My Favorite Room: Chad Rogers has a special connection to his vanilla onyx fireplace
My Favorite Room: Chad Rogers
Although Chad Rogers’ living room is his favorite space in his Beverly Hills condo, renovating it was no walk in the park.
The real-estate mogul and Million Dollar Listing alum had planned as the centerpiece of the room a fireplace wrapped entirely in slabs of luminous vanilla onyx — until one of them broke.
“I thought I was going to have to wait six or seven months to get a slab from the same quarry in Italy. I was stressed out of my mind,” said Rogers, 41. “I almost went on antidepressants because of this fireplace.”
Fortunately, he was able to find a new slab locally within a week, and the final design exceeded his expectations.
The space features a carefully curated selection of objects, including a silver and blue mid-century clock from his father and a Hermes blanket from his mother, both housewarming gifts.
“My parents and I are really close, and it means a lot to me that they wanted to put their energy in my house,” Rogers said.
Why is this your favorite room?
Because I spend all of my time in here. When I wake up, I go right to the fireplace — I don’t even care if it’s 100 degrees outside. I turn the fireplace on, my AC is at 65 degrees, I get my iced Americano, check my emails and everything I need to do to regenerate myself for the day. Then I’m ready to go.
Tell me about this amazing window screen.
I really wanted to have the bi-folding pocket doors so that when they’re open, I can bring the outside in. I just didn’t want to bring the bugs in at the same time. So I found this great motorized screen by Phantom Screens, which was so easy to install and you don’t even know that it’s down because it’s sheer.
Did you work with a designer?
I worked with the incredible designers Jensen Daggett and Brandi Middagh. Once I bought the home in 2010, we were off to the races. It didn’t look anything like the way it looks right now. It was very Mediterranean, which is what my building is, but it felt very heavy. I’m all about the minimal vibe, but it also has a lot of texture which gives it personality.
You have some lovely succulents in here.
I love succulents. I don’t know how to take care of them for the life of me, so I have somebody that comes to my home once a week and she makes love to them, in a way. She talks to them, she takes a sponge and drips water on them and keeps them happy.
What are some of your favorite collectibles in here?
The crystals are so dear to me. Some of them I’ve had for 20 years. I’m about energy, and each one has a different personality. They speak their own language. I feel that the crystal finds you, you don’t find the crystal.
The lighting in here is really lovely.
Lighting is a really big deal. A lot of times when people get LED lights put into their homes they tend to be so bright and feel like a surgery room. No one’s operating in my home. I went with custom-made LED lights that are not too white and not too golden — they’re right in the middle.
Favorite memory in here?
I sold the highest-price house of my whole 20-year real-estate career. It closed escrow right where I’m sitting. If this fireplace could talk, I’m sure it definitely would not shut its mouth because it saw me jumping around like I won the jackpot in Vegas. And no one was here to witness that excitement but this fireplace.
