Inside Ray Romano’s Desert Hideaway Designed by Nate Berkus

The first time AD100 designer Nate Berkus heard that Ray Romano wanted to hire him, it was through the comedian’s daughter. “I was like, ‘Is this real? Is this Everybody Loves Raymond and his wife, or is this a guy named Ray Romano who’s building a home in the desert?’”

It really was Ally Romano, emailing on behalf of her parents—Emmy-winning actor, writer, and producer Ray Romano and his wife of 36 years, Anna. They were building a new house in La Quinta, California, where they’d already been vacationing for over a decade after Ray, an avid golfer, visited with friends and fell in love with the desert.

The family mainly resides in Los Angeles, but after the pandemic hit, “we spent a lot more time in La Quinta,” Anna explains. With their four adult children (in addition to Ally, 33, they have twins Gregory and Matthew, 30, and Joseph, 25) around more, Anna started to wonder if they might need more bedrooms at the family vacation home. Soon enough, she and Ray found themselves purchasing a lot. South Coast Architects served as the architecture firm on the project, while the contractor was Discovery Builders, and HSA Design Group completed the landscape architecture.

Anna, a longtime fan of Berkus—who has starred on numerous TV shows, often alongside his husband, fellow AD100 designer Jeremiah Brent—asked Ally her opinion on hiring him. In a move very much exuding eldest-daughter energy, Ally got the ball rolling by sending the initial email. “Over the years, following him and seeing stuff he’s done, he just seemed like an easy person to work with,” Anna says.

“It’s a family home. We enjoy sharing it with everybody,” Anna says.

The way Berkus tells it, the feeling was mutual. “They are, as a family, among the most down-to-earth people I have ever worked with. It was apparent to me that this was about creating a beautiful and comfortable family home, not for entertaining per se. It was going to be a gathering place for all of them to relax and unwind,” he says. Berkus worked with the Romanos on every detail of the build, helping to choose everything from materials to artwork. “We laughed the whole time,” Berkus says.

Despite La Quinta’s proximity to the midcentury-modern mecca Palm Springs, Berkus wasn’t too keen on leaning into kidney-shaped-pool Americana. Instead, he looked to Italian country homes, specifically Sicilian farmhouses, which are often quite boxy and unadorned. “We showed Anna a lot of those images and she responded right away. A lot of homes in their neighborhood are quite designed. This project, from the very beginning, was about what we could subtract, and what we could do to make something simpler and more elegant,” he says.

While Anna was deeply involved with the design process, Ray had just a few requests, all of which were delivered on. “I wanted some kind of cozy feel to it. That’s all. I was very vague,” he says. “In the bedroom, I wanted a pop-up TV. That was important for me. And I fell in love with a bunk bed room that we saw at the Ritz-Carlton in Sundance that my kids stayed in. And I said, ‘I want a room like that.’”

Of course, these days, the kids aren’t staying in the bunk bed room when they visit. Two out of the four of them are engaged, and each has their own bedroom. The bunk bed room is for someone else entirely: “We’re waiting for grandkids,” Anna says. And though there are no little ones in the family just yet, the beds will be filled this April when guests arrive to celebrate the wedding of one of the Romanos’ sons. They’ll be hosting a post-wedding breakfast at the home, with the splendor of the desert mountains serving as the perfect backdrop.

Shop out the look of the house here ⤵

“I always turn to history first as inspiration, and one wouldn’t think that a new build of that square footage and magnitude near Palm Springs would have any reference to a rustic Sicilian farmhouse, but I think we were able to do that,” Nate Berkus says.

All of the landscaping on the property was done by HSA Design Group.

The entryway features a pendant light from Obsolete, artwork by Sipho Mabona, and a Willy Ballez travertine table base with a Nero Marquina marble top. The walls are painted with Portola Paints’ “Elizabeth I” hue. The floors are by Rhodium; the ceiling beams are by E&K Vintage Wood.

Art: Sipho Mabona

Ray and Anna Romano. A pendant light from Rewire Gallery hangs above a 1940s iron-and-marble table in the entryway. Further upstairs hangs a piece by Kit King.

Art: Kit King

To make the open-plan kitchen and living room feel more cozy, a bespoke IK Studios screen divides the space, creating a vignette with the Twist Custom sofa (with fabric by Métaphores), 1980s vintage coffee tables from Galerie Glustin, custom drink tables by Bananas and Hammocks, and Galassia sconces.

Berkus sourced European pieces that complemented the Sicilian farmhouse inspiration. The triangular side table is from Blend Interiors.

A 19th-century bleached oak cabinet brings in the rustic Italian farmhouse style Berkus envisioned, while the Lawson-Fenning daybed (in Romo fabric) and Art Deco dining chairs (around a 1970s fossilized limestone-and-bronze table) feel more contemporary.

The kitchen is light and bright thanks to custom white oak cabinetry (with pulls from Rocky Mountain Hardware), Calacatta Paonazzo counters and backsplash from Unique Stone Imports; stools from Blend Interiors.

Anna was unsure at first about the 1930s French Art Deco garden gates, which now separate the kitchen from the dining room, but Berkus was adamant about them. “These have to be there because not everything can feel so new. We’ve got to juxtapose [the new] with things that have character and age and patination,” he says. The ceiling lights are Josef Hoffmann for Wiener Werkstätte.

The upstairs lounge is plush, thanks to a statement sofa covered in Maharam fabric, pillows covered in fabrics from Perennials and Pierre Frey, and an ottoman covered in a Manuel Canovas fabric with Prelle trim. Behind the sofa is a shuffleboard table from Crate & Barrel.

Most of the sofas in the home are bespoke and were sourced through Twist Custom, using the measurements of a sofa that Ray loves at their primary residence in LA.

Vintage 1960s lanterns by Arlus, and a Murano glass and brass Torsado mirror by Fuga are the focal points of the powder room, which has fluted plaster walls. The vanity was made by the Davani Group.

The bedroom suite that Ray and Anna call “the casita” is where their daughter Ally stays when she’s in town. It features a Georgiana bed from Sunday Shop upholstered in Gainsborough Velvet from Schumacher and flanked by Lulu and Georgia side tables with 1960s Sputnik table lamps from F&F Vintage and Vaughan reading lights. The room boasts multiple sitting areas, including one with a 1960s French marble table with a pair of 1880s Louis XV–style wooden stools from 1stDibs. Another features a Gio Ponti tripod table with a 1960s Italian lounge chair and a Gubi lamp, while the third boasts a CB2 sofa with vintage 1970s Swedish floor lamps and a marble plinth from Rouse Home on an Afrikesh rug layered over a custom Stark carpet.

In the primary bedroom, a custom bed from ModShop upholstered in Rose Tarlow fabric, atop a Marc Phillips rug, fits snugly into an alcove alongside nightstands from Old Tech design.

Lawson-Fenning armchairs covered in Schumacher fabric add a pop of green to the primary bedroom. They sit in front of a custom-made fluted plaster cabinet from which the television rises at the push of a button. The wallpaper is by Cannon/Bullock. The art is by Lawrence Calver.

Art: Lawrence Calver

The Carrara marble tub in the primary bathroom is by From Europe to You. The side table is by Jacques Adnet and the rug is Pampa. The art is by Lawrence Calver.

Art: Lawrence Calver

This bronze vanity in the primary bathroom was custom-made by Bananas and Hammocks, while the 1940s Pacific Iron side chair was sourced at JF Chen. A 1940s vintage Italian mirror hangs on the wall. The overhead lantern is by Rose Uniacke.

In a guest bedroom, an Anthropologie chaise, bisque plaster side table from CB2, and a midcentury-modern Italian floor lamp create a relaxing reading nook. Gregorius Pineo Petit Chevron grasscloth wallpaper adds texture to the calming neutral color palette. The Nemus bed is flanked by lamps from Super Simple.

Another bathroom inside the home.

White tones define this sink space.

Ray’s favorite room in the house features built-in bunk beds with The Citizenry bedding (which can be found throughout the home) and Matouk blankets. Lumfardo’s Lubrary sconces serve as reading lights, while a CB2 daybed with striped Rejuvenation throw pillows provides an additional place to lounge. A 1950s vintage lantern hangs from the ceiling, while a 1960s brass table lamp by Anders Pehrson sourced from PRB sits atop a 19th-century English oak chest from Hatchwell Antiques.

Like any luxe home theater, the Romanos’ screening area boasts an abundance of comfy seating options where the family can kick back and enjoy a film, all made by Twist Custom. Moody lighting is provided by the 1970s Kamenicky Senov table lamps, which line the Community Manufacturing console, as well as the ceramic wall sconces by Elsa Foulon. The 1970s rattan side tables are from Chairish and the drink tables mounted on the wall are by Veesu Furniture.

“It’s a family home. We enjoy sharing it with everybody,” Anna says.

Two custom stone tables by From Europe to You anchor the outdoor space. The modernist chairs were custom-made by F&F Vintage, the sofa is custom Old Tech Design with C&C Milano fabric, and the planters are from Inner Gardens.

The first time Ray visited La Quinta, “It was just, as they say, gorgeous,” he says. “I, of course, love the golf aspect of it, but I knew Anna would like being there and the surroundings.”