Inside NBA Sensation Jimmy Butler’s Southern California Oasis
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On the basketball court, Miami Heat superstar Jimmy Butler has carved a 14-year career by gliding through space with the melodic flow of an orchestra. When he dribbles, the basketball doesn’t seem to leave his hand so much as become an extension of it. But if anyone believes that professional athletes focus on little more than their capacity to win under pressure, they have not met Butler. While he is undoubtedly an NBA sensation, the six-time All-Star has an expansive personality that rivals his athletic prowess. And Butler’s new home outside San Diego perhaps best exemplifies this fact.
“I grew up with a whole bunch of nothing, so I’ve dreamed of having a home for myself, for my family, and I put everything into this house,” Butler, a native of Tomball, Texas, says. “This is for my kids. I do this to inspire—to show that if you want something you can go get it.”
That fervent mentality, of knowing exactly what he wants and running through walls to achieve it, can be sensed throughout the Spanish Revival residence he purchased in early 2020. When he first joined the NBA, everyone told him he should live in LA during the offseason, but ever prescient, he worried that lifestyle would hurt his young career. “I want space, I want quiet,” says Butler, who is often up before sunrise to get in the first workout. (LA is roughly just a two-hour drive away whenever the bright lights beckon.)
Coming out of high school, Butler was not a highly recruited player. After college, he was the final first-round pick in the 2011 NBA draft (he can list each player selected before him). Butler is living testimony to the belief that “resilience requires happiness,” as he sagely puts it. And happiness, for Butler, has come from expanding his horizons. He lives with both eyes wide open, which has allowed him to discover interests that have changed his life in profound ways. His tally of passions is as long as he is tall (Butler stands a towering six feet seven): coffee, fine wine, international travel, dominoes, tennis, sand volleyball, soccer, and of course, basketball, all of which have dedicated places all over the abode. (Butler, in fact, loves playing dominoes so much that the game—which his father used to teach him to count in childhood—has two allocated spaces on the property.)
Although Butler now spends the offseason here, the space still needs to allow for mental and physical discipline, while also providing opportunities for relaxing with family and friends. “I can’t be serious all day, I need balance. This home has it all, which is why I call it a resort.” Yet, according to Butler, the residence wasn’t always such a retreat. “When I first saw it, the house was in no way how I wanted to live.” But he knew it had potential. Butler just had to find the right person to realize his vision.
The NBA sensation's home combines a traditional color palette with unique focal points to highlight the athlete’s swagger. Get the look of his tasteful San Diego abode with this editor-approved curation.
That person turned out to be AD100 designer Tiffany Brooks. “Before I ever met Jimmy, I was his fan back when he played for the Chicago Bulls,” says Brooks, who lives just north of the Windy City. After being introduced through a mutual acquaintance, Brooks was surprised to learn she’d met all three of the superstar’s requirements for an interior designer. “To this day [he] still hasn’t told me what those requirements were,” Brooks says with a laugh. Suffice to say, her talented eye was among Butler’s trio of demands. “Jimmy has so many facets; he’s like a diamond. Every time I sit with him, I learn something new about his life and about what he loves,” Brooks explains of the design process, which she started in late 2020. The designer leaned into all that Butler absorbed from his travels, using that worldliness as her cardinal design direction. That meant overhauling the interiors and opening the space to fit Jimmy’s aesthetics. “With his traditional palette, he wanted a lot of natural light and an open feel to mimic the plazas of Europe,” says Brooks, who worked with Island Architects and Flynn Development to realize the renovation. When it came to bringing what Brooks calls Jimmy’s “swagger” to life, she felt it necessary to create statement areas, like “exclamation points.” One such space is the entrance, where visitors immediately get a sense of Butler’s distinct character from the art and custom furniture on display.
Similarly defining moments—including his very own coffee shop—are found around the house. For several years, Butler has cultivated a passion for coffee. So when COVID halted everyday life and the NBA formed an isolated bubble to continue league play, Butler began selling coffee to fellow players. While teammates saw him as a talented barista, Butler saw a business opportunity. In October 2021, BIGFACE, which is slang for a $100 bill, opened for business with Butler as the owner. For him, BIGFACE was born not only from a love of coffee, but the opportunities for meaningful conversation that coffee provides. While the first BIGFACE location is, in fact, here in Butler’s home, the company, which also sells apparel and coffee gear, is set to open its first public-facing store in Miami’s Design District this month.
Currently, Butler is starring in a new Netflix series called Starting 5, where—along with LeBron James and three other renowned NBA stars—he’ll provide a behind-the-scenes look at the 2023-24 season. The show is greater proof that, at 35 years old, Butler has become a totem of success. Nevertheless, it’s the future that he’s most excited about—and for good reasons. He has plans to incorporate a music studio, a speakeasy-style bar, a more extensive workout facility, and an in-home barbershop. And work is nearly complete on an indoor, regulation-size basketball court dedicated to his late father. “I continually grow, I continually learn,” Butler reflects. “And I want to leave room for that in this house.”
Jimmy Butler’s house is on the cover of AD’s November issue. Never miss a story when you subscribe to AD.
1/16The front door. Landscape design by Rick Dewhirst.
2/16In another view of the living room, bespoke kidney-shaped sofas surround an RH cocktail table. Bentley antique brass and opal glass chandelier by Arteriors; Eastern Accents Tenenbaum Ball decorative pillows; Delos hand-knotted area rug.
Art: KAWS3/16In the living room, custom sofas surround an RH cocktail table. Antique brass and opal glass chandelier by Arteriors; gesso and brass bookshelf by Mr. Brown London; Delos hand-knotted area rug.
4/16Sunpan’s Carter stools pull up to the kitchen’s Tahiti-quartzite-topped island. Chandeliers by Thomas O’Brien for Visual Comfort & Co.
Art: Stephen Sumney/Left Bank Art5/16Bernhardt’s Miles Swivel Chairs dressed in Schumacher’s Shock Wave fabric in Platinum & Jet form a seating area outside the home theater. Sputnik Modern Chandelier by Zentique from Wayfair; Pyrite Cocktail Table by Bernhardt; Feather Marble rug by The Rug Company; artwork by Stephen Sumney.
6/16An armchair by Vanguard Furniture sits in the family room. Artwork by Bobby Berk; concrete accent tables by Four Hands; Delos hand-knotted custom rug.
Art: Aadil Abedi7/16A Keira chandelier by Thomas O’Brien for Visual Comfort & Co. hangs above custom Constance Posse Furniture dining chairs and table. The chairs are slipcovered in Lee Jofa’s Graffito linen. Framed panels of AHA-4 Serenity wall covering by Area Environments center the two facing walls. Avant Graphite rug by Kelly Wearstler for The Rug Company.
8/16Cole & Son’s Nuvolette wallpaper wraps the wine cellar’s powder room. A custom Hammerton Studio light by Tiffany Brooks hangs over a Calacatta Monet marble sink.
9/16The playroom features a climbing wall by Project Playroom, cream bouclé-covered swivel chair and ottoman by Eichholtz, and Dash hand-tufted wool rug by AllModern from Wayfair. Guyed 4 Light chandelier by Sean Lavin for Visual Comfort & Co.; custom Roman shades of a Schumacher fabric.
10/16A Kohler tub and Brizo fittings stand in a niche clad in Artistic Tile’s Billie Ombré mosaic in Butler’s daughter’s bath. Global Views Hands stool; flooring of Porcelanosa Calacatta tile in Green Silk.
Art: Bobby Berk/Leftbank Art11/16Butler’s son’s room is outfitted in wool felt giraffes and elephants by RH Baby & Child, and bedding by Pottery Barn Kids dresses the Constance Posse Furniture custom bed. Rivets wall covering by Phillip Jeffries; Avenir chandelier by Sean Lavin for Visual Comfort & Co.; Visayan rug by Stark; artwork by Bobby Berk.
12/16A graphic Thibaut wall covering envelops a guest room. Mercer canopy bed and Annella chest by Mr. Brown London; table lamp from Wayfair; Corbett BWN burlwood desk with Shaw BCML chair by Worlds Away.
13/16The primary bedroom’s custom bed, nightstand, and floating shelves were all crafted by Flynn Development. The walls are wrapped in Thibaut’s Journey wall covering in Taupe.
14/16The floors and walls of the primary bath are clad in Porcelanosa’s Calacatta tile in Gold Silk. Built in cabinets by Flynn Development; Greenwich sconces by Thomas O’Brien for Visual Comfort & Co.; NuStory Sana hand-knotted rug from Wayfair.
15/16Bernhardt’s Ford chairs and an RH Marbella Weathered Teak Daybed are shaded in the poolside cabana. At right, Noir Gigi rattan chairs and a Lee Industries Outdoor Oleander Apartment Sofa surround a Kavis ceramic coffee table from Wayfair.
