Dita Von Teese’s Quirky Los Angeles Home is Every Aspiring Diva’s Dream

Even if you’re not a fan of burlesque, or perhaps don’t even know for sure what that is, you’ll still know about Dita Von Teese. The 47-year-old star is credited with bringing burlesque back into the limelight, which also landed her the moniker of Queen of Burlesque.

But that’s not all she does. Von Teese (Heather Renée Sweet, by her real name) is also a former model, a costume designer, singer, actress, entrepreneur, bestselling book author, and last but not least, an avid vintage and antiques collector.

Architectural Digest was lucky enough to take a sneak peek into Dita Von Teese’s ultra-glamorous Los Angeles home recently. The diva keeps her personal life off limits, so the video tour offers a rare glimpse of her private sanctuary.

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that Von Teese’s home is dramatically different from other Hollywood celebrity homes. The burlesque star moved into her 1927-built Tudor Revival home five years ago, and has spent most of this time finessing it to match her unique taste.

Firstly, she made sure she had complete privacy and security, and built a fortress-style wall adorned with spiky vegetation to keep unwanted visitors at bay. Then, she decided to turn a boring pool house into a veritable, English-style pub that she’s filled with quirky memorabilia and souvenirs.

When Dita Von Teese first moved into her 3,200-square-foot four-bedroom home, all interior walls were white, which was naturally way too boring for her unique personality.

She tells Architectural Digest that she’s ‘a maximalist, not a minimalist,’ having filled every room and nook in the house with one-of-a-kind antique pieces.

The living room is like a small-scale taxidermy museum, painted in vivid colors and filled to the brink with unique pieces. Some she’s found at flea markets, some were gifted from friends, and some she’s carried with her for years, taking them with her whenever she’s moved house.

The blue couch in the living room, which Von Teese admits is very uncomfortable, is a reproduction of a French couch bought at her favorite Dallas store, called Deco-Dence. The Chinese rug is an Etsy find, while the working phonograph was bought at the Rose Bowl Flea Market.

There’s a lot of taxidermy in Dita Von Teese’s house, but it’s all antique. She tells the folks at ArchDigest that she doesn’t condone hunting or hanging hunting trophies, but that she does enjoy collecting antique taxidermy – some of her most prized possessions are a couple of heart-shaped glass bowls containing rare taxidermy birds, that she keeps above her fireplace.

The kitchen is equally stunning, painted in dark green and copper throughout. Von Teese says she wanted a ‘sexy, womanly, grown-up kitchen.’ She made the switch to green after having a much-photographed, all-pink kitchen in her previous home.

The dining room is, again, a stunner, colored in red and blue, in a nod to the bottle design of one of her favorite perfumes, Lou Lou by Cacharel. The dining room table and chairs were another flea market find, to which she added her own touches like custom fabrics inspired by those seen in a French hotel.

Dita Von Teese also has her own version of a man cave, a red library room that also serves as a TV room – though the TV is hidden behind a piece of pin-up art, as to not disturb the vintage vibe of the room.

This is where she chills out, perhaps flipping through some vintage men’s magazines and sipping cocktails from martini glasses in her unique Art Deco bar.

The bedroom was designed in what Von Teese calls her own version of minimalism, painted all gray and silver. The bed was designed after a Mae West bed with mirrors, while the room was inspired by Jean Harlow’s bedroom in Dinner at Eight.

This is where we also catch up with her cat Alistair, who was sleeping peacefully on the bed before ArchDigest reporters woke him up.

Von Teese is the proud owner of an authentic 1930s vanity that she keeps in her bedroom, but she also turned a former closet into a hairdressing room. She likes to do her own hair, and this is probably our favorite room in the house, adorned with small antiques and a beautiful, light pink vanity bench with tassels.

Last but certainly not least, Von Teese turned a former children’s room into a giant walk-in closet, where she keeps her shoe, hat, and brooch collections. She’s good friends with iconic shoe designer Christian Louboutin, so she’s got a lot – and we mean a lot – of red-soled shoes.

Outside, Von Teese also enjoys a quiet backyard surrounded by lush vegetation, as well as a large swimming pool and plenty of reupholstered, vintage patio furniture. She also designed her own ‘Snow White garden’ featuring tall pine trees and rolling baby tears moss.

Dita Von Teese is definitely not done decorating her home. She’s always adding things, for instance, she’s still got a remaining white wall that she’s planning to have covered in feathers. Whether you’re an antique or taxidermy fan or not, you can’t deny that Von Teese’s lovely English Tudor home is a cozy, stylish retreat fit for an elegant and classy diva.