🎪🕺 Harry's Houses
Admittedly, I’m not a huge Harry Styles fan. I was too old when One Direction formed to get sucked into the hype and I’ve looked on with skepticism as he garnered attention for his Man Repeller style of dressing and started his relationship with his boss, Olivia Wilde. But the algorithms of Tumblr and Tiktok kept insisting that I would like him, and I couldn’t help but have “As It Was” on repeat in my mind as it became the background song to every video on the internet. It’s no surprise that I would fall in love with the architecture and art in the music video and the sentimental lyrics paired with surprisingly upbeat pop.
And of course, when a famous musician/actor/sex symbol/fashion icon goes all in and chooses to promote his new album in Better Homes & Gardens he had my attention. The piece is a surprisingly touching reflection on home and growth and becoming who you are that endeared me to him because I’ve felt the same struggles in the same way.
It felt right to honor his reflections on home and album called Harry’s House with an issue about houses for Harry Styles. Surprisingly (or not depending on how you interpret his people-pleasing comments in BH&G!), most of Harry Styles’ architectural choices thus far have been fairly bland and conservative. So these choices are less about “What Would Harry Do?” when picking homes and more of an attempt to pick places that feel in line with who he portrays in his music and music videos, how he dresses, and how he has talked about himself and who he is becoming in his BH&G interview.
Now let’s tour Harry’s House(s).
London
Location: Russell Gardens Mews, London W14
List Price: £3,850,000
Listing: https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/114410033
Harry’s House song pairings: “Music for a Sushi Restaurant” and “Cinema”
Tucked away at the end of a quiet dead-end cobblestone street is a surprisingly joyful home. From the front, you might mistake the home for any other mews house, but beyond the blue mirrored steel door is a colorful modernist home that surprises around every turn.
The side of the house, which contains the top floors of the home, mimics the façade of the adjacent mews houses and successfully camouflages the modernist section from the street. Most of the house is a minimalist white with bright bursts of Wisteria purple, citron, or Zinnia pink. The ground floor opens up to a private garden space which continues the bold colors outside, but outside the colors are mostly softened by the numerous flowering plants.
Inside you’ll find a different experience on every floor. The upper floors are airy and bright white, while downstairs you’ll find moodier spaces with dramatic lightwells and high shine materials that match the bold colors from the ground floor. The finishes make what could otherwise be a dark, sleepy space lively and energetic.
Construction of the house was documented on Grand Designs (Series 11 Episode 7) and was aptly named “The Disco Home”. The nightclub ambiance is complete with a conversation pit in the movie room, courtyard koi pond aerated by a waterfall fountain, video projection dance floor, and DJ booth.
For balance, the house also has a wellness suite with a sauna, steam room, and zen spa-like bath just down the hall.
And just in case you thought this house was a little too over-the-top bachelor pad, just keep in mind that this house was designed for a family of four to have fun spending time together.
Cheshire
Location: Norcliffe Hall Drive, Styal, Cheshire
List Price: £1,700,000
Listing: https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/122916050
Harry’s House song pairings: “Grapejuice” and “Little Freak”
This renovated Tudor house felt like the right fit for a more mellow Harry. It looks straight out of Harry’s Better Homes & Gardens photo shoot (you can tour the actual home from the shoot here) and is in the Cheshire countryside, not far from where Harry grew up.
Inside the house has a beautiful blend of Tudor details, softened by a warm neutral palette and minimalist, modern built-ins. There are plenty of places to curl up with a book and a cup of tea, or sit and write a song. It’s a very grounding space that feels like everything I conjure up when I think of home, even though it’s nothing like where I grew up.
Almost every room on the ground floor opens up to the gardens, and there are several areas dedicated to enjoying the most whatever-the-British-version-of-coastal-grandmother lifestyle you can imagine. There’s a solarium with planting benches, two outdoor dining areas, raised garden beds, and even a porch swing. They seriously look out of a Nancy Meyers movie.
There’s even an additional 1,200 sq ft organic-modern-style guest cottage on the property. It’s currently being used by the owner as an office for their architecture practice, but it would make a recording studio or practice space with immaculate vibes.
The only thing missing is a natural pool for Harry to take a dip (Mallard duck sweater not required).
New York
Location: 226 E 49th St, New York, NY 10017
List Price: $10,500,000
Listing: https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/226-228-E-49th-St-New-York-NY-10017/31530211_zpid/
Harry’s House song pairings: “As It Was” and “Daylight”
There’s something beautiful and melancholy about living in a New York apartment that feels like you’re in Europe. That must be why there’s a poem by Le Duc Charles Orléans inscribed on the ceiling in the great room that reads (roughly translated): “Go away, go, go, care, sadness, and melancholy.” But maybe that’s exactly what makes this space the right fit for someone like Harry who talks/sings about homesickness and not liking long distance relationships. This 8,700 sq ft home in Turtle Bay Gardens feels like a great compromise, or at least a stylish one.
The Turtle Bay Gardens neighborhood was essentially created by a Gilded Age heiress who in 1918 used her railroad money to buy an entire block of townhouses. She worked with architects to update the façades to look more European, create a shared garden amongst them, and reorient the houses so the main living areas were facing the garden. She built the grandest for herself by combining two townhouses and bringing in all of the materials she loved from her travels in Europe.
The effects are amazing. The house is truly transportive. While it would be hard to pull yourself away from the great room and its 22ft coffered ceilings, my favorite room in the house is the green room on the ground floor that opens up directly to the garden. It is the perfect kind of place for throwing open the doors and refreshing the mood in the spring, or cozying up in a sweater in the fall. You could get a lot of reflection and writing done here.
Of course, the same could also be said for the wood-paneled library.
On the top floor is a quintessential artist studio with large skylights, which provides that kind of iconic New York creative space even when the rest of the house feels straight from Italy.
It’s easy to see why this home has attracted artists and designers (ahem, Mary Kate Olsen and Olivier Sarkozy are the current owners) were attracted to this place and why the neighborhood has been home to people like Bob Dylan, Katharine Hepburn, E. B. White, and more. It might be the most romantic place in New York.
Los Angeles
Location: 3409 Oak Glen Dr, Los Angeles, CA 90068
List Price: $3,200,000
Listing: https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/3409-Oak-Glen-Dr-Los-Angeles-CA-90068/20044984_zpid/
Harry’s House song pairings: “Daydreaming” and “Satellite”
Harry sings a lot about LA vibes, and what could have more LA vibes than a quiet well-preserved mid-century modern house in the hills?
This house in the Hollywood Hills is almost a perfect time capusle. Warm tones flow throughout with exposed wooden beams on the ceiling, wood panels and brick on the walls, cork floors, brass hardware, and an orange built-in sofa. It has a retro charm that feels very current and perfect for someone like Harry who likes to wear vintage silhouettes in modern ways.
My favorite area inside of the home is the living area with the built-in bar and brick fireplace. It has a perfect entertaining ambiance. The kind of spot you could put on a record, pour a martini, and dance, or on cooler nights cuddle up by the fireplace with an old fashioned.
If relaxing and recovery is more your style, the house has a beautiful private backyard space with a pool, hot tub, and sauna secluded by lots of greenery. It’s the perfect place to soak up every bit of the beautiful LA weather year round.
Bonus
A townhouse in Southeast London with a very Harry mixture of traditional, modern, brutalist, and 70’s aesthetics
This modernist home in Surrey with a recording studio is an Architectural Digest feature waiting to happen
Fellow celeb with great style, Emily Ratajkowski’s Echo Park house is listed for $2.2m
A London loft that has serious LA mid-century vibes
A very house-shaped house in London that has a soothing modern take on traditional features
Thank you for doing the lord's work!