In the center of Los Angeles, Ashley Park was hoping for a place to get away from it all. For her first major home renovation, Park looked to Tulum resorts for inspiration, wanting a space different from her prior, bustling New York apartments.
«I wanted this home to be my calm space that felt like a breath of fresh air, with serenity and warmth,» she tells ELLE Decor; «for it to feel like it was near the ocean, even if it was in the middle of a city.»
The actress, who plays Mindy Chen on Emily in Paris, turned to designer Mandy Cheng, of Mandy Cheng Design, to create this escape. Cheng notes, «[Park is] the busiest person, so she really emphasized wanting a place that she could go, feel safe, and to feel calm and relaxed and Zen.»
«I love that the front piano room, dining room, kitchen space, and the living room is all one giant space,» says Park, when asked about her favorite room. «Is it cheating to say those are all my favorite rooms?»
Park was drawn to the home initially because of its «light, the openness, the intimate but airy feeling, and the outdoor space,» she says. «As someone who lived in an apartment for over a decade in NYC, I realized how much I treasured a personal and private interaction with the outdoors.»
Cheng agreed that the home’s open layout and indoor-outdoor feel are part of what makes the space feel like «an upscale boutique resort.» The landscape, too, she says, «is beautiful and lush,» with fruit and olive trees and a backyard swimming pool.
«It’s really meant to be a calming sanctuary, a place for her to be happy,” Cheng says.
The designer elevated the two bedroom home with custom built-ins in nearly every room (including a particularly clever Murphy bed), and Roman clay covering the walls in all of the main spaces. It wasn’t a full gut renovation because Park wanted to get into the house quickly—the pair began the project in early 2023 and Park was moved in before the end of the year.
Though she’s back in Europe shooting the next season of Emily in Paris, she’s dreaming of home.
«Although I’m so grateful to be filming in Europe this summer,» Park says, «the home that Mandy helped me create is one that I truly miss every day.»
Inside Ashley Park’s Los Angeles Home
Annie Goldsmith is the senior editor and digital lead at ELLE Decor, where she covers design, culture, style, and trends. She previously held positions at The Information, covering technology and culture, and Town & Country, writing about news, entertainment, and fashion. Her work has also appeared in Vogue, Rolling Stone, and the SF Standard.
