“A lot of people move to the Hills for the view,” says Hilary Duff, discussing her decision to purchase the 5,260-square-foot Georgian-style Beverly Hills house she has lived in for close to a decade. “But I liked that this home felt really nested. I actually have hedges in my backyard, and then right behind that it’s just this big mountain. I feel like I’m getting this nice, warm hug.”
The actor and musician had been living in L.A.’s Toluca Lake for some time but was looking for something with a bit more privacy, especially since, at the time, she was expecting her first child. “My mom had lived down the street from me then, and every time I would walk down to her house there was this paparazzi waiting outside. It was a nightmare,” she explains.
Still, while this new refuge fit the bill in terms of seclusion, it would require a major overhaul. There were these grandiose fountains everywhere. And the buttery-yellow exterior. And these elaborate “super-’80s” wooden floors. A thorough gutting would leave many of the structure’s bones while creating larger and brighter living spaces.
“I’ve remodeled twice since the initial remodel,” says Duff, who is chief brand officer for both Happy Little Camper and Veeda, and stars as Kelsey Peters in Younger on TV Land. “I had a couple of big life changes—a divorce, a second child.” Most recently, she teamed up with interior designers David Ko, of Maison Ko, and Shannon Wollack and Brittany Zwickl, of Studio Life/Style, to ensure that the space would finally feel like her own. “I painted my front door this beautiful blush color. I was ready—to get rid of some of the dark colors, to move away from everything being so tonal, and to lighten up a lot of the furniture.”
Step Inside Hilary Duff’s Cheerful Los Angeles Home
![<div class="caption"> Sometimes Duff takes a breather from her kids. “I will hide from them in my bathroom”—even taking weekly guitar lessons in the fully furnished suite. “My husband [Matthew Koma] thinks it’s sad that we don’t share a bathroom. He’s like, ‘We miss so much good hanging out time. I want to get ready with you,’” says Duff. “I don’t think <em>I</em> always want to get ready with you, but when I am putting on my makeup, he will sit on that couch. It’s sweet.” </div>](https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/QF5IdwSoBPEmDOpX4gbJ4w--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTcwNTtoPTQ3MA--/https://s.yimg.com/uu/api/res/1.2/EqTkFYpEAp956hH2kbdbHQ--~B/aD00NDgwO3c9NjcyMDtzbT0xO2FwcGlkPXl0YWNoeW9u/https://media.zenfs.com/en/architectural_digest_422/af03e5d2ee4165fb195f03ca91883260)
Sometimes Duff takes a breather from her kids. “I will hide from them in my bathroom”—even taking weekly guitar lessons in the fully furnished suite. “My husband [Matthew Koma] thinks it’s sad that we don’t share a bathroom. He’s like, ‘We miss so much good hanging out time. I want to get ready with you,’” says Duff. “I don’t think I always want to get ready with you, but when I am putting on my makeup, he will sit on that couch. It’s sweet.”
A colorful painting entitled A Lot of Little Hopes by L.A.-based artist Austyn hangs on the second-floor landing. “I became friends with her and she put this aside for me,” says Duff. “The colors work really well with the runner in the hallway, and I like that it’s facing my daughter’s room, keeping an eye on her.” The large wooden door is a holdover from an earlier remodel closer to when Duff had first moved in. “It’s old-timey and has this circus vibe, and I just never replaced it.”
Duff’s daughter Banks’s nursery features a pastel mural and string installation by Laura Stewart. “When I first found out I was having a girl, I thought I was going to be a lot cooler than I was. But then, all of a sudden, it turned into a pink explosion in there,” says Duff. “Still, I have tried my best to keep it cool in there because I don’t really know who she’s going to grow up to be. Picking colors with Laura was a very fun, very collaborative process.” The hat on the wall hangs in anticipation. When a pregnant Duff saw that one of her favorite cowboy hats came in a kids’ version, she had to have it: “I can’t wait to be in a magic matching hats with my daughter!”
Banks’s bathroom is awash in rose-colored subway tiles, hung vertically. “I am a real lover of Pinterest, and I really liked images I had seen with tiles going that way,” says Duff. “And while the color is so sweet, she could still definitely grow into that bathroom in the coming years.”
“This house is used by kids,” says Duff, mom to a young boy and toddler girl. “We have found this really nice balance. I care a lot about interior design, and I do like to invest in furniture—but furniture that I feel like I’m going to love and reuse in many different ways, and also that my kids can, like, climb on and beat up a little bit. Now, it feels like our family’s home.”
Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest