Tan France is back with Architectural Digest for a new edition of 'Home at Last'. In today’s episode, the 'Queer Eye' star sets out to design the exterior of his Salt Lake City home. The vision? A traditional English Tudor-style home in the middle of Utah. Watch as Tan brings England’s historic styles stateside.
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00:00 Hello everyone, my name is Tan France. You might know me from the likes of Next In Fashion or Queer Eye,
00:04 but today I'm letting you in on my most personal project yet. The build of my dream home right here
00:10 in Salt Lake City. I'm going to take you through to the likes of my spice kitchen, my cottage,
00:15 my closet, the exterior, interior, and pretty much everything in between. You're going to love it.
00:20 Join me, won't you?
00:21 [Music]
00:35 My family were raised in a small town in a working class community and we lived in a home that had
00:43 three bedrooms for all seven of us. I shared a bedroom with my brother and my mom and dad until
00:49 I was nine. That existence I thought was going to be my existence for my entire life and that
00:56 version of England was really the only version of England I actually understood. I would see fancier
01:02 homes, nicer homes, typically white people's homes on TV and they had such a beautiful aesthetic. I
01:09 can't believe that we get to infuse some of the England that I dreamt of so, so much as a kid in
01:14 our home. [Music]
01:25 I'm Tom Fox with the Fox Group. And I'm Kara Fox. Welcome to our office.
01:29 We are helping Tan and Rob build their dream home. Yay, welcome!
01:33 Hello, hello, Kara. Hi, Tan. Tan specifically was wanting an old English tutor home that looked like
01:42 it had been around for a really, really long time. But also to include all like the modern luxuries
01:49 of today's living. Correct. Okay, I'm dying to see what we got.
01:53 [Music]
01:57 I want it to really feel like an old worldy English tutor home. It's like we've inherited
02:02 this home, like it's been passed down. One of the things that I love most about England is the tutor
02:06 architecture and the thing that I love is that it's just so old and it's been handed down. It's
02:10 got so much character. It's just a part of the landscape. Can we show them a version? So,
02:13 this image here, the beams look old. The white doesn't look like a perfect white. We want it
02:19 to feel like grandma's house. Yeah. We're grandmas. We love grandma's house. And we want it to feel
02:23 like we're at home. Perfect construction, but not for it to look like it's perfect. Yes. Sure,
02:29 absolutely. It's a tall order. These are new, made to look very old. Yeah, that does look old.
02:35 I think I prefer the darker. The darker, yeah. The imperfection of this is exactly what we want.
02:39 Is what we're going for. You like the more tumbled brick. Yeah, it looks like it's weathered.
02:41 We've designed a conservatory greenhouse. And the steel we're using because it weathers better than
02:47 the aluminum, so it's not too perfect. Aluminum will always look perfect. Steel will weather
02:51 the way that they do in England. Great. Okay. The 100-year-old conservatory.
02:54 I think we have a great design. I think there's some really... I know that. Well, I mean, there's
03:00 some unique, quirky overhangs and different things you wouldn't normally see on more of
03:05 a contemporary home, but it's not the easiest thing to do to make. You know, those houses in
03:10 the Cotswolds and London. That's why we came to you, Tom. No, no, no. And we're going to be able
03:15 to do it. It goes down to picking out the correct materials. You know, when you go through these
03:19 homes in England, it's like small ceilings, not a ton of light in the house, but yet it's the
03:24 most charming thing on the outside. So it's like, how do we give you the convenience of modern
03:29 living with light and, you know, scale, but make this look so authentic and old on the exterior?
03:35 We broke ground last fall. I got to see it dug, framing, and it was the best feeling. The fact
03:58 that I get to infuse some of the English culture that I always so desperately wanted in my home
04:04 now at my age, middle age, feels incredible. It feels like success to me. The outdoors of
04:13 this property are just as important as the indoors, but they are not two separate spaces.
04:19 Because the house is so cottagey, we want it to feel very English outside. We're going to add a
04:24 pool, which is not very English at all, but everything else about this is going to feel
04:28 like an old English estate, even though we're in Salt Lake City. And including the house,
04:34 we want to make sure that the exterior of the house also feels very typically English. Kara, Tom,
04:39 should we talk about bricks? Let's do it. This one is more of a queen-size tumbled brick. Looks a
04:45 little rough around the edges. I think it's more authentic. I want it to look like it's been knocked
04:49 about by the weather for years. We have a few reps that are looking around the country trying to find
04:54 old buildings that have this that we can restore and potentially put on your house, which would be
04:58 the most authentic look you could possibly get. And sustainable, which we always like.
05:03 And then the top of the house, you know we want to stick with the black and white English Tudor
05:07 style. Correct. And drawing also from your inspiration, Liberty London. I think trying
05:11 to make it look as authentic to that as we can. And also your current home. You love that it has
05:16 the black, it has that old plaster attached to those old black beams and wood. It really creates
05:22 a charm to a home that's really hard to find. Thank you for that. I'm going to go figure out
05:26 what we're doing with the landscaping. Well, let's go see Emily, shall we? Rob and I, neither of us
05:30 do any kind of gardening. We are not landscapers at all. But we need the landscaping to be equally
05:36 beautiful because that's the thing that finishes off the home. It doesn't matter how gorgeous
05:41 a house is from the outside. If the landscaping isn't great, it kind of negates what you've done.
05:46 And so working with Emily has been priceless. Okay, so we're doing English, English, English.
05:54 English, it is. We want this whole exterior to feel very much traditional and very particular,
05:59 which is, are you calling it a tuxedo garden? Tuxedo garden. We love a tuxedo garden. All
06:03 white, all green, nothing else. We'll be using the boxwood hedge, a laurel hedge, and then we'll be
06:08 using beech. Great. And those all three of which are very English and they should bring that feel
06:12 into the garden. Gorgeous. Is there anything native to Utah? Absolutely. I have a miscanthus
06:18 grass and the pennacedum grass. And also I have the hydrangeas, which they're drought-tolerant.
06:23 Because as much as I want it to look as English as possible, I would love to incorporate some
06:27 of our surroundings. And so to have some Utah native plants would be amazing. We are going to
06:32 plan on using these stones, the dark black limestone and the white limestone together,
06:36 six-inch diamonds. So many London homes have this at the very entrance. And I think it's gorgeous.
06:41 And any way we can incorporate just kisses of England, I will take it. We have also the dining
06:46 garden. We are literally going to have an outdoor table that we can dine at. The seating for 10.
06:50 Great. And then you'll have the fountain in the background. You'll get to hear the water. It should
06:53 be relaxing and absolutely stunning. This is a fixture from England. Yeah. And there's some
06:58 planters we'll actually incorporate as well with the cricket yard below. We're calling it the
07:02 cricket yard. Now, I want to make something very clear. My kids might end up hating cricket.
07:07 However, I was raised on cricket. I remember those moments with my uncles and my brothers
07:12 so distinctly. It was such a beautiful memory that I hope I can recreate. And so I just want
07:17 to have it available just in case I can convince them. They're probably going to want to play some
07:22 American sport that I've never heard of. But let's hope we can go for that. I can't wait to
07:26 get started on this. You've come up with the most beautiful plan. I know it's going to be gorgeous.
07:30 Thank you so much. You're so welcome. Thank you.
07:59 One of my biggest issues with the house is that we have to have a retaining wall. So we
08:06 cut into a mountain, retaining walls when necessary, large retaining walls. And I
08:10 quite honestly hate a retaining wall. I think that they just don't look nice regardless of
08:15 what material you use. And so Emily was working on sourcing some trees that would cover at least
08:22 the top layer of the retaining wall. And then at the bottom, we're going to come up with possibly
08:26 ivy. I just want to make sure that you really can't see it because as far as I'm concerned,
08:31 it's an eyesore. We're here and it's the end of May. So we're bringing in some plants to cover
08:36 the walls here at the France property. Tan really wants to have a lush amount of green in the
08:42 property. So we selected these because they're English and also because they are a little bit
08:47 less maintenance. We have a crane over here and it's going to be craning in a whole bunch of mulch,
08:52 but we have dug holes all the way across and we'll be bringing in 16 foot trees and
08:57 their emerald green arborvitaes.
08:58 There is only a couple of varieties of trees I could actually put in that would keep the
09:18 integrity of the walls. These root balls are 36 inches wide and so I need to keep them narrow
09:24 enough that they wouldn't get so wide inside of that cavity that they push the walls out,
09:29 but also actually find trees tall enough to cover the retaining walls.
09:32 I just want to make sure I get them in the ground so they're healthy and that they're
09:38 growing well. I'm trying this spring to get most of the retaining walls covered as best we can.
09:43 The last week of September, first week of October, we'll start planting the garden.
09:46 [Music]
09:58 Since I last came to the house, they've added the beams, the black beams to the house that
10:05 hopefully will be dark. For it to look classically English, traditional, I wanted it to feel
10:11 weathered, aged, not perfect wood and I also want it to feel jet black. That is a massive
10:18 concern. I've been really anxious about it. I'm most nervous about the, you know, the wood
10:25 that he wanted to look like it was authentic, a thousand years old on the exterior. Yeah. I think
10:30 I'm most nervous about that just because it's something that's brand new. Well, if you remember,
10:35 we have the special material that looks like old material that will actually last for a very long
10:41 time. We painted it and made sure it looked perfect just before we installed it. And that
10:46 beam work against the brick needs to be the right balance. It needs to not be too dark of a brick.
10:52 It needs to be not too light of a brick. Finding the right brick, we wanted them to be tumbled,
10:56 to look old and to be worn. Tan likes a particular red. And then after sourcing the right brick,
11:02 have to source the right mortar to accompany the brick. Finally, we found the perfect brick,
11:08 the perfect mortar, and we're able to put those together with the house. So I don't know,
11:12 hopefully, hopefully we'll see. We'll see if it pans out.
11:30 I'm obsessed. The beams, perfect. The brick pattern is bananas. I was worried about the
11:39 color of the brick, but it's exactly right. I was even worried about the color of the cement,
11:45 like the concrete in between, thinking it might be too light, might be too dark.
11:48 The grout, yeah.
11:49 Yeah, it's beautiful. And even down to the texture of the beams and this, like the texture on that,
11:58 the color of it, it all fits. You could have told me, "You know what, Tan, we actually just brought
12:02 a house from England and just plunked it here." I'd be like, "Yeah, no, I can see it." Even the
12:06 cracks, it gives it so much character. If this was just perfect, I'd be like, "You've got it all
12:10 wrong. It's not at all what we're looking for. It's perfect."
12:13 Just like you said, you wanted a Tudor home that looked like it had been around a little bit of
12:19 time. So it's all those details, right? So when the masonry is done, this is called a common
12:23 bond, which if you look closely, you'll have the small buttons of the brick followed by five layers
12:29 of brick. The detail is insane, yeah.
12:30 And then the common bond just starts again. Even this, the herringbone brickwork,
12:35 it's just such a nice detail to break it up. It's just those small little details, right,
12:38 that you'll appreciate. Same thing with the Tudor timbering. The size of it is done by design.
12:43 The small curvature- The curved part.
12:45 Done by design. It's perfect.
12:46 The curve was hand-templated from a ladder. From up top, right?
12:50 Three feet high. Somebody risked their life for my house.
12:51 Somebody risked their life for his house.
12:53 His name is Max. Wow.
12:55 He's a very unique individual.
12:57 I've got a feeling the house is worth it.
12:59 The big thing we have right now in the exterior of your home is-
13:01 Let me guess. This isn't quite right?
13:03 This wasn't what I was looking for?
13:05 You want it authentic. I think it's going to get a little bit cleaner than this.
13:08 Cobblestone.
13:08 So we just have a lot of landscaping. We have a lot of details.
13:10 Yeah.
13:11 Because the house is gorgeous, but landscaping will take it to the next level.
13:15 As you know, we had the heaviest, wettest winter on record.
13:19 I know.
13:20 And it was hard to just even access your home for months.
13:22 It causes so many delays in a project, especially up here in the mountains.
13:27 And so-
13:27 Project that was already, I know, ambitious.
13:30 Totally.
13:30 Already ambitious, I know.
13:31 So it's kind of nice that it's cleared out and we get to finally finish the landscaping
13:36 and head towards that finish line.
13:38 Just picture it. I could bring out a platter of food on a table.
13:42 Family sat here. Friends sat there.
13:43 And that-
13:45 That view.
13:45 It's priceless. Actually priceless. I mean that literally.
13:49 [Music]
14:09 For the past several weeks, we've been trying to get all these retaining walls in in the right spots.
14:12 [Drilling]
14:17 Covered by the right material from the brick and from different stone, all the right caps,
14:21 layered in perfectly so that the landscaping can go in seamlessly.
14:26 As we've worked through, we were able to see this landscape take form.
14:31 Right here, you'll see that we use these arborvitae to cover those big,
14:34 tall retaining walls in the back.
14:36 And then the espaliers that create more of a European feel for the front of the garden,
14:40 layering it down with some boxwoods, all of which are not a huge amount of maintenance.
14:45 We started the garden in September, and we have over a thousand plants in this garden
14:51 to be able to get in in such a short period of time when we had snow just two weeks ago.
14:55 And so we've had our challenges, but we think it's taken its place beautifully.
15:00 In the backyard, several things have changed in the last couple of weeks.
15:04 We've had to finish off the swimming pool, as well as all of the manicured landscaping,
15:08 and even more tiling and furnishings.
15:11 Also, we've put in the artificial turf around the pool.
15:14 We've put in all this really beautiful limestone.
15:17 It's a spotted limestone throughout.
15:18 It's really pretty.
15:19 It's really unique.
15:20 It's really symmetrical, and it's really balanced and even integrated with the turf.
15:24 We chose turf because in the last few years here in Salt Lake County,
15:29 they've given them restrictions on water.
15:31 You can only water two days a week.
15:32 Also, Tan and Rob won't have to have somebody come out and mow their backyard every week.
15:37 We've also installed the beautiful glass atrium space,
15:41 which will be a stunning outdoor area for Tan and Rob.
15:45 This amazing glass structure was built off-site by hand and then installed by our craftsmen.
15:50 It's on an elevated platform, so he'll be able to see entire views of the city.
15:56 A unique feature about the lot is that it sits up really high.
15:59 And when you have a high lot, particularly here in Utah's climate, it's cold.
16:05 And so what we wanted to do is have a radiant heated driveway.
16:09 By adding the heated driveway in this climate,
16:12 it just makes it so easy for Rob and Tan to go to and from to the street.
16:16 And then as you get to the top of the driveway, we just hand laid all this cobble.
16:21 [Music]
16:31 It's been two years that we've been planning this project.
16:47 It's been two years that we've been planning, working, designing this home.
16:55 It's amazing that we're here.
16:57 In the garden, we chose to add some drought tolerant plants
17:02 that will do really well with the native landscape that we are working with.
17:05 And right here we have junipers.
17:07 They do really, really well with drought tolerancy.
17:10 Here we have a hydrangea tree form.
17:11 This one's called Limelight, as well as this Carly Rose grass
17:15 and this beautiful white blossoming yarrow.
17:19 Something will always be blooming throughout the year.
17:21 There should always be something that should catch your eye as you walk through the garden.
17:24 [Music]
17:28 [Music]
17:52 There was so much that we were stressed about.
17:55 Is it going to just look like a silly modern home that we've tried to make look old?
18:00 Is the brick going to look the right color with the black and white?
18:04 Is the landscaping going to be too much or too little?
18:07 This looks like we ripped this out of England, plonked it here, and it's just been.
18:13 And that is so hard to achieve.
18:15 It really does look like it's always been here.
18:17 And I think the landscaping is the perfect complement to this house.
18:21 Emily's done the most incredible job.
18:24 Hi, love. Hi.
18:25 It looks so good. I love it so much.
18:28 Should we talk about how you brought it all to life?
18:31 Absolutely.
18:32 Okay, so talk to me about how stressful it was creating that drive,
18:36 because I know it wasn't easy.
18:37 Oh, they did such a good job.
18:39 Our team has been amazing at helping to create the contours at the driveway,
18:44 to create the special space with the cobbles and the heated driveway as well.
18:48 I'd love to take a look at the backyard.
18:51 It's magnificent.
18:53 I love this garden.
18:56 You've flanked the cottage with trees, hydrangea trees.
19:00 I love the black and white tile that mirror the black and white tile at the front.
19:03 Every detail has been so important in creating a moment.
19:08 Like, that's a moment on its own.
19:10 This is a moment on its own.
19:11 These square-shaped trees, I'm obsessed with.
19:14 They are lime trees made with bamboo to create a screen to hide the retaining walls.
19:20 But also, they are pleated, which is something that they do all over in Europe.
19:24 By pleating these trees, you create a layered effect that triples down from the top
19:29 all the way to the bottom, layering it with different textures, colors, and shapes.
19:34 And I know initially we were meant to have some big,
19:37 we had talked about big terracotta pots.
19:39 I'm so glad we didn't go with that.
19:40 It doesn't need it.
19:41 Isn't it amazing how things take shape as they move?
19:43 You're like, "Wow, this doesn't fit there.
19:45 This actually fits better."
19:46 Yeah, exactly.
19:47 As I mentioned, there are so many pockets of beauty.
19:50 I would love to get up to that greenhouse, glasshouse, and talk about that beauty.
19:57 Let's do it.
19:57 Can we?
19:58 Absolutely.
19:58 Hey, guys.
20:02 Hey.
20:02 Look at it all.
20:04 Can you believe it?
20:06 Bellstone knocked it out of the park with this.
20:08 That is gorgeous.
20:09 They did a great job.
20:10 The thought of having little dinners out here is so exciting.
20:15 I can't tell you.
20:16 My friends and family, they're going to love this spot because that views dynamite.
20:19 I mean, the reason why you bought the lot, right, is for this.
20:23 I thought that it was fun watching the two of you
20:27 combine the architecture and the landscape architecture.
20:30 It's a lot more complicated than I think people know.
20:32 It starts with a good plan and a good vision and a great design by Emily.
20:36 There's so many things that have to go together.
20:38 You have the hardscapes of the landscaping.
20:39 You have all the walls and you have all these fixed structures.
20:42 And then you have to bring in the art, right?
20:45 All the planting and whatnot.
20:46 This is just kind of the cherry on top of this incredible house.
20:50 It had to feel like an English garden because you created an English home.
20:55 If either of you were off, you failed.
20:59 Right.
20:59 Emily is from Utah.
21:01 She studied in England.
21:02 She understands, you understand English garden better than most people in this town.
21:06 If it wasn't for you, this would not have worked
21:10 because no one else could have created an English garden like this.
21:13 I'm so glad we can make it for you.
21:14 You deserve this beautiful garden.
21:16 I don't know if I deserve it, but I sure do appreciate it.
21:19 I'm sure I do appreciate it.
21:20 We're grateful to create it.
21:21 Are you happy, proud of it?
21:31 I just think it fits you guys and balances you guys so well.
21:34 The architecture resembles the owners.
21:37 Gosh, you must think we're stunning.
21:39 I mean, I know you do love symmetry.
21:42 I do.
21:42 But I think that's a really strong case for why symmetry isn't always the best option.
21:48 I understand.
21:49 You have all the small details of something that you would see in an English cottage
21:53 or an English tutor home, but it's still balanced.
21:55 Yeah, it is.
21:56 And it still works.
21:57 It sure is.
21:57 It's perfect.
21:58 I could stare at this house forever.
22:00 Same.
22:01 I hope I get to stare at this house forever.
22:02 I never want to leave.
22:04 Same.
22:04 I quit my job in show business.
22:06 I'm never leaving this house again.
22:08 Thank you.
22:10 That's literally all I can say.
22:11 Thank you so much.
22:12 You gave us…
22:13 Aw, we're so grateful.
22:15 Thank you so much.
22:16 You gave us exactly what we wanted and more.
22:20 Like, truly.
22:22 You did tell us that was going to happen.
22:23 You were like, "Yeah, the renderings are pretty, but wait until you actually see the final."
22:27 It's incredible.
22:28 Right.
22:29 Should we go in and get warm?
22:30 Let's do it.
22:31 Go.
22:36 At the end of the day, it fits them, and it's home for them.
22:40 And that gives us probably the most satisfaction.
22:43 Being able to create something for somebody where they're going to have memories,
22:46 where they're going to have traditions, where they're going to spend time with friends and family.
22:49 It doesn't get better than that for us.
22:52 And hopefully they enjoy it so much.
22:55 Knowing that they're happy makes us happy.
22:58 My kids, my eldest in particular, is an outdoor child.
23:02 Finally, we have a space that he can enjoy, where he can play outdoors.
23:07 And it doesn't feel like it's just for the kids.
23:10 It feels like a kid's space and an adult space.
23:13 So the fact that my family can spend a heck of a lot of time outside,
23:17 enjoying every one of these spaces, feels incredible.
23:20 It's not just a home.
23:22 It's so much more than that.
23:23 [Music]
23:33 The exterior of this home is now exactly what we had hoped for and more.
23:38 The home itself is gorgeous.
23:40 It's a Tudor.
23:41 The landscaping is English landscaping.
23:44 We have managed to create what feels like an old English estate in the heart of Salt Lake City.
23:52 I have no words for that.
23:54 [Music]
24:22 [Music]