This issue is dedicated to city dwellers who have deftly carved out their own personal serenity in the midst of bustling, busy, urban places like New York, London, and Los Angeles. It’s evident to all from her witty and good-natured Instagram posts that our cover star, beloved actor Jennifer Garner, is a domestic goddess, even though she wears the mantle lightly and with her signature sense of humor. She cooks, she gardens, she is a backyard birder and animal lover, and she cofounded a food brand—Once Upon a Farm—that produces high-quality organic meals and snacks for babies and kids. And she does all this down-to-earth stuff from her family residence, a rustic structure that is equal parts farmhouse and barn, surrounded by woods, orchards, and an enviable greenhouse ripe with veggies. Who knew that the LA life could look and feel so country? (See more of the garden in her Open Door video on AD’s YouTube channel.)
In London, the boundary-pushing young fashion designer Harris Reed and his husband, Eitan Senerman, acquired an underwhelming 750-square-foot apartment with an overgrown and swampy garden (some green space was a prerequisite for the couple) and proceeded to gut-renovate the entire thing, achieving their romantic vision of what Reed calls a “Wes Anderson meets Oscar Wilde” vibe both indoors and out. Of his refuge, Reed says, “It really is a safe queer space—all our friends can feel at home here.”
Artist Mimi Lauter metamorphosed a barren yard in LA’s scrappy Echo Park into a lush Eden, while AD100 designer Robert Stilin transformed an enormous raw warehouse space in gritty Red Hook into a sophisticated apartment that is impressively not overshadowed by potentially scene-stealing views of New York Harbor out every window. Each space is a true sanctuary in the city.
This article appears in AD’s October issue. Never miss a story when you subscribe to AD.