From Hollywood Regency glamour to Scandinavian design, Lily Collins’ homes reveal as much about her personal style as her wardrobe does.
The Emily in Paris actor and mother to baby Tove has quietly built an international property portfolio that mirrors her transatlantic life — rooted in English heritage, shaped by Californian modernism and softened by a growing love of Nordic design.
Whether restoring a mid-century architectural gem in Los Angeles, buying side-by-side townhouses in Copenhagen or reminiscing about the English countryside homes of her childhood, Collins approaches property with the same considered eye she brings to fashion. Let’s explore her journey.
A transatlantic beginning
The daughter of musician Phil Collins and American antiques shop owner Jill Tavelman, Lily split her childhood between the UK and Los Angeles before settling in California with her mother after her parents separated.
She often refers to the calmness of her childhood homes in England. Her first was The Old Croft, an eight-bedroom home in Shalford, Guildford, where she lived with her parents. The family then moved to Lakers Lodge, a Grade II-listed farmhouse in the quiet village of Loxwood, West Sussex. Surrounded by green space and lakes, it is a quintessentially English country home and is currently valued at around £1.3 million.
She may not own a pied-à-terre in London just yet, but Collins is a big fan of the capital and spends time in the city with family and friends.
Speaking to the BBCshe said: “Emily would definitely go to Portobello Road and buy some antiques, obviously visit Big Ben and toy shop Hamleys. She would also definitely try to get into Buckingham Palace.”
When Collins is spending downtime in the capital, she is often found west, shopping for one-of-a-kind homeware on Portobello Road or strolling through Shepherd’s Bush market, where she bought a gift for her husband, director Charlie McDowell, from Special Rider Books & Records. Her other favourite neighbourhoods are Queen’s Park and Hampstead Heath.
Could a 2026 London property purchase be on the cards?
Charlie McDowell and Lily Collins at The Devil Wears Prada: The Musical premiere in London
Dave Benett
Two years after Collins and McDowell tied the knot in 2021 and honeymooned in Scandinavia, The Copenhagen Post reported that the pair purchased a five-bedroom English-style terraced house in the Østerbr neighbourhood. Collins has expressed her love for Denmark’s capital, saying that she is drawn to its mix of colour, brightness and calm. The 1,453-square-foot home — previously owned by Danish film director Pernille Fischer Christensen and her husband, writer Kim Fupz Aakeson — is believed to have cost Collins and her husband in the region of £1.1 million.
According to multiple Danish publications, they also bought the home next door a few months later for around £1 million. Though there are certain restrictions for American citizens buying property in Denmark, they were able to make the purchases through their company, Case Study Copenhagen, and rent the homes through the private entity.
Early in her career, Collins owned a West Hollywood apartment in the Sierra Towers complex. The 1,672-square-foot high-rise flat, filled with natural light and city views from floor-to-ceiling windows, had been in her family for years before she sold it in 2018 after renting it out for around £9,725. It was initially listed at approximately £2.3 million.
Collins also invested in a grand Hollywood Regency mansion in Beverly Hills, which she bought in 2016 for approximately £9.3 million and sold in 2021 for around £10.3 million. The 5,000-square-foot property with four bedrooms, a sunken tennis court and classic period details, was her home during the early years of her engagement to McDowell and through the pandemic lockdowns.
Perhaps the most iconic pile in Collins’s American portfolio was her mid-century house in Pasadena. Purchased from actor Kristen Wiig for £3.1 million in 2021, the 1947 modernist property became her main residence with McDowell. The light-filled home — with expansive glass walls, minimalist lines and integration with the landscape — was thoughtfully updated with a mid-century California meets Scandinavian interior.
The couple enlisted Los Angeles–based interior designer Emily Farnham for the revamp. They expanded the house’s footprint by roughly 600-square-feet, added a fourth bedroom, and restored the concrete floors that were part of the original structure before selling it in 2025 for more than £4.6 million.
Whether donning Saint Laurent silhouettes or embracing pared-back Scandinavian designers such as Stine Goya and Cecilie Bahnsen, Collins’s fashion marries classic structure with a sense of comfort. Her interior design choices follow suit.
Her homes tend to blend clean, architectural lines and open spaces with tactile warmth. She likes earthy tones and Scandinavian influences with calm neutrals and lots of texture. In much the same way she fashions her own wardrobe — mixing heritage staples with modern statements — Collins layers vintage and contemporary pieces. Think woven rugs by Marta Maas-Fjetterström, offset by unexpected accents such as a vintage 20th Century Fox sign gifted by her antiques-collector mother.
Her shelves are filled with curated collections of children’s books, first-edition Steinbeck novels and fashion monographs that echo her lifelong love of clothes and design. Sculptural furniture by icons such as Hans Wegner and Finn Juhl — chosen by her husband — introduce design statements.
While Collins has not yet revealed a London home of her own, it is easy to imagine how her interiors might translate to the capital’s stock of Georgian and Victorian homes.