Per Jenna Ortega, Tim Burton’s House Is a Wacky Wonderland
Photo: Mario Wurzburger/Getty Images
Next month, 36 years after the movie became a cult classic, a second installment of the Tim Burton–directed 1988 horror-comedy Beetlejuice (starring Jenna Ortega) will hit theaters. The highly anticipated follow-up, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, will see returning cast members like Winona Ryder and Michael Keaton grace the screen alongside newcomer Ortega, who has quickly established herself as a macabre film and TV mainstay, with gothic-tinged works like Netflix’s Wednesday and Miller’s Girl lining her growing resume. Ortega is Vanity Fair’s September cover star, and although she’s remained tight-lipped about the upcoming film’s details, she does offer a window into Burton’s home decor style—and it’s every bit as bizarre as fans would hope/expect.
Burton is known for his dark, zany comedies, and it seems as if that aesthetic extends to the visionary’s decorating taste. British actor Helena Bonham Carter, Burton’s former partner and the mother of his two children, once said, “He’s got slime balls and dead Oompa-Loompas lying around, and skeletons and weird alien lights,” of the filmmaker’s home. Ortega confirmed his penchant for ghoulish decor, telling VF “there’s a jar of eyeballs in the bathroom.” Although the Sleepy Hollow director has never formally revealed images of his abodes to the public, we’ve been painted a pretty clear picture of what to expect from some of the supporting cast members of his life.
The Alice in Wonderland throne
Burton’s 2010 adaptation of the beloved Lewis Carroll children’s novel was a box office hit, becoming the second-highest grossing film of that year. According to Ortega, the director chose to take the red-and-gold heart-shaped seat home with him—giving it a spot of prominence, at that: “You walk in and it’s the huge throne from Alice in Wonderland,” Ortega told VF of Burton’s California abode.
The rumored tunnel
Burton and Bonham Carter ended their almost 15-year relationship in 2014. In 2010, after rumors swirled about their unconventional living arrangement, Bonham Carter admitted that the couple lived in separate, abutting homes in London’s Belsize Park neighborhood while raising their two children. Two years later, the couple filed an application to build a two-story extension and link the two units via a walkway.
“We just have two houses knocked together because mine was too small. We see as much of each other as any couple, but our relationship is enhanced by knowing we have our personal space to retreat to,” she told UK’s Radio Times. “They say Tim and I are a mad couple with subterranean tunnels between our adjoining houses, and that our children live down the road with another couple.”
The dinosaurs
In Burton’s 1990 classic Edward Scissorhands, the titular main character carves topiary dinosaurs. In real life, the director keeps life-size dinos at his home in the English countryside. A photograph captured by one of Burton’s writers two years ago revealed the director’s “dinosaur garden” at his Oxfordshire residence, with about 12 pieces of the hand-painted prehistoric creatures, complete with a 25-foot Tyrannosaurus rex.
Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
More Great Celebrity Style Stories From AD
Not a subscriber? Join AD for print and digital access now.
Browse the AD PRO Directory to find an AD-approved design expert for your next project.