Next Stop: Wonderland

From skulls to butterflies, matadors to bison, the native culture of Mexican designer couple Daniela Villegas and Sami Hayek is reflected in their colorful house in the canyon

“By putting elements of the natural world into jewelry, you can take the power of Mother Nature with you, wherever you go,” says DANIELA VILLEGAS, who sketches her one-of-a-kind pieces from home.

Watching over the sun-filled living room is an enormous bison head, which is the couple’s latest acquisition.

Sourced from Peru’s Sacred Valley, the quilted wall hanging in the breakfast nook is made of various leftover fabrics, including cotton, wool, alpaca, fleece, and velvet.

Entering the midcentury modern home of Daniela Villegas and Sami Hayek is like walking into a sublime, real-life cabinet of curiosities. A nearly life-size portrait of Mexican matador Xavier Ocampo, taken by photographer Denise De La Rue, greets visitors near the entry. A green ceramic pig sits in the fireplace. A pair of antique kaleidoscopic lamps—passed down from Villegas’ great-great-grandfather—adorn the living room, which is filled with Hayek-designed furniture and vibrant pillows and rugs. There’s also an ever-growing taxidermy collection: An enormous bison head—the size of a Mini Cooper—gazes out from its perch above the mantel. “He died of natural causes,” promises Villegas. The cozy house, tucked into a hamlet off Benedict Canyon, is the couple’s sanctuary, and they believe in the energy of their possessions. “Objects hold intention,” explains Hayek.

Both natives of Mexico, they are at the forefront of L.A.’s design scene: Villegas, with her beguiling, evolution-inspired eponymous jewelry line (carried in boutiques worldwide, including Just One Eye in Los Angeles), and Hayek, whose impressive portfolio encompasses modern and sustainable furniture lines, residential and commercial interior design, home accessories, and a concept jet for Bentley. Married for eight years, they are a study in how creative partnerships succeed—each supporting the other’s passion and drive. “Sami encourages me to travel and explore,” says Villegas, whose passport shows entry into Tahiti, Bhutan, Uruguay, Paris and Japan in the past year alone. They are also an irrefutably fashionable pair—with a particular affinity for Gucci dresses, sweaters and fur-lined slides, a sartorial nod to family ties. (Hayek’s sister, actor Salma Hayek Pinault, is married to François-Henri Pinault, the CEO of Kering, which owns the fashion house.)

An 18-karat-gold rhino beetle ring with emerald and tsavorites, designed by Villegas.

The jewelry designer wearing an array of her unique pieces.

The glass-top dining room table— one of SAMI HAYEK’s signature pieces—has Mexican flower motifs hand-carved into its barro negro base.

In the living room, Hayek reclines with the couple’s Maltipoo, Tito, on the walnut-and-leather multi-position chaise that he designed.

A framed beetle, which represents strength, power, structure and community.

Predicated on a study of indigenous species around the globe, Villegas’ glittering one-of-a-kind pieces celebrate nature and its inhabitants—from birds to fish to bugs. “I love insects,” she says. “I feel very connected to them.” Designing from home, she divines inspiration from the hundreds of glass-framed specimens that decorate her colorful Josef Frank floral-covered walls. When creating, Villegas injects an element of whimsy. “I like to make them look friendly so sometimes I make their eyes extra big or give them a smile.” Her collections are as beautiful as they are symbolic. Bejeweled beetles have been a constant since she debuted her brand 10 years ago: Made with 18-karat gold, sapphires, rubies, emeralds and diamonds, they represent strength, power, structure and community.

Other prominent totems, which appear in rings, necklaces, earrings, tiaras and even vape pen holders, include skeletons (believed to harness energy for reinvention and adaptation), bees (symbolizing sisterhood), flamingos (representing grace and balance) and porcupines (whose quills were used to adorn war shirts, quivers and other goods by Native Americans, and are believed to ward off negativity). Villegas chose worms, which symbolize growth and evolution, as the inspiration for the wedding bands she and Hayek wear. Hers is made with rose gold and white diamonds, his with black gold (rhodium) and black diamonds. “When the two rings are stacked on top of each other, they form an infinity sign,” she explains. Like all of Villegas’ creations, everything means something. “There’s a story behind every piece.”

Villegas’ office, which is covered in JOSEF FRANK floral wallpaper, is packed with worldly trinkets, books and myriad objets d’art from which she draws inspiration.

The guest bathroom’s walls are clad in a palm tree-motif wallpaper that the couple sourced from London.

Hayek leans against his 1984 BMW 633CSi.

The ceramic hand sculpture in the front yard is from AMERICAN RAG CIE. in Los Angeles.

A pair of antique mushroom-shaped lamps, under a photograph by ZACK WHITFORD, belonged to Villegas’ great-great-grandfather.

Villegas gifted the vintage tiger pitcher to Hayek, whose nickname, “El Tigre,” is a nod to his protective, loyal and masculine characteristics.

Narrative is also a factor in Hayek’s work. “I started designing because I was interested in how objects and spaces affect and manipulate feelings and behavior,” he says. “I have a passion for materials and for the dialogue that is created when you pair them.” By way of example, he points to a side table in his living room, made from a barro negro (black clay) base with a bronze tabletop. This clay, indigenous to Oaxaca, Mexico, is one of his signature mediums. When he launched his hugely successful Espacio furniture collection at New York City’s International Contemporary Furniture Fair, in 2011, his barro negro pieces, which showcased the craftsmanship of Oaxaca’s artisans, became objects of obsession in the design world.

A Hayek-designed walnut-and-steel bookshelf houses petite vases from Paris and an antique Murano glass box, another family heirloom.

Photography by Rainer Hosch

Written by Punch Hutton