Tour Troian Bellisario and Patrick J. Adams’s Eclectic Spanish Colonial Revival Home

Troian Bellisario and Patrick J. Adams don’t see themselves as simply the owners of their Spanish Colonial Revival home in Los Angeles. “I think we've learned what it means to become the shepherds of a house,” Adams reflects. The actors—he’s best known for his role on Suits, in which he played Meghan Markle’s character’s love interest, while Bellisario starred on the popular teen drama Pretty Little Liars—fell in love with the residence while in the midst of planning their 2016 wedding and moved in right after their honeymoon. “We weren’t in the market,” says Adams, but after popping into an open house one day, he knew the house would be theirs. “We were like, this is a dream place. It’s super special.”

The 1924 residence was designed by one of the lions of the golden age of California architecture—Wallace Neff. Its white stucco exterior, colorfully tiled main staircase, and wrought-iron details are all calling cards of Neff’s numerous Spanish-influenced homes, though he dabbled in many aesthetics over his six decade–plus career, and has even been credited with creating California style more generally. Silent film stars Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford commissioned him to build their iconic “Pickfair” estate, while stylish stars like Diane Keaton, Reese Witherspoon, and Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt have all lived in Neff-designed abodes. The architect’s work was also frequently covered in the early days of Architectural Digest. Four black-and-white images of Adams and Bellisario’s home even appeared in a 1920s issue, which provided helpful context as the pair embarked on their decorating journey.

Upon moving in, the couple incorporated elements from their previous home, but after a few years they realized that they needed outside help to make the house feel cohesive. “We were getting a little bit older, and we were getting the sense that we were forcing our style onto this very beautiful [historic] house,” says Adams. They called upon designer Rosa Beltran, who got to work just as the couple prepared to welcome their second daughter, Elliot, who will turn two in May. (Their older daughter, Aurora, is now four.)

Beltran spearheaded a few key renovations with the goal of honoring Neff’s intentions as much as possible. A chimney element was added to the fireplace in the living room for grandeur. (Prior to this, the couple’s designer friends Kaitlin McHugh and Lulu Brud had helped them raise the fireplace off the ground.) Renaissance Design Studio was brought in to add vintage-looking French doors and sidelights to augment the indoor-outdoor feel. The kitchen, renovated by the previous owner, received a coat of dark green paint on its cabinets. And, inspired by the one interior photo of the home published in the 1920s issue of AD, recessed shelving was added below the living room balcony.

“The goal was to make it feel how Neff and the team of artisans who had worked on the home in the beginning would have wanted it to feel, and also to make it really comfortable and useful for a modern-day family,” Beltran explains. For Adams and Bellisario, it was important to honor the house’s bones while not being too precious. That meant letting their kids play freely in the family room and keeping personally meaningful art around, even if it isn’t perfectly in line with the style of the home.

A bulk of the transformation took place outside, where the yard was in a state of disrepair. Sean Femrite of Environmental Design Studio added a curved staircase, built-in seating, a firepit, and a seating area near the pool that the family now enjoys often. Hopefully the two large olive trees they added to the back yard (via crane) will remain firmly planted for many years to come. But if they are ever unearthed, a mark of Adams and Bellisario’s time as the stewards of this century-spanning home will be waiting underneath: “When we planted the trees,” says Bellisario, “we buried a time capsule deep below them.”