Real estate market booming for secondary houses
Many people are looking to buy second homes after being cooped up during the pandemic, causing housing prices to rise. FOX Business' Ashley Webster with more.
A modern farmhouse that looks like it could be located about 1,000 miles from Los Angeles is the Beverly Hills home of Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis.
The celebrity couple’s home was featured as the cover story in the June issue of Architectural Digest. Sitting on 6 acres, the home connects to a guest house and entertainment barn. There’s also a separate barbecue pavilion by the pool.
The sustainable home is powered entirely by photovoltaics that are hidden above a porch, according to the report. The solar array actually produces more power than the property uses.
Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis opened up their modern farmhouse in Beverly Hills for Architectural Digest. (Douglas Friedman/AD)
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"To feel tranquility in a space, everything needs to be in order," Kutcher told AD. "If the world around you isn’t in order, it’s hard to get your brain in order. When we’re in our home, the world just makes sense."
The actor-turned-venture capitalist told the magazine that the couple wanted a home that looked like it was a barn that had been converted into a house, ‘but it also had to feel modern and relevant."
The process began more than five years ago. Kunis and Kutcher each made a Pinterest board of homes that inspired them, according to the report.
"Building a house from the ground up is no small thing," Kunis told AD. "This was either going to make us or break us."
Kunis and Kutcher each made a Pinterest board of homes that inspired them and found that most of their favorite homes were designed by Howard Backen. (Douglas Friedman/AD)
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Fortunately, they ended up with a lot of similar ideas – Kutcher told the magazine that "90%" of the images they picked were the same, and most of the houses had been designed by architect Howard Backen of Backen & Gillam Architects.
They ended up bringing Backen on board to design their home. He told AD that the couple played a major role in the process, tackling details like beam sizes and cross bracing.
"These are not the kinds of conversations we have with every client," Backen told AD.
Kutcher and Kunis also hired interior designer Vicky Charles of Charles & Co. and began consulting with them while Kunis was pregnant with the couple’s first child.
Charles blended new furniture with some items from their previous homes, including a set of custom silver throne chairs Kutcher commissioned during a trip to India and a 10-foot-long crystal chandelier.
Interior designer Vicky Charles incorporated elements the couple already owned, including a 10-foot-long crystal chandelier. (Douglas Friedman/AD)
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"We spent months looking at materials and colors to find the right visual language. Our conversations were not just about the land and the architecture but also about the future of their family," Charles told AD.
The end result "moved away from a traditional farmhouse aesthetic to something more contemporary," Charles added.
This isn’t the only property Kutcher and Kunis own in the area. They listed a 7,341-square-foot home for sale last summer, which is currently asking $12.25 million.
