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La Jolla Playhouse artistic director Christopher Ashley cultivates big dreams in a small space
Sitting in the living room of his La Jolla cottage, Christopher Ashley casually reminisces about the moment he walked into the 1,500-square-foot space and, without looking at another dwelling, decided it would be his home.
“If you love it, you often know immediately,” says the artistic director of La Jolla Playhouse, whose works include the Broadway productions of Xanadu, All Shook Up and The Rocky Horror Show. “And if you don’t, you have to listen to that.”
Ashley is a recent transplant from New York City, where entertaining guests meant producing and directing Broadway shows for up to 1,700 people. There, he lived in an 800-square-foot apartment, marked by dark walls, heavy furniture and a view of the World Trade Center.
His new space is coastal, double the size and a far different design. Just three houses shy of an ocean panorama, the cottage was previously the home of La Jolla Music Society’s president and artistic director, Christopher Beach. Then, it possessed an old-world style inspired by the Renaissance period. Today, with a look more suited to Ashley, the interiors are modern and clean-lined, outfitted with furnishings and art by local designer Ken Higgins. He and Higgins share a fondness for striking shapes and pieces with interesting, clean lines.
"I feel as though if you're working with graphic shapes, you can move them around and they always work together," says Higgins, who placed pieces from his furniture collection, Afton Grove, in the cottage's interior and exterior spaces. "Chris' house is really much more like a collage than anything else. It's constantly evolving, which is really fun."
Higgins achieved the serenity Ashley desired by implementing a minimalist approach accented by a monochromatic color scheme of blue. He designed the sofa and had it made with abaca, a strong material commonly found in Southeast Asia, which he likes for its ability to "withstand the elements and be cleaned up very easily."
For a man accustomed to entertaining big audiences, the outdoor space was just as important to Ashley. Higgins kept that in mind when designing the appropriate Afton Grove table and chairs. Strewn white lights divide the pool from an expanse of land next to a rustic wooden structure.
“It’s a sauna,” Ashley says. “It seems more suited to Scandinavia than San Diego, but in the winter it’s nice.” It adds yet another layer of interest to a space that, albeit small, is filled with character.
“Five years from now, someone will buy this, tear it down and build a McMansion,” the director says. “This is a last stolen moment for this kind of space.”
Today Ashley is preparing for an intimate gathering of La Jolla Playhouse board members, catered by Jai, the theater’s new Wolfgang Puck restaurant. “This is my first shot at less than 250 people,” he says.
Like his home’s ability to metamorphose from cozy dwelling to chic party site, Ashley has embraced the change his La Jolla life necessitates. While he is admittedly a controlling perfectionist on stage, at home he is relaxed and mellow.
“I’ve never lived where it isn’t constantly changing,” he says. “It’s about change and the process for me.”
Part of this transformation is embracing the idea of community—building relationships with the people and places that surround him—and opening his home to new friends. In fact, before leaving New York, a friend urged him to firmly plant his roots in his new community.
“This little house is my first stab at that,” Ashley says as he joins his new friends for a poolside cocktail.
About the Designer
Furniture designer Ken Higgins is principal of Afton Grove, a line of indoor and outdoor furniture and resin accessories sold directly to showrooms, architects and interior designers. His work incompasses more than the creation of sofas and chairs, as he often provides clients with spatial recommendations and even custom artwork such as the paintings hanging in Christopher Ashley's cottage. For more on Higgins' work, visit aftongrove.com.
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