Even rockstars need a home base. When Brendon Urie, lead singer for Panic! at the Disco, and his wife Sarah stumbled upon a 1953 bungalow in Los Angeles, they loved its midcentury bones—not so much the stuffy Mediterranean-style touches the previous owners had added over the years. They enlisted a friend, designer and stylist Ashley Drost of housewares shop Meadow at Dusk, to transform the kitchen and master bathroom, but ended up “gutting almost every single room down to the studs,” Drost says. Their vision? “A modern, clean look with a bit of a rockstar edge.” Here’s a look inside.
Photography by Victoria Wall Harris.
“Brendon was on tour with the band for much of the renovation, so Sarah and I worked closely throughout the whole process,” Drost says. Though the pair realized the whole house would need to be updated, they were spared a couple of steps: The ceiling beams were already exposed, creating airiness and light, and the layout of the house worked well. They decided on a mostly black and white palette with some unexpected color and painted the walls and exposed ceilings in Benjamin Moore’s Chantilly Lace.
To start, Drost tackled the “dark and dated” kitchen. “It had ceramic tile countertops and terracotta floors,” she remembers. “We gutted the whole thing, removed a wall to open it up to the dining room, added all new custom cabinets, new appliances, a new garden window, and new lighting.” The countertops are two-toned: The perimeter is made of basalt stone and a slab of white veined marble covers the island. A pair of Nerd Barstool by Muuto create a spot for casual dinners.
In order to match the walls, Drost had the custom cabinets painted in Benjamin Moore’s Chantilly Lace, but in a satin finish. The cabinet hardware is from the Pennington collection in matte black via Top Knobs. The black wire fruit bowl is from Ferm Living.
“The couple didn’t keep any of their old furniture, so we had a blank slate to work with,” Drost says. But she did draw inspiration from a few of their favorite pieces: An eclectic collection of artwork from a friend’s gallery, Gallery 1988, and a chartreuse slipcover from Poliform (“Sarah couldn’t get enough of that color. We basically designed the living room around that chair!” Drost says). For the rest of the room, they sourced graphic black and white pieces from LA design haunts: a rug from Lawrence of La Brea, throw pillows by Caroline Z Hurley via Lawson-Fenning, and stately candlesticks, also from Lawson-Fenning. Not pictured: a wall lamp by Lambert & Fils above the sofa.
The team tore out a “very large and traditional” wood-burning fireplace and replaced it with a low-profile gas version. The extra-low cantilevered mantel is basalt stone.
In shades of gray, the master bedroom is a softer version of black and white. “The bedspread is actually gray [but looks blue], from Restoration Hardware,” Drost says. The rug is a vintage Beni Ourain Moroccan (see High/Low: Beni Ourain Moroccan Rugs) and the sheepskin pillow is from Room & Board.
Drost chose lights from Oregon-based company Cedar & Moss and custom American walnut credenzas for each of the bathrooms. The hamper is the Nzuri Basket from The Citizenry.
Thanks to a glass shower wall and floor tiling that continues from floor into shower, an efficient guest bath feels expansive. Drost chose pewter gray Ceramica tile by Mutina to set this bath apart from the others. “We loved the handmade feeling of the ceramic tiles,” she says. The rectangular mirror with walnut backing is custom.
In the entryway, a round pendant lamp from Cedar & Moss hangs above a rug from The Citizenry.
The team also tackled the house’s exterior: “We redid all of the landscaping [with Stephanie Rose Landscape Design]; tore out the existing hardscape and added bluestone pavers; and refinished, painted, and retiled the pool,” Drost says. For maximum privacy, they rebuilt the wall surrounding the pool and painted it in Benjamin Moore’s Wrought Iron. “It looks like a completely different house now,” Drost adds.
For more behind-the-scenes looks at celebrity homes, see our posts:
- Behind the Scenes: 5 Design Lessons from Julianne Moore
- Kitchen of the Week: A Small Kitchen with Big Personality for Comedian Seth Meyers
- Designer Visit: Q & A with Diane Keaton
Have a Question or Comment About This Post?
Join the conversation