Today Architectural Digest is welcomed by Ray and Anna Romano to tour their serene desert home in La Quinta, California. The Everybody Loves Raymond star and his wife worked with AD100 powerhouse Nate Berkus to design a beautiful and comfortable home, perfect for hosting their expanding family as two of their four children prepare to get married. Moving away from the mid-century Americana styles you’d typically find around Palm Springs, Berkus took inspiration from Italian country homes, creating a more muted space with all the charm of the Italian countryside. Before letting Berkus and Anna take the reigns on design, Ray only had a few specific requests for his new desert oasis. “I wanted some kind of cozy feel to it. That’s all. I was very vague,” he says. “And I fell in love with a bunk bed room that we saw at the Ritz-Carlton in Sundance that my kids stayed in. And I said, ‘I want a room like that.’”
Category
🛠️
LifestyleTranscript
00:00 Hey AD, Ray Romano here. Welcome to my house in the desert.
00:06 This is where I come to get away and hide out.
00:09 Obviously it's not working well because you're all here.
00:13 But come on in, you're here, let's go.
00:16 [music]
00:31 Okay, Anna, come on out. People are here.
00:35 This is AD. Say hi AD.
00:38 Welcome to our house.
00:40 Yeah, you don't have to be that friendly.
00:42 This is the great room, TV room, whatever you want to call it.
00:45 The interior designer that we used was a man called Nate Berkus.
00:49 I'm sure many of you know who he is.
00:52 My wife knew who he was and kind of had a crush on him.
00:56 Still do.
00:57 Still does.
00:58 So we told him we wanted something comfortable, large enough for our family and not to feel extravagant.
01:05 Yes, cozy was my word.
01:06 Cozy, that's the--
01:07 I had one word input, cozy.
01:10 We want to be able to hang out, watch TV at night, and if I'm in the kitchen, it's joined together and we can all be together.
01:18 We want to be able to be here--
01:20 He doesn't step in the kitchen.
01:21 Yes, but I want to be able to just go, "Is it ready yet?" and not have to step away from the football game.
01:28 And we have four kids, three boys, so football's a big part of it.
01:32 And a girl.
01:33 We have a girl. Yeah, we'll talk about her later.
01:36 Me and the boys, we're Jet fans, we watch together, we cry together if you're a Jet fan.
01:41 And I was told about this area from a fellow golfer.
01:45 And I just loved it.
01:46 I love that it's this little oasis kind of you feel like you're in another place.
01:51 And I told my wife about it.
01:54 She fell in love with it.
01:55 And eight years later, we have this house here.
01:58 Yeah.
02:03 This is our gorgeous kitchen with our beautiful oak cabinets.
02:08 My idea.
02:09 Oak, yes. I wanted maple.
02:12 I plan to do my Italian Sunday dinner here.
02:16 Meatballs, tomato sauce.
02:19 I don't cook anything.
02:20 He does not cook anything.
02:22 Eggs, I cook eggs.
02:23 Maybe eggs.
02:24 Eggs, yes.
02:25 He plays dumb a lot, too, so that's why. Right?
02:28 Some of it isn't playing.
02:30 When the house fills up with our four kids and maybe a couple of friends, it's a little chaotic, but a lot would be on the island.
02:38 Well, that's why we wanted a big island, because we have a lot of stools and everybody can sit around here.
02:43 And hopefully, you know, grandkids soon.
02:46 Yeah, so we built this for future grandchildren.
02:49 So hopefully they'll see this at some point.
02:51 And no, this is all for them.
02:52 They're not here yet.
02:53 They're not even twinkles in anyone's eyes.
02:55 Yes, but two of our kids are engaged to get married.
02:58 And I told them I'm putting a prize, a bounty out for the first grandkid.
03:03 I'm going to college tuition, although we're going to do that anyway.
03:08 Yeah, we're going to do that anyway.
03:09 So maybe, I don't know.
03:10 They're not going to go to college.
03:11 Neither did their parents.
03:12 Oh, God.
03:14 Who are we kidding?
03:15 [music]
03:21 Okay, so we are in the dining room, which, by the way, if we're going to be honest, we haven't used this yet.
03:27 We're waiting to christen this room.
03:29 And we're going to have, you know, we may do a Thanksgiving here.
03:32 We may do something here.
03:34 That's why the chairs are still pristine.
03:37 The chairs are still clean.
03:38 They won't be soon.
03:39 Just one dinner is all it's going to take that we're going to have to throw these out.
03:44 Can we show you these lovely Art Deco garden gates?
03:47 So Nate brought these for us.
03:49 And when I had first seen them, I was a little taken aback.
03:53 But I believed in him.
03:54 So we totally went with his vibe.
03:57 And look how gorgeous they look.
03:59 I love them.
04:00 They're actually one of my favorite pieces in this whole house.
04:03 Not cheap either, Nate.
04:04 Not cheap at all.
04:05 Not cheap, no.
04:06 Thank you very much.
04:07 But now I've got to do Ice Age 6.
04:09 [laughter]
04:10 [music]
04:18 So right now we're on our patio.
04:21 The pool, dining, our lovely seating area.
04:25 We wanted it to be large enough so we could have a ton of people out here.
04:29 Because that's our plan is to have friends and everybody just come and visit.
04:33 We have this lovely fire pit, hot tub.
04:35 And we love the little tanning shelf over there.
04:38 So you can sit in the water in the heat and also get some sun.
04:42 What's cool is this is the golf course.
04:44 So when I drive by here, you know, I text Anna.
04:47 And I say, "Hey, we're coming by."
04:50 And she says, "Okay."
04:52 And that's it.
04:53 I have two favorite parts.
04:55 I love the whole house.
04:57 But if I have to pick two favorite, one is the bunk bedroom, which I can show you later.
05:01 And the other is this little cool putting green over here.
05:03 So come on.
05:04 There's the fire pit with some strange balls in there.
05:07 Sometimes at night I just wonder if they're going to hatch.
05:10 It's not a big putting green.
05:11 It's a small one.
05:12 But that's okay.
05:13 You can still work on like a 15, 20-foot putt.
05:18 Done.
05:20 [music]
05:26 So this is our primary bedroom.
05:28 Yes, it is.
05:29 The one input I had, one of the few inputs, I want the TV closed.
05:33 I like to pop up.
05:34 So this pops up.
05:35 So that's important.
05:37 And then one of the best things is, talk about pop-ups, is you're laying in bed and you're looking at these shades.
05:43 And you're like, "Well, this is not a very inspiring shot to wake up to."
05:47 And then you push this button.
05:49 And it slowly reveals why this kind of whole thing is worth it.
05:54 It's gorgeous.
05:55 I don't use the word "gorgeous," really, but I'll make an exception.
05:59 You have to.
06:00 You have to.
06:01 Look at this.
06:02 It's gorgeous.
06:03 It's gorgeous.
06:04 I'll be having my morning coffee out there.
06:05 Yes.
06:06 I don't drink coffee.
06:07 And Ray will be golfing, so I'll be out there by myself.
06:08 Well, if it's early, I'll be stretching and then putting my eczema cream on, you know.
06:14 No, don't cut that part.
06:16 I do like this paint.
06:17 I guess you call it a painting.
06:19 Yeah, artwork.
06:20 Artwork, because if you get a look of it, I think of it as a smile.
06:25 Somebody's just smiling, right?
06:27 Oh, I like that.
06:28 You never thought of that, right?
06:29 No, I did not think of that.
06:30 And you've never shared that.
06:31 I've never shared it.
06:32 I keep a lot of things inside.
06:33 [music]
06:39 We're in the bathroom.
06:40 Primary bathroom.
06:41 All the world is here.
06:42 Look how big it is.
06:44 I know, you could really have a dance party in here, but it's beautiful.
06:48 Yeah.
06:49 Walk-in shower, I like this.
06:51 I never close the door the whole way.
06:53 It's because I'm afraid I might get stuck.
06:55 Great.
06:56 And so, bun a rope.
06:58 It's a throwback.
06:59 You've got to have that.
07:00 It's a throwback.
07:01 Come on.
07:02 So, I love all the light fixtures in this home.
07:06 Nate and his team did a great job.
07:09 These are actually new, but the vanity lights are 1970s.
07:15 Is that antique?
07:16 Is that considered antique?
07:18 I think so.
07:20 Vintage.
07:21 That means we're antique.
07:22 We're very antique.
07:23 Because we were born before that.
07:24 Yeah.
07:25 Vintage.
07:26 We'll go with vintage.
07:27 And look at these two little kids.
07:29 Stupid kids didn't know what the hell they were doing.
07:32 That's us when we were probably 23.
07:35 I was 23.
07:36 And you're saying, "What am I doing with this guy?"
07:38 And I'm just saying, "Where do you see the house you're going to get to build?"
07:42 But look at the perm, guys.
07:44 Okay.
07:45 That's antique.
07:46 Put it back.
07:47 [Laughter]
07:48 [Music]
07:52 Right now, we are in, and this is, I'm being totally serious, my favorite room in the house.
07:57 And it was inspired by when we went to Sundance for the film festival.
08:02 And the kids, they were adults, had a bunk bedroom that they were in.
08:07 And it was not your typical bunk bed.
08:09 It was big bunk beds that were built into the wall.
08:12 And I told Anna, "This house was getting built.
08:15 We must have it."
08:16 That was one of your other directions.
08:17 We have to have a bunk bedroom.
08:18 It has to be the same style.
08:19 It's young.
08:20 You know, it brings back--
08:21 Fun memories.
08:22 Yeah, the memories.
08:23 Of your bunk bed?
08:24 You didn't have bunk beds growing up.
08:26 No, but I read about them.
08:28 But when I do come here, when you're not here, the couple times I came, I sleep right here.
08:32 Because, look, you're in here.
08:34 First of all, how cozy is this?
08:36 Second, look at this here.
08:38 You put your book.
08:39 You put your medication.
08:41 Whatever you got.
08:42 You put your little drink.
08:44 Anything you need there.
08:45 What?
08:46 You have your dirty shoes on the bed.
08:48 Okay, sorry.
08:49 I'm just making a point.
08:50 Making a point.
08:51 [music]
08:56 All right, we're in the home theater.
08:58 This is another top of the list.
09:00 It's not the--
09:01 You know, bunk bed's number one.
09:02 But this is right up there.
09:03 And then we started out with a big couch on the first level.
09:06 Foot rest.
09:07 And all these reclining chairs in the back.
09:10 You know, a little place for the drinks and the whatnot.
09:13 And, you know, it's a great place.
09:15 Let's say you want to watch a movie like "Somewhere in Queens."
09:18 I don't know.
09:19 You know, I'm just throwing out there a movie that is a great little family movie.
09:24 And, you know, it's now on Hulu.
09:26 But if you wanted to watch it on here, you watch it on here.
09:29 We're a big movie family, but we're also the family that comes in and says, "Okay, what do we watch?"
09:33 And 40 minutes later we're like, "All right, I got to go to bed."
09:36 We don't watch.
09:37 We scroll and scroll and scroll.
09:39 Look at the beautiful light fixtures.
09:41 They're like little jewelry all around.
09:44 And I love these little lamps too.
09:46 I don't know what they are, but I love them all.
09:48 Here's the perfect day.
09:50 You go out, you play golf, and you have your friends over, and you guys go to the spa or whatever.
09:56 We meet, we have a great dinner.
09:58 We have what I call the perfect cozy evening.
10:00 You come in here, you watch a movie, it's so cozy, it's warm.
10:03 You kind of fall asleep.
10:04 You go in the cozy bunk bedroom, and you go to bed, and you dream of bubblegum and lollipops.
10:12 There you go.
10:13 The perfect day.
10:15 No sex.
10:16 There's no sex in there, of course.
10:26 So this space was originally going to be to watch movies and his football, whatever you call it, football day.
10:33 But then we decided to do a little home theater.
10:36 So this is really just like a lounge.
10:38 These are for the people who couldn't get into the theater.
10:40 Yeah.
10:41 They didn't make the cut.
10:42 Yes.
10:43 But this is also like video games.
10:46 We have drinks.
10:47 And this is our candy drawer.
10:50 This is my favorite type of candy, chewy candy.
10:53 Right.
10:54 This is the exact place for a movie theater.
10:56 Get your drinks in here.
10:57 Play a little shuffleboard.
10:59 You guys all know this game.
11:02 There you go.
11:03 That's actually pretty good.
11:06 And that's actually pretty good.
11:09 Anyway, obviously, I'm a natural.
11:12 Oh, not my game.
11:13 We are in right now the casita.
11:23 Yep.
11:24 Casita, which belongs to our daughter, our oldest child, the only girl, Queen Alexandra, we call her.
11:31 But she requested a place away from the smelly boys, I believe is how she put it.
11:38 When we were designing this room, I had her feedback.
11:42 She did have a lot to say.
11:43 She always has a lot to say.
11:45 She has a lot to say.
11:46 She's actually one of our kids that actually talks to us.
11:48 She talks.
11:49 The other ones are quiet.
11:50 So she also liked vintage items.
11:53 So we have this lovely Swedish lantern lamp.
11:56 The chairs are from the 1800s.
11:58 We just put new leather on them.
12:00 These lamps we loved.
12:02 I knew this was vintage.
12:03 This kind of looks like, you know, what the weapon the gladiators would swing around when they fought the other guy.
12:09 All our kids are good kids.
12:12 They are.
12:13 And, you know, Allie is a very hard worker, overachiever.
12:17 So we're happy to spend a lot of money on her.
12:21 Thanks, AD, for stopping by.
12:35 It was fun.
12:36 Now beat it.
12:37 Come back anytime.
12:38 I'm sure she's going to yell at me because I must have said something wrong.
12:41 (laughing)
12:43 you