{"id":41,"created_by":"868","created":"2021-06-04 19:24:11","modified":"2025-02-12 16:02:34","title":"Step Inside Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis's Sustainable L.A. Farmhouse","permalink":"step-inside-ashton-kutcher-and-mila-kunis-s-sustainable-l-a-farmhouse","content":"\r\n<p>\u201cWe wanted a home, not an estate,\u201d Kunis insists, describing the six-acre property that now accommodates a main house connected to a guesthouse\/entertainment barn, as well as a freestanding barbecue pavilion, all arrayed along a central axis elaborately plotted to capture the beguiling views from, between, and through the various structures. \u201cWe wanted the house to look like an old barn, something that had been here for decades, that was then converted into a house. But it also had to feel modern and relevant,\u201d Kutcher elaborates.<\/p>\r\n<p>The design-obsessed duo launched their five-year adventure by assembling independent Pinterest boards to flesh out their personal visions for the project. \u201cBuilding a house from the ground up is no small thing. This was either going to make us or break us,\u201d Kunis says of the potentially divisive undertaking. Happily, their aesthetic predilections seemed to dovetail neatly. \u201cWhen we looked at each other\u2019s boards, 90 percent of the images we selected were the same, and most of the houses we pinned were designed by Howard,\u201d Kutcher recalls, referring to architect Howard Backen of the AD100 firm Backen &amp; Gillam Architects.<\/p>\r\n<p><img src=\"images\/easyblog_images\/868\/b2ap3_large_AD0621_KUNIS_KUTCHER_12.jpg\" width=\"1280\" height=\"922\" align=\"center\" data-style=\"clear\"><\/p>\r\n<p>Backen, of course, is a master of the so-called modern farmhouse, renowned for his ability to coax a sense of poetry and a bright, contemporary spirit from distilled vernacular forms and rustic materials. The Kutcher\/Kunis residence is a testament to his alchemical handling of reclaimed wood, board-form concrete, and glass. \u201cHoward is like a great software designer, someone who approaches design as an accentuation of function,\u201d says Kutcher, who has broad experience in technology start-ups. \u201cA software designer wants to get people where they want to be with the fewest clicks. Howard wants to get you where you want to be with the fewest doors and obstacles. He also knows that there are certain places where you want a barrier to mark a threshold and create a little friction,\u201d Kutcher adds.<\/p>\r\n<p>For his part, Backen returns the compliment. \u201cAshton and Mila are two of the smartest, most inquisitive people we\u2019ve ever worked with. We talked about everything from beam sizes to the details of the cross bracing to the junctures of the wood planks and concrete. These are not the kinds of conversations we have with every client,\u201d says the architect.<\/p>\r\n<p><img src=\"images\/easyblog_images\/868\/b2ap3_large_AD0621_COVER_1.jpg\" width=\"987\" height=\"1280\" align=\"center\" data-style=\"clear\"><\/p>\r\n<p>Stephanie Gerwin, Backen\u2019s associate, seconds the notion. \u201cThey were out there with us, as genuine members of the design team, for every step of this long and complicated process,\u201d\u00a0she notes, emphasizing the couple\u2019s commitment to creating a sustainable, nurturing home for themselves and their two young children, Wyatt and Dimitri. The house is entirely powered by photovoltaics, concealed from view above the expansive porch that stretches along one side of the main structure. In fact, the house\u2019s solar array produces significantly more power than the property requires, although antiquated municipal codes don\u2019t exactly encourage energy sharing\u2014<br>a situation the homeowners hope will change in the future. \u201cAshton and Mila are concerned about the quality of the soil, the purity of the food they eat and the water they drink. The ideals of sustainability and regenerative farming aren\u2019t just abstract concepts to them,\u201d Backen avers.<\/p>\r\n<p>The house\u2019s refined architectural vocabulary and rugged materials palette provided a springboard for the work of AD100 interior designer Vicky Charles of Charles &amp; Co., who joined the project just as she was exiting her post as global head of design for Soho House. \u201cWe were obsessed with Soho Farmhouse and other projects Vicky spearheaded. We loved the way she mixed fabrics, patterns, textures\u2014really her whole aesthetic,\u201d Kunis says.<\/p>\r\n<p><img src=\"images\/easyblog_images\/868\/b2ap3_large_AD0621_KUNIS_KUTCHER_2.jpg\" width=\"1280\" height=\"957\" align=\"center\" data-style=\"clear\"><\/p>\r\n<p>\u201cMila was pregnant with their first child when we began this journey. 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,\u201d Charles recalls. \u201cOver time, the design moved away from a traditional farmhouse aesthetic to something more contemporary. Wrought-iron chandeliers and big chesterfields were the wrong clothes for this body,\u201d she adds.<\/p>\r\n<p>In addition to new, crisply tailored tables and plush, super-comfortable seating, Charles incorporated elements from her clients\u2019 previous homes, notably a set of custom silver throne chairs that Kutcher commissioned on a trip to India and an extravagant 10-foot-long crystal chandelier that seemed completely antithetical to the architecture\u2019s humble forms and timeworn materials. \u201cI got this job because I promised I could make a home for those, shall we say, formidable pieces,\u201d Charles jokes. Ultimately she placed a pair of chairs in the primary bath\u2014thrones for the throne room\u2014and installed the chandelier in the towering entertainment pavilion. \u201cWe thought it would be funny to have this incredibly opulent thing hanging in a barn. It kind of takes the piss out of the property,\u201d Kunis says of the improbable crystal confection.<\/p>\r\n<p>Notwithstanding those notes of self-effacing levity, the soul of the Kutcher\/Kunis residence remains tied to the meticulous planning and fanatical attention to detail that the homeowners and their designers lavished on every aspect of the project. \u201cTo feel tranquility in a space, everything needs to be in order,\u201d Kutcher concludes. \u201cIf the world around you isn\u2019t in order, it\u2019s hard to get your brain in order. When we\u2019re in our home, the world just makes sense.\u201d<\/p>","intro":"<p>The superstar couple tapped Howard Backen and Vicky Charles to craft a soulful home at one with the land<\/p>\r\n<p>Featured\u00a0as\u00a0cover story on\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.architecturaldigest.com\/story\/step-inside-ashton-kutcher-and-mila-kuniss-sustainable-la-farmhouse\">Architectural Digest<\/a>\u00a0| AV completed by Future Home<\/p>\r\n<p>There\u2019s surely some\u00a0Beverly Hillbillies\u00a0quip that pertains to the home that actors Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis have built on a glorious hilltop site perched above the storied Los Angeles enclave. After all, the high-powered Hollywood transplants\u2014he\u2019s from Iowa; she was born in Ukraine\u2014dug a well on the property to irrigate the land, planted (and harvested) a field of corn during the COVID lockdown, and dubbed the place KuKu Farms. But while Jed, Granny, and the rest of the Clampetts embraced a far more traditional take on Beverly Hills splendor\u2014the sprawling French Neoclassical mansion pictured in the series credits was designed by architect Sumner Spaulding in the early 1930s and renovated by the legendary designer Henri Samuel in the 1980s\u2014Kutcher and Kunis approached their passion project from a decidedly more modest perspective.<\/p>\r\n","excerpt":null,"category_id":"1","published":"1","state":0,"publish_up":"2021-06-04 19:24:11","publish_down":"0000-00-00 00:00:00","autopost_date":"0000-00-00 00:00:00","ordering":0,"vote":0,"hits":2307,"access":"0","allowcomment":"1","login_to_read":null,"lottie_files":null,"polls":null,"subscription":"1","frontpage":"1","isnew":0,"blogpassword":null,"latitude":"","longitude":"","address":"","posttype":"","source_id":0,"source_type":"easyblog.sitewide","reactions":null,"robots":"","copyrights":"","image":"user:868\/AD0621_KUNIS_KUTCHER_9.jpg","language":"*","locked":0,"ip":"187.190.205.153","doctype":"legacy","document":"","autoposting":null,"categories":["1","4","9"],"tags":"","fields":[],"fields_class":null,"keywords":"","description":"Howard Backen and Vicky Charles design a soulful, land-harmonious home in Beverly Hills. Featured on Architectural Digest\u2019s cover.","canonical":"","custom_title":"Ashton Kutcher & Mila Kunis's Sustainable L.A. 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