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By the time Emma Chamberlain was old enough to vote, she was already a certifiable social media phenomenon. Venerable journals of the old school—the same ones that faced an existential crisis over the emergence of new media—were tripping over themselves to shower the teenage internet superstar with breathless paeans. The New York Times described her as “the funniest person on YouTube,” someone who “changed the world of online video.” The Atlantic dubbed Chamberlain “the most talked-about teen influencer in the world.” Time magazine placed her on its 2019 list of the 25 Most Influential People on the Internet, alongside folks like rapper Lil Nas X, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.
Today, at the ripe old age of 21, Chamberlain is reveling in act two of her brilliant career: focusing on her top-rated Anything Goes podcast; building her signature Chamberlain Coffee business; promoting her brand partnerships with Louis Vuitton, Cartier, and Levi’s; and a host of other ventures that leverage the power of her extraordinary popularity. If anyone is curious about the secret to Chamberlain’s success, the answer lies in the rapturous comment threads appended to her online postings and press, where certain words—funny, authentic, candid, relatable, real—crop up time and again.
Those same qualities emerge in three-dimensional form in Chamberlain’s new Los Angeles home. Designed in collaboration with Ashley Drost and Marie Trohman of Proem Studio, the house deftly mirrors its inhabitant’s chill, laid-back vibe and intriguing sensibility, which privileges the unexpected and idiosyncratic over predictable design trophies and tired signifiers of luxury. “I work from home, so I wanted to create something completely personal and comfortable,” Chamberlain says of the endeavor. “I brought in references from many decades and design eras, and I tried to meld them into something that feels not only cohesive but new. It wasn’t about following the rules or sticking to one aesthetic. I tried to approach it all with a lightheartedness and an open mind.”
The existing house provided plenty of inspiration. Built in 1955 and clad in cedar shake shingles, the structure reads like an alien hybrid of Northern California hippie modern and Topanga Canyon Birkenstock bohemian, with a dash of Adirondack charm (think cozy fireplaces crackling beneath beamed ceilings). “It almost felt like a summer camp, so we leaned into that mood. We described it as Wet Hot American Summer meets Troop Beverly Hills. Emma said, ‘I love that idea, but I have no clue what you’re talking about,’ ” Drost recalls, laughing at the generational reference gap. “Honestly, it’s not a perfect house, and it’s never going to be. But it has tons of personality and great energy, and the imperfections only add to the narrative we developed with Emma,” Trohman says.
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The interiors’ earthy-with-a-twist ambience is buoyed by an array of artisanal, organic materials and surface treatments: expanses of raw copper; custom free-form plaster fireplace surrounds; walls and ceilings lined in cork; slabs of honey onyx; and a wall covering of braided bacbac (banana-tree bark) with a subtle metallic shimmer. “I want the materials to make a statement. I like things that feel like an art piece, like a painting, in and of themselves,” Chamberlain says of the seductive palette. As for the eclectic assemblage of furnishings, the archetypal influencer naturally looked online to flesh out her vision. “I’m a mood board type of girl. I scoured every corner on the internet, every weird, deep hole on Pinterest,” she explains. “I find inspiration for the home everywhere, the same as fashion. It’s all one in my mind.”
Groovy vintage treasures—including an Ettore Sottsass mirror and a Milo Baughman chaise longue—and a selection of work by contemporary designers on the order of Faye Toogood and Material Lust create a decorative mix elastic enough to incorporate some genuinely quirky items, like a boxy vintage television set hollowed out for a cat bed, and a series of corncob stools arrayed by the pool. One of the highlights of the home is a custom Proem Studio console of irregularly stacked glass blocks inspired by the deconstructed brick desk of the late fashion designer Willi Smith in the astonishing WilliWear office designed by SITE in the early 1980s. “If we came to Emma with a weird idea, she’d say, ‘Go for it.’ She trusted us. So we pushed ourselves to be a bit more out of the box,” Trohman recalls. “She’d also push back if there was something she wasn’t into. Emma knows what she wants, and she has a maturity beyond her years,” adds Drost.
“They didn’t just take what I sent them. They built upon it. My brain moves very fast. I’m kind of loud, and I have a lot to say. Even if my ideas were all over the place, in the end it all feels connected, one story,” Chamberlain says of the collaboration. Assessing her first full-scale exercise in home design, the young phenom remains sanguine: “I don’t really care if people don’t like it. I’m the one who lives here, so I have to love it. And I do.”
This story appears in AD’s November 2022 issue. To see Emma Chamberlain’s home in print, subscribe to AD.
