Fabulous genes are not the only inheritance that supermodel and actress Cara Delevingne received from her mother, Pandora. “She used to tell us, ‘If you say you’re bored, then you are boring,’ ” recalls Cara, the youngest of the three Delevingne sisters. That kernel of wisdom clearly stuck—Cara Delevingne is anything but boring, as her private Los Angeles pleasure dome ably attests. The house feels like Saint-Tropez meets Coney Island meets Cotswolds cottage meets Monte Carlo meets butch leather bar. It’s a heady brew, to be sure, but Cara takes it all in stride.
Architect Nicolò Bini of Line Architecture fulfilled all of Cara’s home requests, including the multitude of moods and themes she wanted her home to reflect. First there’s the nature theme, explicated in countless design gestures: walls sheathed in a Gucci wallpaper of overscaled herons; a massive snake carpet in the billiards room and a climbing-leopard carpet on the stair to the upper-floor fun house; a flock of bird sculptures by Mexican artist Sergio Bustamante; and a king’s ransom in ferns, palms, topiaries, and other houseplants. Then there’s the fun-and-games theme, represented by a tented poker room; a jolly ball pit; a display wall of kooky hats and a costume room for dress-up parties; and two trampolines set into the ground near the floaty-stocked pool. “I love games—charades, beer pong, poker, Cards Against Humanity, tug-of-war, whatever feels fun. When my friends come over, the house turns into an obstacle course. It’s like an indoor/outdoor playground by way of Alice in Wonderland,” Cara observes. “If I’m having a bad day, I just hop in the ball pit. You can’t really cry in a ball pit,” she adds.
Ultimately, the house feels like a perfect reflection of its owner, in all of her gorgeousness, naughtiness, and outré humour. “It’s the design equivalent of a jaw drop,” Delevingne concludes. “There’s no mistaking whose house you’re in.”
This article originally appeared on Architectural Digest US
