Peep Dita Von Teese’s decadent, colorful Los Feliz home

The antidote for all those white-walled houses with earthy neutral palettes

Dita Von Teese in her library. The shelves were built-in to mimic the arched doorway that lead into the space.
Photos by Trevor Tondro, courtesy of Architectural Digest

It will not likely surprise anyone familiar with burlesque icon and fashion celebrity Dita Von Teese to learn she is a self-described maximalist.

“I have a phobia of white walls in houses... My first order of business was going through room by room was and adding color and excitement to the room,” Von Teese told Architectural Digest on a recent tour of her Tudor Revival-style home in Los Feliz.

To look at the four-bedroom house now, it would be impossible to tell that a single inch of it was ever white.

The kitchen now sports rose gold fixtures and wall coverings that look like rich green malachite; the living room has green velvet couches and a healthy dose of taxidermy. The dining room is a bright blue with red furnishings. Antiques and curios dot the space, from the library to the powder room.

Von Teese may not be done yet. “I don’t like to finish everything,” said Von Teese. “I like having projects.”

For the full interview and more photos, head to Architectural Digest.

“I wanted a sexy, womanly, grown-up kitchen,” Von Teese told AD.
The backyard of the Tudor Revival-style home.
The living room also functions as a meeting room, says Von Teese. The vintage phonograph, purchased at the Rose Bowl Flea Market, still works.

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Comments

To me, there’s no such thing as a "healthy dose of taxidermy." It’s gross, in general. Let those animals RIP, not on the wall or on some surface in someone’s home.

By b42356 on 03.24.20 3:02pm

I mean, don’t you trip over the bear head in that rug?

By LosFeliz$ean on 03.24.20 10:54pm

Oh dear, the dead animals everywhere are such a gentle touch and she’s afraid of white walls?

By mrjim1 on 03.24.20 3:34pm

I’m cool with strippers, burlesque. But taxidermy is f*cking obscene.

By Cleavon Little on 03.24.20 3:52pm

I wouldn’t be able to sleep at night with Tigger in the den. Nightmare.

By Dubonnet on 03.24.20 3:55pm

It has to be fake or very old, otherwise wouldn’t it be illegal by CITES standards?

By eaglearts on 03.24.20 5:22pm

Per the article…

." The taxidermy is antique. "I don’t condone hunting or hanging trophies, but these are antiques."

They still creep me out

By mrjim1 on 03.24.20 6:56pm

I believe there are still CITES restrictions on that.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canyon_(Rauschenberg)

By eaglearts on 03.24.20 8:24pm

I see your point, I believe that would cover ivory as well. I don’t know how she gets away with it

By mrjim1 on 03.24.20 11:40pm

How does she have Money!

By eaglearts on 03.24.20 8:22pm

A decorating style that might be called Heterosexual Liberace.

By RobertFiore1 on 03.24.20 9:28pm

That is genius!

By Mildred Fillmore on 03.24.20 11:28pm

The best thing in the place looks like the Aga cooker.

By Mildred Fillmore on 03.24.20 11:29pm

AMEN! I agree 100%!!!

By lastyle on 03.25.20 12:03am

Wow! there are a ton of negative comments-why? I was so impressed with her style being 100% organic to herself. She is not running to some pop interior designer and looking for some navy and white do-up. I LOVED her home. I loved how each portion of her home is considered and collected. Isn’t that every interior designer’s big goal is to look collected and layered? I was amused by our shared love of antique shopping and photographing details that we would like replicated in or respective homes. Taxidermy does not freak me out, it’s a personal preference. She obviously loves animals. Way to try and reduce her down to nothing by calling her a "stripper" and wondering where she gets her cash. I guess the word entrepreneur and entertainer were being used. I am so grossed out by the negative comments. Seriously, why does anyone share anything with this crowd? Just so that they can be judged by people who may or may not share her level of success? DVT is iconic and super cool. I texted everyone I knew when her house call went live on AD. I am so beyond bored with mid century. It’s great, but a bit overplayed. If you have something negative to say, stick to the open houses that are for sale. It was an enormous treat to have her host AD and let the magazine tour every part of her home.

By WyliesDad on 03.25.20 12:05pm

Seriously, why does anyone share anything with this crowd?

Exposure. Entertainers like Dita need "this crowd" so she can continue paying the bills.

I like her style, minus the dead endangered animals. And showcasing said dead endangered animals is not "loving animals". Quite the opposite, and she doesn’t get a pass if they are ‘antique’ or fresh from the wild.

By Cleavon Little on 03.25.20 4:16pm

I like the kitchen.

By DNUice on 03.26.20 9:34pm

The taxidermy is all vintage or ethically sourced (meaning the animals keeled over on their own).

Complaining about something like this is just like complaining about wearing vintage fur…would you rather someone warm themselves with something already produced that’s just sitting on a rack, or that they keep generating the production of new clothing?

Live and let live, folks.

By MMVic on 03.28.20 6:15am

So . . . there’s a time frame by which killing animals for decorations makes it acceptable?

Give me an idea: 1 year, 5 years, 25 years, 50 years? What?

By Cleavon Little on 03.29.20 9:29pm

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