Jeff Goldblum Dreams Up an Old Hollywood-Inspired Guesthouse to Match His Eccentric Taste

As meet-cutes go, the first encounter between Jeff and Emilie Goldblum (née Livingston) was almost too on the nose. In 2011, Jeff was working out at an Equinox gym in Los Angeles when he spied his future bride across the room. “I was literally hanging in the air,” recalls Emilie, a professional aerialist and dancer who was the sole representative of Team Canada in rhythmic gymnastics at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney. Perennial Hollywood cool cat that he is, Jeff sidled up for an introduction and a phone number. That very night, he went to see Emilie perform her beguiling acrobatics and contortions at a local nightclub. She reciprocated a few days later when she caught Jeff’s act—he’s also an accomplished jazz musician who has toured the globe with his band, the Mildred Snitzer Orchestra—at a different LA boîte. The couple married in 2014.

Jeff Goldblum by the pool wearing a Prada shirt, Balenciaga shorts, and Birkenstock sandals with ERL socks; His Grand Budapest Hotel robe was a gift from Wes Anderson; Jacques Marie Mage sunglasses; Cartier watch and bracelet. Fashion styling by Andrew T. Vottero.

An Isamu Noguchi lantern crowns the nap zone connected to Jeff’s home office. The carpet is by Commune for Christopher Farr. Furnishings throughout the project were selected by Zeb & Crunk.

Noguchi Akari 26A Ceiling Lamp

Lulu and Georgia Royce Velvet Pillow

Vintage Hungarian Folk Wall Plates

The House of Lyria Presagio Fribged Blanket

The Goldblums at a Steinway & Sons grand piano in the ground-floor living room. Curtains in a Casamance velvet nurture the nightclub vibe. Emilie wears a Magda Butrym T-shirt and Prada trousers, and Jeff is dressed in a custom Bode corduroy suit, Bode shirt, Jacques Marie Mage glasses, and Prada shoes; watch by Cartier.

Grooming: David Cox at Art Department; Hair: Vincent Pelletier at A-Frame Agency; Makeup: Rob Rumsey at A-Frame Agency

The reimagined guest cottage

Fast-forward roughly a decade. The Goldblums, along with their two sons, Charlie Ocean and River Joe, live happily in the hills above West Hollywood, ensconced in the charming 1930s Spanish Revival house that the actor has occupied for more than four decades. The guesthouse/poolhouse on the property, however, was somewhat less winning. “I would describe the style as 1983 janky,” says Barbara Bestor, the architect charged with reimagining the structure as an inviting, multipurpose family playground, performance space, gym, home office, and guest cottage. “The catalyst for the whole project was an upgrade to the laundry room,” Jeff notes wryly. “Then we started to think bigger.”

Shop the colorful look of the star’s home with an editor-curated selection of furniture and decor.

Working within the shell of the existing structure, Bestor raised the ceilings, upgraded the building systems, and completely recast the character of the pavilion by reinterpreting its architectural details in a language more consistent with the main home. “We tried to give it an atmosphere that ties the structure into the larger aesthetic of the property. Call it retroactive historicization,” she says, pointing to signature gestures such as new arched doorways, colorful tile applications, and the pyramidal ceiling above Jeff’s office and cozy snooze-atorium. “Jeff and Emilie have very playful personalities, and then there are the kids. It all had to be fun and relaxed,” she adds.

Emilie (wearing an ERL bodysuit and sunglasses, Saint Laurent heels, and a Cartier bracelet and watch) showcases her skills on the new aerial rig behind the guesthouse. Jeff is dressed in an ERL tuxedo jacket, shirt, and bow tie, with Prada trousers and Brunello Cucinelli shoes.

The gym is outfitted with pink equipment, a maroon rubber floor, and a pink mirror wall.

The living room has a custom banquette in a Gert Voorjans fabric for Jim Thompson, a Nikolai Lafuge cocktail table, and chairs by Commune for George Smith.

Turkish Fireplace Chair

Murici Coffee Table by Nikolai Lafuge

Nickey Kehoe Velvet Pillow

CB2 Rosalia Decorative Bowl

“Jeff has always had eccentric taste. We love the laid-back California 1970s energy—lots of color, flower prints, things that uplift. Life can be tough, so we wanted things that make you happy,” Emilie says of the decades-spanning decor. The main social space on the ground floor is purposely uncluttered, all the better to shift easily between poolside family frolics, predinner drinks with guests, and ad hoc performances when the muse strikes. Star-shaped pendants and mustard-yellow velvet curtains lining the wall by the Steinway & Sons grand piano buoy the subtle nightclub vibe. Upstairs, the showstopping gym is outfitted with custom pink equipment, pink roller shades, a pink-tinged mirror wall, and maroon floor mats, the ideal spot for Emilie to film workout and dance content. Jeff is into it, too. “I don’t associate colors with gender,” he insists. “I like them all. I’m easy to please.”

A bath is wrapped in a patchwork of zellige tiles by Clé and Zia Tile.

Emilie (wearing an Alo Yoga sweater, leggings, and socks paired with a Skims tank top and sweatpants) takes a stretch in the Home gym.

The kitchen area in the open social space on the ground floor has a table fabricated by Hercules Custom Furniture, stools by Summer Studio, star pendants by Katy Skelton, and curtains of a Casamance velvet.

Jeff Goldblum (wearing an Anto Beverly Hills shirt, Bode trousers, Jacques Marie Mage glasses, and Prada shoes) in his home office seated at an Arne Jacobsen desk by Carl Hansen & Søn. A vase by Cam Caldwell rests on the floor beside a walnut bookcase from Nickey Kehoe.

A portrait of Jeff by Scott Zaragoza graces the pool bath. Tiles by Clé; faucet by Waterworks; toilet by The Water Monopoly.

“The mood of the house changes depending on what’s going on. It can be serene and stimulating, mellow and sexy, a place to recharge and a place to create,” says designer Jazmyne Crunk of Zeb and Crunk, the firm enlisted by Bestor to specify furniture. “There’s a touch of 1930s Chateau Marmont cool in the project, a bit of old-time Hollywood glamour,” adds partner Zeb Knudsen.

The art collection bolsters the cheerful, polychromatic spirit of the interiors. Many of the pieces in the house were created by Jeff’s sister, Pam Goldblum, and her husband, Jeff Kaisershot, including a massive Gainsborough-esque painting of a fine lady that commands the stairwell beside a shimmering Murano glass chandelier. In the pool bath, a Scott Zaragoza tondo of Jeff as a dapper explorer confronting a gargantuan Venus flytrap strikes a pitch-perfect note of weirdness.

The walls and custom cabinetry in the laundry room are painted in Benjamin Moore’s Heirloom Quilt.

In a guest room with a custom Murphy bed. a painting by husband-and-wife artists Pam Goldblum (Jeff’s sister) and Jeff Kaisershot hangs above a vintage side chair on a jute carpet from Lawrence of La Brea.

ART: GOLDBLUM KAISERSHOT. Pari Dukovic

Reflecting on the renovation, Jeff seems most excited about the potential for creative high jinks and, as the song says, makin’ whoopee. “We’re going to keep discovering how this place serves us,” he avers. “These rooms are so fertile and ripe for experiments and adventures.”

This story appears in the July/August issue. Never miss a story when you subscribe to AD.