Step Inside This Iconic Denim Founder’s “Disheveled-Sexy” Mansion

In Refinery29’s Sweet Digs, we take a look inside the sometimes small, sometimes spacious homes of millennial women and their families. This week, we tour True Religion co-founder Kym Gold’s 8,500-square foot mansion in Royal Oaks, California.

If you don’t know Kym Gold by name, then we bet you've heard of the company she founded in 2002: True Religion. Yep, Gold is the mastermind behind the denim label whose distressed-embellished dungarees ruled the beginning of the millennium. Since selling her shares in the brand to the tune of $800 million seven years ago, she’s gone domestic; staging and flipping houses while launching Style Union Home — a collection of monochrome ceramic home goods with an eclectic, hand-hewn feel. While she’s designing in a different category now, the edgy, bohemian aesthetic that was a hallmark of True Religion is still evident in her work — and specifically, in the $6.3 million home that she built four years ago in the Encino, CA enclave of Royal Oaks. “It’s really beautiful,” Gold explains. “It really feels like you’re in the countryside.”

She outfitted the home with custom furniture and organic, textured finishes; choosing materials like quartz tile, grasscloth, and even crocodile to create an oasis of comfort and inspiration. “I would consider [my home style] disheveled-sexy, eclectic, modern, but some traditional,” says Gold, alluding to the multitude of elements at play. “But [also] comfortable,” she adds. “And homey. And enlightened.”

There are a lot of spaces to explore in the sprawling home, but we were drawn to what Gold calls “her favorite room” — the cozy, high-ceilinged family room. “It’s where we hang out,” she explains. The intimate space is replete with natural materials (“I choose leather and wood so that it would be very warm,” Gold explains) and anchored with a stunning showpiece — a crystal quartz-tiled fireplace with a floor-to-ceiling facade. “I’m all about the healing properties with crystals,” the designer shares. “They just make you feel really good. And it actually makes people sitting in this room feel good. Click here to tour the rest of Gold’s eclectic, multi-faceted space.