“I can hype this house as much as I want. It’s going to live up to that hype. It’s going to exceed that hype,” says Terry Dubrow of the 22,000-square-foot home that he shares with his wife, Heather. Modesty isn’t a strong suit of the plastic surgeon and star of Botched, but there’s a reason for that: Dubrow is known as one of the masters of his trade, which is how he landed on the E! reality program in the first place. His wife, Heather Dubrow, is an equally recognizable face, as a former cast member of The Real Housewives of Orange County (which Terry also appeared on). While on the show, Heather documented the construction of the mansion, which they dubbed “Dubrow Chateau.” And although the house was finished three years ago, up until now fans have had to subsist only on sneak peeks at what the couple shared on their social media accounts.
The finished mansion is indeed as jaw-dropping as Terry says. Located in the tony enclave of Crystal Cove, the 40,000-square-foot property boasts dramatic ocean views and an exterior that Heather likens to famed hotel The Breakers in Palm Beach, Florida. And while Terry found the plot of land, it is Heather who is largely responsible for the design and decor of the home. “The last house we built, I had some input,” Terry says. “We had the usual disagreements—‘build a house, lose a spouse’ kind of thing. With this house she said, ‘Here’s the deal. I’m going to build this house, but I don’t want to hear anything from you at all.’ And so that was the rule.” Heather opted to design the interiors herself, instead of relying on a decorator.
The gamble paid off: While Terry had been a tough critic of his interior designers’ work in the past, with Heather behind the decorating the aesthetic was perfect. “He loves one hundred percent of this house,” she says. Heather opted for a mostly neutral palette, but layered many textures throughout the home, including stone, wood, and leather. “It’s like Kelly Wearstler threw up in the house. I love her. I love her design style,” she says. Heather ensured continuity within the rooms by echoing colors or materials from space to space. “I didn’t repeat fabrics, but I used the same tones or the same fabrics in different colors, in different rooms,” she explains. “There are repeating elements in that respect.” Trees are also a theme within the home, showing up everywhere from an etched glass window to an olive tree that the couple had craned into the central courtyard of the house.
In addition to its sheer size, the house is remarkable for the many customized features (towel-warming drawer, anyone?). The couple, who have four children ranging in ages from 7 to 15, made sure that this wasn’t a home filled with rooms that were off-limits to the youngest inhabitants. On the contrary, the subterranean level is a teenager’s dream, filled with an entire hall of pinball, a 21-seat movie theater, and pocket doors that allow the level to open into one giant space. Upstairs, the bespoke elements are geared more to the adults: There is a champagne wall in the dining room and a six-foot-long trough cut into one of the kitchen islands that Heather likes to fill with ice, stick caviar, crudités, and champagne. “Everyone just stands around the island and talks and eats. It’s really conducive to casual entertaining,” she says. And yes, RHOC superfans, there is an actual champagne button in Heather’s master bedroom closet, which, when pressed, rings a bell in the kitchen. (“Terry goes, ‘Who’s bringing you the champagne?’ I’m like, ‘You? I don’t know,’” she said in an earlier interview with Bravo TV.)
The couple certainly embodies a work hard, play hard mentality. When they’re not entertaining, you may often find them in their home gym, which is filled with pieces like treadmills, ellipticals, and weights—equipment that is conducive to high-intensity interval training. The Dubrows are even set to release a book this month on their diet and fitness regimen called, fittingly, The Dubrow Diet. “HIIT is the best way to maximize the effects of the Dubrow Diet, so when you’re in that fat-burning stage, you break down your fats that much faster,” Terry explains of the approach, which also uses interval eating to promote weight loss.
After such a lengthy construction period, one might imagine that the Dubrows are planning to settle in to this palatial home for the long haul. But the couple, who have lived in around 18 homes in their 22 years together, may be divided on that. “We’re never selling this house; you’re going to bury me in the backyard,” Terry says. Heather demurs: “Well, we’ll see. We’ve honestly never lived anywhere longer than three years. But I think this is the first house we’ve been in that feels like our true home.”
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