The exceedingly warm and very rustic Pacific Palisades house put up for sale last summer by actress Brooke Shields has changed hands. Shields listed the post and beam house for $8.195 million, and saw it into the sunset in exchange for $7.145 million.
Something of a chameleon, the home’s timber-toned log cabin-ish façade peeks over the river stone property gate, promising an interior of antler chandeliers, the one-that-didn’t-get-away taxidermy, dark wood and red brick. There’s red brick as a foundational material, but the alpine-inspired 1982-built home pulls a smoke-and-mirrors routine between that first impression and the interior design style, and manages more than a few additional surprises by the time a full tour has been made.
As the exterior of the house develops, industrial flourishes and some vaguely Craftsman elements emerge. There’s a wraparound porch on this hillside build to bring a little vertigo to morning coffee, Sunday brunch or afternoon down time, with a lattice balustrade offering a peek at the leafy landscape that falls away into canyon views.
Interiors are bright, ebulliently so, with exposed iron left unpainted for contrast and a bit of rusticity against a designs style that is otherwise cleanly down-to-earth, if sophisticated. Scalloped plank floors, a stone fireplace given a coat of warm off-white, textured ceilings and vertical clapboard are additional design elements of the enduring interior sensibility.
And, upstairs, a genuine treat: a wrap-around gallery beneath an exposed ceiling, which leads eventually to the master, where a double French door-accessible balcony and red brick fireplace lend cozy shape to a grand space.