Los Angeles Travel Guide

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The interior designer Jeremiah Brent may split his time between coasts, but California remains his home turf. Born and raised in the state, he launched his design firm in Los Angeles and still returns once or twice a month for work. “Our firm is bi-coastal, so it’s a regular part of my rhythm,” says Brent, who appears on Netflix’s Queer Eye and is the author of The Space That Keeps You: When Home Becomes a Love Story.

Brent now lives in New York with his family—his husband, fellow designer Nate Berkus, and their two children, Poppy and Oskar—but Los Angeles still shapes the cadence of his life. Most trips are built around work, but the city’s pull is personal, too. “Most of my close friends live there, so even when the trips are work-driven, there’s always time carved out for them,” he says.

That mix of business and familiarity informs the way he moves through the city. Here, Brent shares the design-insider addresses he returns to again and again, along with a few places where he manages to slip into something more like downtime.

Something Old

“Big Daddy’s Antiques is our go-to for outdoor pieces,” says Brent, who frequents the brick-clad shop, near Culver City, for substantial items like stone fountains, oversized vessels, and architectural fragments. “Everything here feels collected rather than sourced.”

To get lost in a seemingly endless amount of furniture, lighting, and art, Brent heads to the Pasadena Antique Center. “We’ve found a little bit of everything there,” he says. “It’s less about a singular piece and more about the sense of discovery.”

Over in Venice, The Mart Collective carries every type of antique imaginable, and holds a special place in Brent’s heart. “Two of my favorite photographs were taken here—one of Poppy as a baby, looking through the aisles of antiques, and another in that same vignette five years later,” he says. It’s become a family tradition to wander the Mart Collective.”

Something New

In the Hollywood Hills, The Future Perfect is a by-appointment home/design gallery hybrid of founder David Alhadeff “that is always celebrating emerging voices who are the best at their craft. It’s always whimsical yet always refined.”

And in the Melrose Arts District, Galerie Half, which carries a curated range of European midcentury items, has “a restraint that I’ve always loved,” he says. “It’s where we go to look for something that quietly anchors a room.”

Indoor-Outdoor

The Golden State’s influence is evident in his residential projects, which tend to prioritize natural light and a neutral palette inspired by nature. That also means plenty of plants. “We style most of our shoots internally, so The Original Los Angeles Flower Market is a regular stop,” he says. There’s nothing like leaving with a trunk full of exaggerated branches and delicate florals.”

For vintage vases and vessels, Brent turns to Sheila Bouttier at Galerie Provenance, a by-appointment-only showroom for pieces “that feel primitive yet refined,” he says. “It’s one of those places you return to because the edit is so consistent.”

To Stay

“The Sunset Tower Hotel is an institution,” says Brent, of the Art Deco high rise on Sunset Boulevard, completed in 1931. “There’s a timelessness to it — the environment, the service, the history. It always feels like stepping into a different era of Los Angeles.” He also spends much of his working hours further west, noting that “the Santa Monica Proper hotel has become a second home for our team. You can trust anything Kelly Wearstler touches.”

And when it comes to dining, “it’s hard to compete with the setting at Nobu Malibu,” he says. “You’re there for the ocean views as much as the sushi. It’s one of those quintessential LA experiences that still delivers.”

And on Abbot Kinney Boulevard in Venice, Brent has “never seen a place make a name for itself so quickly as RVR. It’s just perfect,” he says of the restaurant, led by chef and restaurateur Travis Lett, and serves a modern take on California-inspired Japanese cuisine.

For Inspiration

“Although Maxfield is a retail destination, it is treated more like an art installation,” says Brent, of the Melrose Avenue fashion and accessories boutique founded in 1969 by Tommy Perse (father of L.A. designer James Perse). Maxfield carries a range of luxury brands, from Bottega Veneta and Dries Van Noten to Tom Ford. “The merchandising is perfectly intentional, and everything is considered. I’ve been a regular for longer than I’d like to admit.”

Then there’s the Getty Villa in Pacific Palisades, which spotlights Greek and Roman antiquities amidst a setting modeled after a grand Italian country house, overlooking the ocean: “The architecture, the gardens, the way everything is framed — it’s a really special place.”