neal, also christened the name of their ranch. “After living on the land for a few weeks, we saw six mysterious white animals on one of our distant knolls. We wondered if some neighbors’ cows had gotten loose. After a few sightings, [we realized] wild donkeys were grazing on the property. I began calling them ‘ghost donkeys’ because they would appear and then disappear into the forest.”

“ The first time I saw the land, it seemed impossibly beautiful .”

KRISTINA O’NEAL

765,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art TV and film production campus in Astoria — the $1 billion brainchild of Gordon and his pal, award-winning actor Robert De Niro.

O’Neal is a cofounder of the vaunted AvroKO design studio. With offices in San Francisco, London, New York, Bangkok, and Miami, she and her fellow founders are industry leaders in creating haute, high-touch environments for properties like the three-Michelin star Single Thread restaurant in Healdsburg and The Inn at Mattei’s Tavern (an Auberge Resorts Collection property) in Los Olivos. A decade ago, seeking to balance city sidewalks with rustic sanctuary, Gordon and O’Neal purchased the ranch. For the first year, they camped out in their emerging structure to better imagine its interior finishes and decor.

Feature - Ghost Ranch

O’Neal grew up in Pleasanton, California, whereas Gordon is a native New Yorker, raised in the Midwest, who “sprinted back to New York City after college.” Now a bicoastal couple, they’re primarily based in a Chelsea penthouse, where they’ve established several wildly successful business ventures.

Gordon, managing partner of Wildflower, Ltd., is a visionary real estate developer who created the first modern e-commerce warehouse, which he leased to then-fledgling online retailer Amazon. He is known for transforming unique properties with luxury design. In 2007, Gordon purchased the historic Bouwerie Lane Theatre in NoHo, transforming the six-story, French Second Empire–style cast-iron structure into two fullfloor condos and a triplex penthouse (where the couple formerly resided), adorned with mahogany staircases and a wine-tasting room. In August, tech titan Elon Musk paid $18 million to Wildflower for a 40,037-squarefoot surface parking lot in Queens to, presumably, develop a Tesla Supercharger station. In July, Gordon unveiled Wildflower Studios — a

“We spent more than a year wandering the land to find exactly the right site, daydreaming about how we wanted to live there and what our days and evenings would look like,” Gordon says. “After that, the shape of the house seemed inevitable.”

Built in 2016 and clad in local tufa stone, the fire-resistant home — a geometric reduction of an agrarian structure — was designed as a “private pleasure” that affords the landscape a starring role. A pool pavilion is framed by a riot of native flora, as well as second-growth redwoods, olive trees, Douglas firs, and native grass.

At just 28 feet wide, the 4,200-square-foot main house is a minimalist dream comprising three bedrooms, a living room, a gym, and an herbarium, plus two guest casitas. The open kitchen was designed by their friend Tom Kundig, an architect with AD100 firm Olson Kundig.

Interior artwork emerged from a mood board of sketches composed by O’Neal, a hobby she has dubbed “Modifieds” that reimagines the artistry of deconstructed objects: A diptych in the herbarium is derived from a 19th-century embroidered Viennese runner. A netted wall hanging in the primary bedroom originated as an Oaxacan hammock.

Clockwise from top left: A view of the outdoor area; the home on the grounds of the ranch; samples in O’Neal’s in-home herbarium; a sitting area in the primary bedroom; white ceramics; Gordon’s 1971 Ford Bronco traversing the ranch. Opposite: Kristina O’Neal and her husband, Adam Gordon, on the grounds of their Ghost Donkey Ranch in Sonoma.

Feature - Ghost Ranch

Gordon and O’Neal on the grounds of their ranch with Sugi.

Landscape architecture by Strata leads to the pool pavilion.

Feature - Ghost Ranch

Clockwise from top left: A vintage table and collection of ceramics; made-to-order rosewood panels from Engberg Design and Development top vintage Knoll table legs sourced on eBay, with 1970s Guido Faleschini–designed dining table chairs; Richard Schultz for Knoll outdoor furniture; a “Modifieds” net sculpture above a Boffi bed in the primary bedroom; the pool pavilion; personal effects add detail.

Feature - Ghost Ranch

The decor is equally eclectic. Vintage Pierre Jeanneret chairs adorn the living room. A Knoll base sourced from eBay supports a custom Rosewood top dining table. Woolly wooden sheep forms, found in a Sonoma shop, flock in the entry hall.

For at least five months of the year, the couple’s urbanity is tempered by restorative sojourns in sun-kissed Sonoma. “We flow between the city and the ranch for a basket of reasons,” Gordon says. “Silkie chicken hatchings, friends celebrating seasonal harvests, professional opportunities, classic car rallies, donkey petting, and often just a longing to be in nature.”

Feature - Ghost Ranch

This untamed landscape — defined by mountains, meadows, and abundant wildlife (coyotes, raptors, and bobcats) — also serves as an environmental lab that has inspired new endeavors for the couple.

Authored by the Sun, developed by O’Neal and winemaker Tessa Perliss, is a line of roots-to-fruits skin serums and teas tested in O’Neal’s herbarium in collaboration with local female herbalists and growers. With Sonoma native Will Densberger, Gordon established Knights Valley Wagyu, a “virtuous” agricultural project that raises stress-free animals bearing champion Japanese genetics in open, pesticide-free pastures that respect the land upon which the cattle graze.

“ We spent a year wandering the land, daydreaming about how we wanted to live there.”

ADAM GORDON

This bounty of meltingly tender, buttery beef is accessible to local chefs, including Kyle Connaughton, owner of Single Thread, or those working within biking distance of the ranch. “They are all connected to us, to the land and to each other,” says Gordon. “Knights Valley Wagyu is our gift to the local food community and to visitors who will enjoy Wagyu that cannot be found anywhere else.”

And in a nod to just being a devoted gearhead dude, Gordon corrals his collection of vintage all-terrain Ford Broncos and Land Rovers in their barn. The couple also enjoy entertaining at their ranch, sharing a Wagyu wood-fire cookout and meals using ingredients foraged from their land with fellow valley residents, including culinary entrepreneur Charter Oak chef-owner Christopher Kostow and storied père et fils vintners Bill and Will Harlan.

“The spirit of hospitality, generosity, and warmth is everywhere,” Gordon says. “[Discovering] Knights Valley was like arriving in Eden. You can see the stars at night and live with nature. It’s the wild preserve Kristina and I dreamed of as kids. It is our sanctuary and creative space.” •

Clockwise from top left: Kristina O’Neal (left) with her Authored by the Sun partner, Tessa Perliss; Silkie chickens roam the ranch; the Authored by the Sun product line.

Feature - Ghost Ranch

From top: Planter boxes yield natural products for O’Neal’s line of rootsto-fruits serums; Gordon and Will Densberger inspect the humanely raised cattle that make up their Knights Valley Wagyu ranch.

Hair and makeup by CHRISTINA FLACH at Brandi Moore Agency.

Home IS WHERE the Heart (AND ART) Is

Words by CHRISTINE LENNON

Feature - Monaghan

With its sleek mix of midcentury furniture and Old Hollywood glamour, MICHELLE MONAGHAN’S family home in the hills is a place to rest as her star power rises

Photography by BRAD TORCHIA

Styling by PETRA FLANNERY STUDIO

Two vintage disco balls hang in actor Michelle Monaghan’s 1920s Spanish-style Hollywood home. One is in the living room near an antique grand piano. It bounces light that streams in through a picture window with a view to the Hollywood foothills across the interior white walls. The other is in a spacious courtyard that feels like a movie set, with classic archways set against weathered pink stucco, and a stairway that descends from the street level into a tangle of tropical plants with a mind of its own.

“The disco ball in this room catches the light at sunrise and fills the house with this gorgeous dancing light,” says Monaghan, who is curled up at one end of a B&B Italia Arne curved sofa, barefoot in jean shorts and a navy silk button-down. “Then at the end of the day, the other one does the same thing at sunset. It’s amazing,” she says, drawing out the last word for emphasis, fixing her wide-set eyes into an expression as open and awestruck as it gets. Monaghan offers a brief tour, stopping to admire an abstract painting by Chris Hood, a Saarinen dining table with Cherner dining chairs (opposite, top right), a pair of vintage velvet chairs (p. 63) she scored at the Rose Bowl flea market, and a painted steel artwork by her husband, Pete White (opposite, bottom left, and another, p. 73), that hangs over the fireplace.

In the backyard, Monaghan and White removed an old tennis court and used some of the concrete blocks to build garden beds. The house, like Monaghan, evokes an easy, Old Hollywood glamour layered with modern simplicity, and an unfussiness that makes people feel instantly comfortable. It’s elegant, but it isn’t trying too hard.

Feature - Monaghan

After a few minutes of conversation, it’s clear that Monaghan brings that same level of unpretentious ease and wonder to all aspects of her life and to every topic: the good fortune she’s had throughout her over20-year career; the wondrous places her nomadic work has taken her, and sharing those travels with White, a graphic artist from Australia, and their two kids; how nothing could have prepared her for the leap from her small-town roots in Winthrop, Iowa, to the life she leads now. Every minute of it has been amazing, and Monaghan, 48, understands that deeply. “Every time I go home to see my family in Iowa, I take stock of where I’ve come from and where I’ve been,” she says. “I wake up every morning and can’t believe my luck. And I’m still having so much fun.”

“Every time I see my family, I take stock of where I’ve come from and where I’ve been.”

MICHELLE MONAGHAN

skirt, $3,200.

Monaghan is one of those actors who you’ve seen, and likely loved, in a dozen different things, but who has avoided the pitfalls of too much attention. Part of that is the result of her tremendous range, and her appetite for work across the spectrum of film and television. Two big breaks early in her career established this versatility. One was a part on the David E. Kelley drama Boston Public in 2002, and the next was opposite Robert Downey, Jr. in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang in 2005. Later Monaghan wowed audiences on the first season of True Detective , playing a beleaguered spouse opposite Woody Harrelson, and racked up a list of credits as long as your arm. Over the past 18 months alone, Monaghan has been on-screen opposite Mark Wahlberg in the action-comedy film Family Plan , played a hardened detective in the sleek ’80s-era slasher movie MaXXXine , and starred

Feature - Monaghan

ROCHAS coat, $3,220, and dress, $495. HARRY

WINSTON earrings, price upon request.

opposite Vince Vaughn on the Apple TV+ hit Bad Monkey , playing his shady, mysterious love interest, Bonnie. On-screen, Monaghan is as lanky and confident as her costar, and she left everyone on set wanting more.

“Michelle is the actor you want in everything you do,” says Matt Tarses, the executive producer of Bad Monkey. “Not because she’s so skilled, at both the comedic beats and the dramatic. (She is.) And not because she has that thing where you can’t take your eyes off her when she’s on screen. (You can’t.) And not because she’s always prepared and on time and raring to go. (She is.) You want her because she’s up for anything, she’ll listen to your dumb ideas and try them as many times as you need her to, and she respects everyone she works with — from number one on the call sheet to the kid asking if he can bring her coffee. She smiles and says, ‘No, thank you, buddy,’ and then gets it herself.”

Feature - Monaghan

Monaghan, to put it in the simplest of terms, is game for anything.

“I love action, comedy, and drama, and get to explore all the facets of my personality in those different genres. I love indie films and working with firsttime directors,” she says. “It’s just about finding the right writing and a great director who is interested in letting you explore the subtleties of a character. I’m a big list maker and all about goals in life, personal and professional, and I’m really intentional about things I want to do. I’m lucky that I’ve had a team that’s helped me strategize and figure it out.”

Part of her success, first as a model, then as an actor, is attributable to her lithe and versatile looks. She has a face that can move from guileless joy to steely dissatisfaction just by raising a single brow.

CHLOÉ dress, $4,550, and boots, $2,290. VAN CLEEF & ARPELS necklace, $22,900. Opposite: LOEWE dress, $3,800, available at Saks Fifth Avenue Beverly Hills.

Feature - Monaghan

MIU MIU sweater, $3,150, shirt, $1,390, skirt, $2,700, boots, $2,600, and socks, $420. CARTIER earrings, $6,100, and ring, $7,150.

DIOR blazer, $4,500, and skirt, $4,500. HARRY WINSTON necklace, price upon request. Opposite: FENDI top and skirt, prices upon request. CHOPARD watch, $8,310, and ring, $4,780.

“I left home when I was about 17 after I started modeling, and I never really went back,” she says. “I went to college for a while and studied journalism, but when it came time to apply for internships, I realized I didn’t want to go back to Iowa and work an office job. I couldn’t go back. I had already seen so much of the world, and I didn’t want to stop exploring.”

With her tomboyish athleticism and low voice, there’s also a hint of Lauren Bacall or Katharine Hepburn in her DNA. And she’s developed a personal style over the years that plays on that strength.

“I’ve figured out my look, and it’s usually a men’s button-down and a great pair of jeans,” she says. “Then I play with accessories, like jewelry, a great bag, or a belt.”

By the time she was in her mid-20s, she was living in New York with White, a graphic artist, and traveling to Los Angeles for weekslong stints in hotels while she filmed shows and movies. After the couple married, they were considering buying a place, and the idea of migrating west took hold.

“I was pregnant with my first child, and she was due in the winter, so we thought we’d move out here until I delivered the baby and then go back later in the spring when it was warmer. But we just never went back,” she says. “It’s nice being a few hours closer to Australia, because we visit Peter’s family there all the time.”

An adventure-loving Aussie was a good match for Monaghan, who loves taking a road trip to surf or ski, spending weekends camping, and embracing every chance to travel. Shooting Bad Monkey in Miami, a noir comedy from Bill Lawrence based on Florida novelist Carl Hiaasen’s book of the same name, made her fall in love with the city.

Feature - Monaghan

“I was so excited to work with Bill, but it was also great to be in a colorful, vibrant city. It was next-level humid, but it’s also such an international place, and it’s very family-oriented. My family came to visit, and we’d be out at dinner at 9 p.m. and there were multigenerational families out together. It has a real joie de vivre.”

Monaghan is also appearing in the much-anticipated, and secretive, third season of The White Lotus , which filmed in Thailand over six months early in 2024. “We were all staying together in this little bubble, like ‘Camp White Lotus,’ and the Thai people were so incredibly warm and welcoming,” she says. “I just soaked up everything I could about the people and the history. And the food. I did not get tired of the food.”

“I’m all about goals in life, and I’m really intentional about things I want to do.”

MICHELLE MONAGHAN

There is a bit of irony woven into the fact that Monaghan, who has used her platform to raise awareness about skin cancer after she had a melanoma removed from her leg, has spent the better part of a year bouncing from one tropical paradise to the next.

“I’m usually so covered up in the sun, so it was odd to spend so much time in a bikini,” she says. “There was a lot of self-tanner involved, and plenty of sunscreen.”

Monaghan can’t reveal much more than that, other than what a thrill it was to meet one of her favorite actors, ’90s icon Parker Posey. But she did offer a few more adjectives from her gratitude lexicon to describe the experience. She was “blown away.” And “mesmerized.” Working with Mike White was “a gift.”

And traveling and working, and bringing her loved ones along for the ride is, she says, “the greatest pleasure of my life.” •

Feature - Monaghan

Styling by MEEHAN FLANNERY and MARCO MILANI of PETRA FLANNERY STUDIO. Hair by BRIDGET BRAGER at The Wall Group. Makeup by SARAH USLAN at Visionaries Agency. Manicure by STEPH STONE at Forward Artists.

Inspired by summers in Ibiza, artists ALLY HILFIGER AND STEVE HASH made a Spanish home in La Quinta their own private oasis

Bohemian

Words by ALESSANDRA CODINHA

Photography by LANCE GERBER

Haven

Artists Ally Hilfiger and Steve Hash outside their home in La Quinta. Opposite: Hash’s cherry red 1970 Ford Mustang Mach 1 complements the blue door; the bells hanging from the knob are from Greece.

Feature - Hilfiger

When Ally Hilfiger and her husband, Steve Hash, came across an abandoned house riddled with

rattlesnakes in the La Quinta oasis in the Coachella Valley, it took a creative effort to see past the immediate obstacles. Not only had the previous owner made “a lot of odd choices,” chaotically combining two separate properties in a pink marble–accented style, but snakes also happened to be a phobia of Hilfiger’s. Luckily, creativity is something the couple has in spades.

“When Steve saw the home, he could see beyond all of it,” Hilfiger says, citing her multihyphenate artist spouse’s background in home building. “To me, it was a lot.” But she immediately sensed the “beautiful, fun, creative energy,” and it was the doors, of all things, that convinced her. “Our bedroom got me, and the front door was the only thing that kept me hooked to the house when I felt, ‘I don’t know about this.’”

They discovered the house during the pandemic, when their young family — including daughter Harley, now 9, and a growing menagerie of beloved pets — had

needs: respite from the shut-down Silver Lake neighborhood where they lived; room to work on their various art practices (mostly painting for her; sculpture and installation for him, occasionally music for both); an outdoor space to entertain visiting friends and family, including Ally’s father, fashion mogul Tommy Hilfiger; and a home for her extensive clothing collection (including archives from her own prior fashion businesses, NAHM, and a vintage army-inspired project called Series8).

They found the answer in the cobbledtogether pink house in La Quinta and became determined to turn it into their own fantasy island finca. “We go to Ibiza in the summer, but not the party side,” Hilfiger says. “We always go to the family side, where it’s just long days and cooking and the children are running around and it’s just very beautiful and sort of free and chill.”

Designing the space, Hilfiger decided, was a matter of making a connection to that blissful Balearic Islands feeling

From top: The home highlights seamless indoor-outdoor life, with a living room opening directly onto a patio and steps away from the pool; the house includes room for Hilfiger to display some of her large-scale paintings, including Guilt: Just Be Happy , 2023, 68 x 102 in., for the first time.

The couple love to mix their original works with finds and treasured pieces, such as a Basquiat lithograph next to Hash’s totem sculpture and a blue-and-cream painting by Hilfiger paired with a vintage Gucci tennis cover. The chairs around the table are Italian; Multipla lounge chairs by Jane Dillon and Peter Wheeler are nearby.

“Coming from New York, it was a luxury to have my own space that I can close off to recharge.”

ALLY HILFIGER

of “being happy, being home all day, swimming and cooking and making art.” Hash got to work ripping out any evidence of the prior owner’s tastes, and Hilfiger got out her inspiration boards. “I had materials and tiles and fabric and color, and none of it happened,” she says, laughing. “But it was so much fun, because I think it took off the overwhelming pressure and burden of the project in itself, because I just went into creativity.”

“It wasn’t preconceived, and I think enjoying the process, in its intuitive, organic way, is what the house is,” Hash says. “It’s been a process of making decisions based on what we’re feeling in the moment and less about, ‘Let’s get a designer to make this an incredible luxury home.’ It’s more of a realistic house for us: We live in half of it and we work in half of it.”

“What was great is that we had children running around everywhere all day long while making art, and that was the dream for me,” Hilfiger says. “We were way out of a city and in a place we don’t know well, and what else is there to do?”

They moved in their existing furniture and their art collection — Hilfiger collects Basquiat lithographs and newer works by Marc Quinn and Henry Hudson — and some of their own projects. It was the first time they had lived with Hash’s sculptures and had adequate space for some of Hilfiger’s large-scale paintings. They filled in the gaps with finds from local consignment and thrift stores.

Feature - Hilfiger

“Not the fancy ones,” Hilfiger says, “but Goodwill, Revivals, the sort of unexpected places. That hunting was really fun for us — finding those gems and sometimes repainting or bringing them into the home. It’s a great activity in the desert.”

In addition to their artistic endeavors, Hilfiger and Hash are entrepreneurs in the tequila and cannabis spaces, via their brands Tepozan Tequila and Green Horizons, a vertically integrated California-based grower. Part of the plan for their new home was to host parties for their network of artist friends and business associates, as well as their newfound neighbors. “We’re very community minded, and we have a big group of friends,” Hash says. “A lot of us are traveling all over the place, so it’s not uncommon for us to have people in

Feature - Hilfiger

From left: The pool is tiled in shades of turquoise, one of Hilfiger’s favorite colors; the “very personal” table includes a fairy house that 9-year-old Harley made and a ceramic vase Hilfiger crafted at the same age, as well as a plate with Hermès chainlinks made by a friend; Hilfiger’s closet houses a collection of vintage furs inherited from her mother.

“ It feels like you’re in this vortex, creative bubble.”

ALLY HILFIGER

Feature - Hilfiger

our home. This house is large enough to accommodate them.”

During the nearby Coachella festival this year it became something of a clubhouse, with its poolside tiki bar and in-house music studio. “I avoid the festival,” Hash says, “but we’re like a little reprieve from it.”

Hilfiger, for her part, likes to “go and dance and then come back and chill.” Her favorite room in the house is the former

bedroom, which they converted into her studio, closet, and bathroom. “Coming from New York and living in an apartment or a smaller home, it was such a luxury to be able to have my own private space that I can just close off to recharge,” she says.

As she roams the property, you’re also likely to see her clad a little more fancifully than you would when she’s in mom mode in Silver Lake, where Harley’s school is.

“I think because it does feel like you’re in this sort of vortex, creative bubble,” she says. “It’s sort of fun to have more fun, to dress up.” Having her vintage collection under one roof helps, although when it’s hot she’s equally apt to reach for a bikini and a silk bathrobe with a pair of boots — because, after all, the rattlesnakes were there first.

“When we were living in the city, we were looking at spots and I remember Ally saying, ‘Oh, I just really want to be in nature,’” Hash says. “So that’s a reminder whenever we see a rattlesnake or a scorpion.”

“Or a huge tarantula the size of my hand,” Hilfiger adds.

“It’s a living house,” Hash says. “It’s a living project.”

“Maybe it’s our art project together,” Hilfiger says. “We have so much fun making any type of art in that environment with whoever is in town. You know, we’ll spend a weekend making music.”

For a pair of artists, what could be better? •

From top: The poolside tiki bar; the living room features a “Flesh Painting” by Marc Quinn. Opposite: The doors to the house kept Hilfiger hooked when she felt unsure.

For a client’s home in Indian Wells, interior designer Nicole Hollis commissioned glassblowing master Jeff Zimmerman to create a custom lighting piece, Illuminated Vine Sculpture Dining table by Joseph Dirand and dining chairs by Jean-Michel Frank.

NICOLE HOLLIS’ singular style has won her fans on both coasts. She tells C about letting the outside in, her trusted artisans, and why she will always love black

Holistic APPROACH

Words by DEGEN PENER

Photography by DOUGLAS FRIEDMAN

Art is never an afterthought for Nicole Hollis. The acclaimed San Francisco interior designer makes it a point to work in tandem with artists on site-specific commissions right from a project’s inception. That’s true whether it’s on her home turf of Northern California or in the Palm Springs area, New York, or Hawaii, where she and her family have a second home on the Big Island.

“It’s been really fun to bring craftsmen and artists into the projects and let them have a say in the process,” says Hollis, who since opening her own firm in 2002 has ascended to the top ranks of the design world. Clients seek out her refined interiors, which center calm minimalism while infusing spaces with poetry and personality.

Hollis’ new book, Nicole Hollis: Artistry of Home (Rizzoli, $65), offers a dazzling peek at many of her artist collaborations. For a client’s home in Silicon Valley, designed by acclaimed architect Tom Kundig of Olson Kundig, Hollis worked with L.A. artist and designer David Wiseman to create a shimmering and ethereal bronze screen, which draws on patterns from nature to create a dreamy landscape. “There’s this confidence and belief in the artists,” says Wiseman, who has collaborated with

“A dark, moody room is beautiful and makes me think of a Dutch painting.”

Feature - Hollis

Norwegian architecture firm Snøhetta and with conceptual design firm Studio Job, which created psychedelic stained glass for a home in the Haight-Ashbury.

Hollis on half a dozen projects to date. “She commissions these incredible pieces, and they are all so unique and integral to her spaces. Art is always part of the DNA of her thinking.”

For the same Silicon Valley residence, Hollis worked with Italian sculptor Mauro Mori on the creation of a voluptuous biomorphic sink crafted from black marble. Other striking commissions spotlighted in Artistry of Home include collaborations with artist Pae White on a custom chandelier reminiscent of a kids’ marble run, in a home designed by

Perhaps the most extraordinary collaboration revealed in the book is an entire dining room conceived by French artist Ingrid Donat for a client’s home in Presidio Heights in San Francisco. The bespoke space has an air of formality — thanks to a checkerboard of hand-carved, burnt-wood paneling — as well as a feeling of singularity, as Donat created a custom bronze fireplace, dining table, and crown moldings, all scarified with patterning inspired by tribal art. “Art is where the most beautiful collaborations are born, when the world of one artist meets with another and creates an unexpected chemistry,” Donat writes in the book.

When her client later traveled to Paris and visited Donat’s own apartment, recalls Hollis, “she just started to cry. It was like a religious experience.” The designer says that for clients who are willing to journey beyond run-of-themill decorating, these types of collaborations “become a great story for them when they’re living in the home — about a significant piece that they were a part of.”

Hollis is as comfortable working with bold color as she is with neutral palettes. In the

Inside a home in Presidio Heights, furnishings and artworks include Doug Aitken’s Next I’ll be right back…: Aperture series , coffee table by Wendell Castle, pendant by Michael Anastassiades, and sofa by Christophe Delcourt.

Opposite: Hollis at a client’s home in Beverly Hills that includes Helen Frankenthaler’s Carousel and Number One , a polished bronze sculpture by Based Upon.

Wolfgang Tillman’s Studio Party , Olafur Eliasson’s Seasons Flare , and a chandelier by Mathieu Lehanneur hang in the entry of a residence in Silicon Valley.

Haight-Ashbury home, her clients wanted a trippy riot of hues inspired by the residence’s history as a gathering spot in the 1960s for counterculture figures like the Grateful Dead. By contrast, designing a desert home in Indian Wells allowed her to tap into her innate preference for restraint as demonstrated in her first monograph, Curated Interiors. The beiges and tans of the interiors channel the sandy tones of the natural landscape and absorb the region’s distinct atmospheric hues at sunset. “We noticed that when the sun was setting, the mountain beyond would change colors and there would be these beautiful pinks. Keeping the furnishings to a neutral palette meant that the house can reflect those colors. The desert comes into the house,” says Hollis, who channeled nature in another way for a home in Pebble Beach built right next to the ocean. Across from large windows that frame views of the water and windswept trees stands a chunky walnut sculptural room divider created by designer Michael Anastassiades that speaks to Hollis’ love of materiality. “How could you not be inspired?” she asks. “We get to work in the most beautiful places in the world. I’m always looking at the site first for cues, for materiality and for color and texture and just responding to that and making sure that we’re really complementing that and bringing that into the space.”

Hollis, who was later diagnosed with dyslexia. “There were many times in elementary school where I was put in a closet and told to stand in there for not knowing my times tables. It was very isolating. I was in my own mind and in my imagination.”

Hollis eventually made it to New York, where she studied interior design at FIT. She moved to San Francisco before graduation to work for Starwood Hotels. Her formative professional experience was working for the acclaimed architect Howard Backen (see p. 42), known for his hulking barn-inspired residences and wineries. Encouraged by her husband, Lewis Heathcote (then a technology executive), she started her own firm just shy of her 30th birthday. Today her company employs around 100 people, and her husband is on

Moore Tar Black). “I like black. I’m not afraid of black,” says Hollis, noting that she often uses the color, although less front and center, for clients’ homes. “I think it’s so beautiful to have a dark, moody room. It always makes me think of a beautiful Dutch painting and sort of those shadows. To have a powder room that’s dark and moody I think is stunning.”

She admits she “didn’t get California” when she first moved to the state. “I was like, ‘What am I doing here?’ Everything closed early. I couldn’t get a cab.” Being invited by a friend to a grape crush weekend in Mendocino changed everything. “We get there and there’s a hot tub on a cliff over the ocean and a million stars in the sky. And it was like, ‘Oh, I get it. That’s why people live here.’ And then I went to Yosemite and it sealed the deal. And then I started traveling to Joshua Tree and driving down the coast of Big Sur.” For inspiration, she still loves visiting Big Sur, as well as Sea Ranch in Sonoma and Point Reyes in Marin County.

The respect and pride of place that Hollis gives to artists in her projects has roots in her childhood. The daughter of middle-class parents, she grew up in Jupiter, Florida. “Our house was a spec home in the middle of nowhere. I think it was like a kit home that my father ordered. So growing up, [I was] not really exposed to design.” In school, she recalls being ostracized and othered by teachers who couldn’t appreciate a kid who was more visual in nature. “I was mostly put in the corner. I mean, they really didn’t know what to do with me so they kind of left me on my own,” says

board as the CEO. In recent years, Hollis has become a design force in the hospitality world as well, with projects ranging from 1 Hotel Hanalei Bay and the Kona Village resorts in Hawaii to the El Prado Hotel in Palo Alto.

In addition to their condo in Hawaii — which they bought in 2019 and which the designer says she doesn’t get to visit as often as she wishes — Hollis and Heathcote own a home in Pacific Heights. It’s actually a building that comprises three apartments. Decades ago, it was owned by architect Julia Morgan of Hearst Castle fame, who lived there from the 1920s through the ’50s. During their tenure, Hollis and her husband have put their own bold mark on the property, painting the exterior black (the exact color is Benjamin

Looking ahead, Hollis aspires to work with more architects and artists whose work she admires, and to do more projects in New York (her new book spotlights three projects in Manhattan). She also notes, “I have been working in L.A. for a long time, but some of those projects I can’t publish, so nobody really knows I’m in L.A.”

One thing she doesn’t aspire to is a megasize house for herself. “What’s funny is my husband and I both love small spaces. I meet designers, and they have these big houses in Montecito with pools, and I’m just like, ‘Wow, that’s great.’ But I think keeping things smaller and a little more down to earth is more my style.” To wit, she’s got her sights set on finding a getaway spot close to San Francisco in the tiny enclave of Inverness in Marin (home to sculptor JB Blunk’s house). “We’re big fans of Inverness. That’s probably where I’m going to be buying my next home, my hippie cabin in the woods.” •

1966 Collection by Richard Schultz chaise lounge chairs poolside in Indian Wells.

Clockwise from top left: A powder room in a house in HaightAshbury includes Iranian pink onyx wall cladding, a sink by Cooritalia, and a bronze viper mirror by David Wiseman; a guest bedroom in Presidio Heights features a Ruemmler nightstand, In Common With lamps, and Hermès wall covering; inside a Tudor Revival home in Presidio Heights, artworks and furnishings include Mary Weatherford’s Over the Golden Gate and a gypsum table by Rogan Gregory, and in the entry, Yayoi Kusama’s Pumpkin

Feature - Hollis

LUCAS BRAVO FOR C MEN’S EDITION PHOTOGRAPHED BY JACK WATERLOT IN POLO RALPH LAUREN, STYLED BY MARY INACIO

TALK OF THE TERROIR

Wine region retreats around the world are a FEAST FOR THE SENSES

Words by LESLEY Mc KENZIE

I S C

V E R I E S

Sir Ridley Scott’s MAS DES INFERMIÈRES estate and winery based in the north of Luberon, France.

/ FRANCE

Mas des Infirmières

Travel

Sir Ridley Scott is known as an Academy Award–nominated director, but he’s also the owner of the MAS DES INFERMIÈRES estate and winery in Luberon, France. Since Scott and his family acquired the property in 1992, the filmmaker has remained committed to preserving the traditional Provençal wine-making methods. The result: a portfolio of award-winning wines, including the limited Ombre de Lune, a cuvée boasting a selection of the estate’s oldest Syrah vines and blended with Grenache. The estate is home to three renovated traditional farmhouses now available for rent. Brought to life by Scott’s longtime designer Pia Maclean, each open-plan, light-filled villa echoes the rustic charm of its Provençal surrounds, balanced with contemporary art and furnishings. The largest, the five-bedroom, five-bathroom Les Chênes Verts, sleeps nine and is the more secluded of the three; it also features a separate apartment with its own entrance for additional privacy. Each villa comes with its own garden, dining terrace, and pool, and the smaller two look out onto the vineyards. Cinematic, indeed. masdesinfermieres.com.

The estate is home to three renovated farmhouses.

LUBERON

Clockwise from top: Inside the Mas Marcou residence; alfresco dining; the winery on Les Chênes Verts’ patio; the Mas Gris villa pool.

Travel

Gran Hotel Mas d’en Bruno

Two restaurants put the region’s culinary prowess on display.

Producers like Alvaro Palacios and Clos Erasmus have helped put the small Catalonian appellation of Priorat on the map over the past few decades. The newest feather in the rising-star wine region’s cap? GRAN HOTEL MAS D’EN BRUNO, a tony hillside hideaway and Relais & Châteaux property two hours outside of Barcelona that strikes a balance between old-world charm and contemporary elegance. Hotelier David Stein of the Stein Group tapped local design talent to transform the former 18th-century manor and annex into 23 sleek suites and a villa, each rendered in earthy tones and natural materials — think wood-beamed ceilings and red marble baths — that nod to the sloping vineyard landscape. The homage to Mas d’en Bruno’s viticultural roots continues in the spa, which is carved out of the space that once housed estate’s ancient winery and now boasts a pool and hammam. Two onsite restaurants put the region’s culinary prowess on display, and by night chef Joseph Queralt turns out tasting menus featuring wild turbot steamed in Grenache white wine, accompanied by pairings from the cellar stocked with regional standouts such as the Clos de l’Obac 2013. Can’t get enough of the local wine? Ask the hotel to book you a tour or masterclass with the region’s 114 producers. masdenbruno.com/en/.

CATALONIA / SPAIN

Clockwise from top left: The pool at dusk; a relaxing suite; the wine cellar; the hotel lobby.

Clockwise from top: The exterior of ROSEWOOD CAPE KIDNAPPERS; the main lodge; an aerial view of the golf course; inside the club house.

Rosewood Cape Kidnappers

Travel

If you’re searching for that perfect blend of unspoiled wild beauty and luxurious serenity, check into ROSEWOOD CAPE KIDNAPPERS on the rugged cliffs of Hawke’s Bay on the North Island of New Zealand. This 6,000-acre estate — one of the three Robertson Lodge properties that handed over the management reins to Rosewood in December 2023 — is not only a golfer’s paradise with its Tom Doak–designed course, but also home to Cape Sanctuary, the country’s largest privately funded wildlife restoration project. The 5-mile driveway winds through forests, gullies, and creeks before dropping guests off at the threshold of the property, located on the peninsula purchased by founders Julian and Josie Robertson in 2004. Twentyfour villas and suites envisioned by Josie along with Aspen interior designer Linda Bedell dot the working sheep and beef farm today, each a master class in rustic sophistication with exposed beams and stone floors, blending seamlessly with the pastoral landscape. Guests can navigate the estate’s myriad trails by mountain-bike, soak in the heated infinity pool, and taste their way through the nearby Craggy Range vineyard, then stargaze with an astronomer after a farm-totable dinner experience with fare such as handmade pappardelle with spinach and locally made pecorino. rosewoodhotels.com.

The driveway winds through forests, gullies, and creeks.

HAWKE’S BAY / NEW ZEALAND

Villa San Luigi offers total seclusion and private check-in.

TUSCANY / ITALY

Villa San Luigi

COMO Castello Del Nero has set the standard for grandeur in the hills of Chianti, and the latest addition to its 740-acre estate is no exception. Debuted in March, the head-turning VILLA SAN LUIGI is a five-bedroom luxury getaway housed in a refurbished 18th-century farmhouse overlooking the Tuscan countryside. A short drive from the property’s main buildings, Villa San Luigi offers total seclusion and private check-in. Envisioned by Paola Navone — the same Milan-based designer who brought COMO Castello Del Nero to life in a 12th-century castle — the light-filled Villa San Luigi is also graced with an infinity pool, a library, and a cinema as well as an outdoor barbecue pit and pizza oven, making it the perfectly appointed retreat for families and friends. Guests have access to complimentary daily yoga and Pilates classes and COMO Shambala Retreat, the onsite holistic wellness sanctuary. Factor in the estate’s culinary offerings, such the Michelin-starred La Torre restaurant (one of three dining options), which serves veal sweetbreads with autumnal vegetables, truffle hunting, gelato-making, and wine tastings in the 12th-century cellar of locally produced wines such as Brancaia Chianti Classico Riserva 2012, and you have the makings of an idyllic escape. comohotels.com.

Travel

From top: The entrance; the master suite; the dining room; a view of VILLA SAN LUIGI.

SECOND TO NONE

Whole Foods Market co-founder John Mackey is revolutionizing healthcare with the launch of LOVE.LIFE , a new health and wellness club in El Segundo. With expert practitioners spanning more than 20 disciplines, this 45,000-sq.-ft. flagship location offers a holistic, integrative approach to health, combining advanced diagnostics, personalized medical care, cutting-edge fitness programs, and state-of-the-art wellness therapies like hyperbaric oxygen therapy, IV infusions, cryotherapy, and more. 740 S. Pacific Coast Hwy., El Segundo; love.life.

GET CREAL

Beauty industry veteran SARAH CREAL launched her eponymous line with a gallant mission: to celebrate and serve women 40 and older. Sarah Creal Beauty isn’t just another “ageless” brand — it’s luxury skincare and makeup specifically designed to fill a crucial gap in the market. “I see a lot of brands that are for ‘everyone,’ and it’s not been my experience that what worked on me at 30 is working at 54,” Creal says. Focusing on wear, repair, and moisturization, she offers clinically tested, clean, high-performance products tailored to the evolving needs of this demographic. sarahcrealbeauty.com.

Makeup à la Mode

Celine has at last entered the world of beauty with CELINE BEAUTÉ , which feels as iconic as the fashion house itself. Creative director Hedi Slimane’s vision is clear: beauty as luxury, distilled in perfectly crafted, couture-worthy objects. At the heart of the collection is Le Rouge Celine, a lipstick line with an initial offering of the deep red Rouge Triomphe. The full line will launch in January 2025 with 15 satin-finish colors, and each season will reveal new collections, including lip balms, mascaras, eyeliners and eye pencils, loose powder, blush, and nail polish. It will be well worth the wait. celine.com.

IN YOUR FACE

A-list facialist Candace Marino has finally unveiled THE LA FACIALIST, her much-anticipated skincare sanctuary in Beverly Hills. “I want people to feel like they’re being transported to a resort destination,” Marino says. Her 2,500-sq.-ft. retreat is inspired by the caves of Turkey and Greece and the seaside villas of Costa Rica. High ceilings, sweeping arches, and a tactile blend of organic materials create an atmosphere of serene luxury. At the heart of her offerings is a bespoke 75- to 90-minute facial, tailored to each client. Marino transforms skin with advanced therapies such as Oxygen Infusion, LED Light Therapy, and CryoLifting, complemented by high-end products. $375 and up. 442 N. Bedford, Beverly Hills, thelafacialist.com

Words by KELLY ATTERTON

Clockwise from top left: LOVE.LIFE in Segundo; THE LA FACIALIST in B.H.; CELINE BEAUTÉ has launched; SARAH CREAL’s new line is designed for women hitting their prime.

IReset your health at this RIVIERA MAYA CLINIC SHA-HA MOMENTS

In March, SHA MEXICO unveiled its 35 residences, 100 rooms and suites, and 100 treatment rooms designed by Mexican architectural firm SORDO MADALENO with interiors by ALEJANDRO ESCUDERO.

Beauty

You’ll then bounce between analysis (neurocognitive assessment), fitness (VR core training), therapies (transcranial electrical stimulation), and consultations (sexual health). Stem cell treatment is available only at SHA Mexico.

n Mexico’s Riviera Maya, the newest SHA clinic is a sleek temple of wellness that sits among the mangroves along the Caribbean Sea. When you arrive, don SHA’s finest terry cloth robe and prepare to detox your mind, body, soul. Pre-arrival you’ll select among the five programs, the minimum being four days, standard being seven, and surrender to total immersion — a personal reset through diet, cutting-edge medical treatments, and natural therapies. Spanish real estate developer Alfredo Bataller Parietti was inspired to open SHA 15 years ago, along with his wife and two sons, after recovering from his own health problems through these practices. Mexico, which opened in March of this year, is the second location, and SHA Island Emirates is scheduled to follow in 2026.

An itinerary beginning with diagnostic tests and a diet consultation informs the doctors, specialists, and clinicians on how to tailor your treatments (weight, sleep, and stress are the most common issues).

Treatments are intense and will tax you, so to provide comfort and nourishment three times a day, the SHAmadi restaurant is a stunning light-filled room, lush with foliage overlooking the second largest barrier reef in the world. From the three menus, your nutritionist will select and supplement the one that best fits your caloric goals. Breakfast begins with miso soup (no coffee) and each meal ends with tea (no alcohol). The dishes are primarily plant-based, with occasional seafood. But you won’t go hungry, as each course is perfectly balanced, beautifully presented, and full of flavor.

A reason of its own to visit SHA Mexico is to take the waters in the hydrotherapy spa. Guests are welcome to use the whirlpools, steam, and sauna whenever they please. And with celeb fans such as Lake Bell, Liev Schreiber, Monica Bellucci, and Marisa Tomei, don’t be surprised to brush robes with one of them in the infrared. Program and accommodations starting at $5,500 for four days; shawellness.com. J.M.

DIANE KEATON

Zen Moment

How the Oscar winner and seasoned house flipper keeps her cool

Where do you live? Los Angeles.

Where do you feel most zen?

Taking a walk on a beach with Reggie, my golden, by my side. Laguna Beach, but really any beach, makes me zen.

What’s your favorite relaxing getaway?

Relaxing, what’s that? I like to stay busy and active.

What’s your favorite comfort food?

Mac and cheese from anywhere.

What’s your favorite health food fix?

French fries dipped in ranch.

What’s your favorite hotel? Arizona Inn in Tucson because of the deep history, and I adore the Crosby Street Hotel when I am in New York.

What’s your favorite spa? Treatment?

I would never take my

clothes off for a spa treatment — do you know me?

What are your favorite home items?

My favorite home items are sturdy, nothing too dainty. I am so happy with the home collection I just released with Hudson Grace. Blackand-white stonewear, simple classic design — oh yeah, and dog beds and biscuits. It’s so great.

What are your favorite flowers?

Anything white!

What is your favorite musician/album to help you relax?

Bob Dylan, Carole King — I love the nostalgic and lyric-driven. Oh, and Miley, too! I am eclectic with my musical tastes, like I am with everything else.

What is your favorite road/drive?

PCH! I would love to take it all the way to the tip of Northern California, but that is a bit extreme. X

Don’t miss Diane Keaton’s newest book, Fashion First, rizzoliusa.com.

Exclusively available at Hudson Grace, Diane Keaton has collaborated on a collection of kitchenware, decor, and pet accessories. hudsongracesf.com.

ICE CUBE