Jennifer Aniston’s personal office has an extremely intimidating desk that appears to have been taken from the executive suite of a multinational corporation. It emanates authority in a positive way. The bubbly actress quips, “When I sit at that desk, I feel extremely powerful—so powerful, in fact, that I’m almost never there.” Rather, Aniston favors using the reasonably simple computer set-up in the bright kitchen of the Los Angeles house she lives with her spouse, Justin Theroux, an actor and screenwriter, and their three dogs. She says, “It’s much cozier, and cozy is my thing.”
It’s difficult to not adore Jennifer Aniston. Even though it’s a questionable but fitting title, Aniston has shown no signs of stepping down from it more than twenty years after the Friends actress originally claimed it. She is witty, humble, and amazingly grounded, especially considering the intense media attention that has followed her every professional step, romantic relationship, and, yes, even hairstyle change. Aniston also has a bonus draw for design enthusiasts: her taste is excellent.
“If I wasn’t an actress, I’d want to be a designer. I love the process,” the serial home renovator says. “There’s something about picking out fabrics and finishes that feeds my soul.” Aniston’s commitment to the craft was certainly put to the test in her latest residential project, the reimagining of a Bel Air house that was designed by architect A. Quincy Jones and completed in 1965.
The actress acquired the property in 2011, after selling her beloved Hal Levitt–designed home in L.A.’s Trousdale Estates enclave (AD, March 2010) and attempting to relocate to Manhattan—a move ultimately thwarted by the rabid paparazzi that swarmed outside her Greenwich Village apartment building. When she bought the Bel Air property, it had recently emerged from a renovation by architect Frederick Fisher, which, despite its sympathetic embrace of Jones’s vision, skewed a bit too cool and minimal for Aniston’s taste. “It had a very dramatic entry sequence that led to this massive front door painted in Chinese red,” the actress recalls. “Aesthetically, it was the furthest thing from what I wanted, but I immediately had the sense that it could work. It’s hard to describe, but I felt a connection.”
Selecting materials and finishes fulfills me in a way that I find nourishing.
Aniston achieved a similar alchemy in Bel Air, preserving the modernist ethos of the original scheme while softening some of its sharp lines and dressing the interior with tactile, organic finishes and furnishings. She enlisted the help of AD100 interior designer Stephen Shadley, with whom she had worked on her previous L.A. home. Jen is drawn to materials with actual substance and depth, such as stone, wood, and bronze. Something must be welcoming and cozy no matter how stunning or glitzy it is, according to Shadley.
Aniston agrees with the idea. “Comfort is more important than 𝑠e𝑥,” she asserts, citing the living room’s antique Jean Royère Polar Bear sofa, Jacques Adnet armchairs, and Mies van der Rohe daybed as proof. Aniston gives credit to a group of people for the skillfully layered interiors of the house, citing Kathleen and Tommy Clements of Shadley and Jane Hallworth of L.A. as major contributors. Theroux also added his thoughts.
“Justin definitely wanted to be involved, so there was a bit of a learning curve for me on how to include another voice in the design process,” Aniston explains. “For instance, I figured out that immediately saying ‘No!’ to any suggestion is not the most collaborative move.”