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Architecture
From a Beverly Hills home to a 500-year-old thatched roof cottage, don’t be surprised if you find Snow White answering the door at one of these properties
By Katherine McLaughlin
Though fit for woodland creatures and princesses, these homes were made for real people.Photo: Anna Gorin/Getty Images
Fairytale houses are really a question of the chicken or the egg. Was it whimsical and slightly off-kilter homes that inspired the homes seen in storybooks, or was it the books that brought the homes to existence? The answer might be a mixture of both. Many of the architectural elements we associate with homes seen in fairytales—thatched roofs, natural stone façades, or asymmetrical dormers and windows—aren’t new things. In fact, they’re quite old, and many date back to the 18th or 19th century. Animators and illustrators are well-known to pull from historic architecture, often adding fantastical elements to infuse a little more magic into the depictions, so it’s not surprising that Snow White’s home looks, in many ways, like a charming English cottage from the Regency countryside.
However, something peculiar happened in the early 1920s. Architects, particularly in California and England, started designing homes based on the ones seen in fairytales. Without any specific characteristics, homes started popping up with cobblestone paths, intentionally uneven roofs, and irregular-shaped doors and windows, seemingly bringing the over exaggerated architectural details added to illustrations into the real world. Slowly, homes in this style were given an (extremely appropriate) name: storybook houses. Though not overwhelmingly common, homes in this style can still be seen all around the world. Below, AD rounds up the most charming examples of storybook architecture and other homes that look like they came straight out from your favorite fairytale.
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Inside Ryan Murphy’s Bel Air Home Built By Richard NeutraToday, AD takes you inside Ryan Murphy’s beautiful Bel Air home. Designed in 1955 by Richard Neutra, the Brown House features what is believed to be the only double-wide living room designed by the legendary architect. Working with designer Trevor Cheney, the Feud creator wanted the interiors to create a sense of conflict and act as a reimagining of classic midcentury design. Decorative pieces from the past 500 years of mid-centuries contrast a predominantly contemporary art collection. Murphy’s home might be breaking several traditional design rules, but it’s also full of whimsy and intrigue, opening up a world of creative possibilities. “I have discovered that the only thing that truly interests me is a space in which things are in conflict. It’s the same in storytelling. A real design conversation starts to unfold when things that aren’t supposed to go together, for whatever outdated reasons, begin to suggest unexpected affinities and surprising similarities.”
Feud: Capote vs. The Swans is streaming on FX now.
See more of Ryan Murphy's Bel Air home here
