Tan France Builds His Dream Home From Start to Finish | Architectural Digest

Rising from the Red Clay of Salt Lake City Your home is not just a collection of walls and a roof. It is a feeling. It is a physical manifestation of your history, your struggles, and your wildest dreams. When fashion designer Tan France embarked on building his dream residence in Salt Lake City, he was not simply drafting a blueprint for a luxury house. He was rewriting the narrative of his childhood. Raised in a working-class community in England, Tan shared a single bedroom with his brother and parents until he was nine years old. Fancier homes with beautiful aesthetics were things he only saw on television screen. They belonged to a different world. Now, in middle age, the opportunity to build a home from the ground up represents the ultimate realization of a childhood dream. To bring this deeply personal vision to life, Tan partnered with Tom Fox and Cara Fox of The Fox Group. The goal was audacious: construct a brand-new house in Utah that looked as though it had been plucked directly from the English countryside and weathered by a century of rain, wind, and history. It had to feel like grandma's house—cozy, charming, and full of soul—yet function with every modern luxury. Achieving this balance required a meticulous devotion to authentic materials, historical construction methods, and a willingness to reject the sterile perfection that dominates contemporary luxury home builds. Weathering the Elements with Honest Materials To make a new home look old, you must start with the skin of the building. Perfect, uniform materials are the enemy of character. Tan and The Fox Group focused intensely on sourcing weathered, tumbled brick that appeared to have been knocked about by the elements for decades. They eventually selected a queen-size tumbled brick with rough edges. They paired it with a carefully formulated mortar applied in a traditional common bond pattern, where five standard brick courses are punctuated by a row of short butt ends. This historical masonry technique immediately grounds the exterior in the past. To break up the brickwork, they integrated gorgeous herringbone patterns and hand-templated Tudor timbering. A craftsman named Max literally risked his safety on a ladder to template the subtle, imperfect curves of the dark wood beams by hand. These deep black beams contrast sharply with the plaster, mirroring the timeless style of historic British architecture. The exterior design incorporates an industrial-grade conservatory built from steel rather than aluminum. Steel weathers beautifully over time, developing a rich patina, while aluminum remains frozen in artificial perfection. Landscaping completed the illusion of a historic English estate. Landscape designer Emily conceptualized a "tuxedo garden" consisting strictly of white and green plants. Boxwood, laurel, and beach hedges create structured English pathways. To respect the local Utah environment, Emily seamlessly blended these traditional European plantings with native, drought-tolerant varieties like junipers, Carly rose grass, and white-blossoming yarrow. The absolute biggest hurdle on the steep mountain lot was a massive concrete retaining wall. Tan detested the look of the raw concrete. To solve this, Emily sourced sixteen-foot emerald green arborvitae trees to cover the walls, alongside custom-trained espalier lime trees wrapped on bamboo screens to soften the hardscape. A Culinary Bridge Between South Asia and the Cotswolds In South Asian culture, families center their entire existence around the kitchen. It is where stories are traded, meals are slow-cooked, and memories are cemented. However, the pungent, beautiful aromas of traditional South Asian spices pose a unique design challenge in a modern, open-concept home. As a child, Tan experienced the anxiety of going to school smelling of the strong spices his mother cooked with. To prevent his own children from facing the same issue, Tan designed a brilliant layout feature: a fully enclosed, secondary "spice kitchen." This dedicated room, connected to the main kitchen by a sliding door, allows Tan to slow-cook traditional dishes with high-heat Indian spices while keeping the aroma completely contained. This space is dressed in a dark wood stain that is deeply characteristic of South Asia, paired with a lighter, creamy cabinetry color to bridge the gap between old-world antique and modern chic. Traditional scalloped woodwork runs along the upper cabinets, adding a soft, historic rhythm to the room. In the main kitchen, the design team installed a custom-made steel window inspired by the classic architecture of Liberty London. Every single pane of glass was mitered, welded, and hand-painted by Bellstone craftsmen. It frames a jaw-dropping view of the valley below. To add warmth, the team installed white oak beams across the ceiling and laid a striking black-and-white checkered floor using straight-edged stone tiles. For the stove, Tan selected a magnificent, custom-built French range that he had dreamed of owning for over twenty years, turning the cooking area into a dramatic, high-performance centerpiece. The Maharaja's Wardrobe Transcends the Western Closet If the kitchen is the heart of the home, Tan's closet is its soul. Having spent his entire life working in fashion and style, Tan wanted a wardrobe space that rejected standard closet design. He wanted to feel as though he had stepped directly into a Maharaja's palace, without the space looking like a cheap theatrical set. This massive, three-room closet was custom-engineered to store, organize, and highlight his vast collection of clothing and footwear. In the center of the closet hangs an authentic antique South Asian swing suspended by heavy brass chains. Traditionally used in South Asia instead of sofas, the swing instantly injects a sense of cultural identity and playfulness. The room is divided into distinct color zones: a deep blue section for formal footwear and outerwear, a warm clay section for content creation, and a soft cream section for shirts, suiting, and separate trousers. Every square inch of this closet features mind-blowing craftsmanship. The walls and ceilings are adorned with intricate, hand-painted floral stenciling executed by a local artist named Marjorie using tiny brushes. Marjorie hand-painted every delicate white line and floral detail. The built-in cabinetry is accented with custom brass hardware designed by Rob France and manufactured by Chris. The cabinet pulls are shaped like bluebells, a sentimental nod to a childhood game Tan played with his siblings in England. To ground the space, a massive central island features simple Western cabinetry on its face, but is finished on the ends with intricate geometric lattis work, demonstrating a perfect hybrid of East and West. Sanctuary in the Peaks of the Wasatch Range The primary suite was designed with one singular goal: to create a cozy, intimate sanctuary for Tan and his husband, Rob. Rather than opting for a vast, cavernous bedroom that could feel cold and exposed, they chose a scaled-back footprint that feels like a quiet country retreat. The room features a cozy, low-profile fireplace made with a custom-carved green marble surround that blends into the rich, muted wall coverings. There are no televisions or high-tech distractions in this sleeping space. The bed itself is a masterclass in custom millwork. The headboard and nightstands are built directly into a single, continuous wall panel made of rich, warm wood. The custom drawers feature a manual click-to-open safety mechanism, intentionally avoiding digital tech that could break down over time. Tom designed the room with perfect sightlines: when you sit in bed, you look directly at the fireplace; when you turn to the right, you look through a bank of custom windows overlooking the Salt Lake Valley; and when you step out of the bedroom, you look directly down the center of the double doors leading into the primary bath. In the bathroom, Tan insisted on installing warm, rich herringbone white oak wood flooring instead of cold stone tile. Because this is a private, adult-only space, wood flooring offers a cozy, luxurious transition from the carpeted bedroom. The bathroom layout is perfectly symmetrical, featuring twin vanities flanking three soft plaster arches that house the shower, the bathtub, and the toilet room. The vanities are finished in a sophisticated two-tone paint scheme that emphasizes their curved, Art Deco-inspired paneling, while a matte-finished wallpaper eliminates any harsh, metallic glare under the vanity lights. Whimsy, Heritage, and the Healing Power of a Created Home Beyond the main house sits a detached guest cottage, styled to look like a historic, independent dwelling. This guest space features a charming green-and-white striped wallpaper from Farrow & Ball that evokes a classic, nostalgic aesthetic. The galley kitchenet inside is fully functional, complete with a custom marble arch, floating shelves, a cooktop, a sink, and a built-in refrigerator, giving visitors total independence during their stay. In the guest bathroom, a dramatic, bold tile is paired with deep wood finishes, creating a moody, high-end hotel feel. One of the most whimsical elements of the entire estate is a miniature "mouse house" built directly into the hallway wall. Inspired by a historic design trend, the tiny alcove features a highly detailed, hand-crafted diorama of the classic children's book *Good Night Moon*, complete with a tiny replica of Tan's actual house. Every single night, Tan's eldest son refuses to go to sleep without bringing his blanket to the mouse house to say good night to the tiny objects inside. It is a beautiful, quiet tradition that defines what this entire construction project was truly about. A home is not merely a statement of wealth or status. It is a physical sanctuary where family traditions are born, where personal heritage is celebrated, and where children grow up feeling safe and anchored. By rejecting the sterile trends of modern design and embracing honest, weathered materials, custom hand-drawn stenciling, and clever cultural layouts like the spice kitchen, Tan and Rob built more than a house. They built a living, breathing testament to where they have been, who they are, and where they plan to spend the rest of their lives.