House Tour: Step Inside Justin Tranter’s Hancock Park Home

This home in Hancock Park is a dream come true to songwriter Justin Tranter. “I always imagined myself living in an old Hancock Park house, and now I am,” prolific musician and songwriter Justin Tranter told Architectural Digest.

Overjoyed but not at all intimidated by the 12,000-square-foot Los Angeles home, Tranter sees the property as the ultimate symbol of their years spent dreaming big. “As someone who was dropped from four record deals, I do not take my success lightly,” they say. “I do not take it for granted at all.”

Tranter has been in the music business for nearly 20 years, first as the vocalist for the alt-rock band Semi Precious Weapons, then as a songwriter for a variety of A-list pop stars including Selena Gomez, John Legend, and Justin Bieber (for whom Tranter cowrote the diamond-certified smash “Sorry,” among other famous tracks). It’s been a winding road to the top, but now they’ve arrived where they always knew they deserved to be. “I basically was at a very lucky, grateful, magical point in my life where my business management [team] said to me, ‘If you ever wanted a crazy house, right now is probably the time to go look,’” Tranter explains. “I was like, Let me go have a fun couple days to look at some insane houses. This was the second house I walked into and I [thought], Oh, I’m moving.”

The house as Tranter saw it that day looks much like it does now. The grand structure had just recently undergone a renovation and redesign by Brian Little and Natalie Zudin, who brought the home back to its original grandeur. Built in 1914, the dwelling is classic Hancock Park, which is to say, it’s heavily detailed, opulent, and yet somehow welcoming. “The neighborhood feels kind of majestic and a little transportive,” explains Zudin, who adds of the property itself: “It’s just spectacular. The crown molding is about 18 inches deep. You could feel the richness and the history.”

Little and Zudin worked diligently on retrofitting the space inside and out—stripping much of the millwork to reveal historical banisters, doorways, and wainscoting, while redoing the windows and adjusting the landscaping. The furniture, which Tranter purchased with the home, was either vintage or custom-crafted. “We tried to make big comfy sofas where they’re deep and cozy, but instead of doing what people do today [when they] are big and boxy, we would add a beautiful arm, wood frame, or curved back,” Zudin says. “We tried to give it something that felt a little bit timeless and had some history to it.” Along with the furnishings, Zudin and Little employed muralists to hand-paint wallpaper in select areas of the home.

After moving in, Tranter wanted to make sure that their personality, and their queer identity, stood out amongst the early 20th-century dramatics. “It was about taking this gorgeous home and making it a lot more queer, both in some ways that are obvious, and also [in those that are less so], like this chandelier that’s a little more fabulous than the chandelier that was [previously] in the dining room. This gives a little more glitz,” Tranter explains of the Foundry chandelier.

Throughout the home, delightfully idiosyncratic touches were added, like the ’70s Barbra Streisand mask used as a decor accent in the TV room. (“I became a late-in-life Barbra-obsessed person,” Tranter explains.) Overall, despite the fact that they purchased the home furnished, it successfully captures their spirit—their prior pad “was a mini version of this,” they say.

One area in the home that’s a major departure stylistically is the top floor, where Tranter’s best friend, makeup designer Darian Darling, lives. While Tranter’s space is all about ’20s-inspired glamour, Darling’s space is committed to an ’80s Deco aesthetic. Patrick Nagle prints, lucite furniture, and neon lights abound, while a calming shade of mauve coats the space. Darling’s infatuation with glammed-up pink extends back prior to Barbie-core mania. “I always believe that your aesthetic should carry over from the way you dress to how your interiors look,” Darling reflects. Tranter and Darling always envisioned living together in a big glamorous house, and now that fantasy has finally come to life. “Not only is it great living with my best friend, but also I just knew [walking] into this other universe would be such a fun experience for guests,” Tranter notes.

As Tranter’s and Darling’s careers both continue to evolve, they both feel confident about how their living spaces speak to their respective places in life. Recently Tranter was working on songwriting for Peacock’s Grease: The Rise of the Pink Ladies, which they admit was “the hardest thing” they’ve ever done. Having a house that reinforces everything they’ve worked so hard to achieve was a major source of reassurance and encouragement. “I can remember one call very specifically that I was scared to make, and being in this house…I felt like, Yeah, I can say this. I’ve proven that I know what I’m doing.”