You Need to See Inside This Retro Camper Where Rumer Willis's Dog Lives
Usually being in the doghouse is far from a good thing, but, if it’s a celebrity dog house like the ones seen in Quibi’s new show Barkitecture, we will gladly accept our fate. House Beautiful spoke to the co-hosts of the show, Bachelorette alumTyler Cameron and Brooklyn designer Delia Kenza, for the scoop on the exceptional dog houses created for this show, and it’s certainly not a *ruff* life for these lucky dogs. The celebrity clients on Barkitecture include Kyle Richards, Lisa Vanderpump, Wilmer Valderrama, Teyana Taylor, Rumer Willis, Joel McHale, Lilly Singh, and Norbert the dog. Barkitecture premieres on Quibi today, May 11th.
Cameron—who is a general contractor—and Kenza built the houses in sections in a warehouse, then put together at the homes of the dog owners, following a "client" meeting.
"When we would meet with the owner, we would get a vibe from them and what they were looking for," shares Cameron. "We would try and pair it with the house so it looks like it fit where it belonged."
As for Kenza, she looked to the dogs themselves as the most important clients: "Meeting the dogs is the best part and an essential part of the process," she says. "Each dog has its own personality, and we get to experience that."
The designer incorporated this in the same way she would for a human client: "We designed spaces that reflected the dog’s story," Kenza explains. "For example, if they were adopted from another country we put in pieces that reminded them of home. If the dogs have other doggie siblings, we built a place for all to enjoy. The majority of the furniture pieces used were based on the size of the dog. Many items were custom designed for the house and made by local artisans. Other items were purchased and retrofitted to work, like a cutting board became a coffee table — for the little dogs, we had to get very creative!”
Over the course of the show, the two became more adept at building for canine clients: “Initially, when we first were building the homes, we were literally building the homes as if we were building a house," laughs Cameron. "We were using all the heavy lumber that you would use for a house, and then we realized after our first one how hard it was to take this into pieces and bring it into a house because it was so heavy. So, then we started using lighter wood and we also used a lot of materials that were weatherproof and weather sustainable. The first couple of houses were pretty much a big learning curve for us, but once we got that rolling, it was on.”
For Cameron, Barkitecture was a creative way to exert his longtime love of construction. "Construction’s always been a thing I’ve been around and grown up in — my dad’s a general contractor, my mom was in real estate, so it’s always been something that’s been important to me and something that I’ve enjoyed doing," he tells House Beatuiful. "I love that it’s tangible, there’s a start, there’s a finish. I get my hands on it, get dirty. I can’t just sit at a desk.
Kenza also says she “loved every minute of being a part of Barkitecture."
"First, it was nice to make people and their pets happy, second I loved working with my co-host, and third, the crew was amazing," she says.
The feeling was mutual: “Working with Delia Kenza was incredible," says Cameron. "I am her biggest fan and she’s so talented as an interior designer, [she’s] just amazing. So, learning from her, working with her was just so much fun."
Check out some of the celebrity dog houses below!
Kyle Richards
"This dog house is probably as big as my first New York City apartment," jokes Cameron of the structure he created for Kyle Richards. Richards’s five dogs live in a smaller version of her Encino, California estate (the former home of Smokey Robinson), both of which are white Colonial homes with black shutters and Juliet balconies. "We literally took [Kyle Richards’] house, shrunk it, and made it into a dog house," says Cameron. The five dogs that get to live in this pawsome home are Khloe (a Yorkipoo), Bambi (a Golden Retriever), River (a German Shepherd), Romeo (a Pomeranian), and Storm (a mix of a Leonberger, a St. Bernard, and a Newfoundland). And, just like Richards’s front yard, her dog house also has a fountain as part of the landscaping.
Teyana Taylor
The interior design of Teyana Taylor’s dog house might just serve as decor inspiration for our own homes — a checkerboard floor complete with fluffy pink and orange bean bag chairs, a rainbow chandelier, a fire hydrant, and custom portraits of her dogs, Petunia and Basquait. Enter this stylish dog house through an enchanting arched entryway, take a seat in either bean bag chair situated in front of a wooden dog food bowl table, and bon(e) appétit!
Wilmer Valderrama
As they say, a dog is a man’s best friend, so it only makes sense that the dog house created for Wilmer Valderrama’s dog, Marrok, is big enough to fit several humans, naturally. This giant, futuristic dog house includes multiple rectangular windows, a human-sized door, a wooden ramp, a distinctly slanted angle, and bubble windows that make it look like this dog house could double as a spectacular spaceship.
Rumer Willis
Rumer Willis’s dog, Dolores, lives in what is basically a wooden airstream trailer, complete with a variety of other dog-sized items — Adirondack chairs, a barbeque grill, and a campfire, all of which are appropriately positioned on a strip of turf, to really establish the proper vibe. Inside this dog house, you’ll see custom shelves, a fake mini cactus, a desk chair, and a Western rug. We’re all for living the Bohemian lifestyle if it means we can live like Dolores Willis!
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