On the cover of the November 1999 issue of Vogue, supermodel Carolyn Murphy was named a “modern muse.” Today, as she turns 42, the blonde, blue-eyed beauty with an impossibly perfect figure (still!) continues her reign as one of America’s most iconic faces in fashion. Having modeled for such designers as Miuccia Prada and Oscar de la Renta since she was discovered at 15, Murphy told Vogue in the November 2012 issue that the “greatest gift” she received while working in the industry was this: “learning to be discerning about style and design, and then incorporating that into my life.” In the same story from that issue, the Estée Lauder spokeswoman opened the doors to her Los Angeles home to show proof that those lessons had truly paid off.
Murphy, who has always had a bit of a thing for interiors, transformed her 1920s Spanish Colonial house into a cozy, French country–style space, filled on the inside with 19th- and early-20th-century antiques collected during her travels through the years and punctuated on the outside with a hot tub surrounded by a lavender garden and vegetable patch. Murphy also converted the stand-alone garage on the property into an art studio. She decorated using furniture from local stores in L.A. like JF Chen and Galerie Half, pieces that include French needlepoint-backed chairs and a Malm wood-burning fireplace. It’s a little tattered, a little worn, and all very beautifully lived-in. As Murphy described it for Vogue: “Gentle urban living—that’s what I call it.” That effortlessness, after all, is what made her a modern muse to begin with.
Above, step inside Murphy’s inviting, rustic hideaway in L.A.