Bobby Flay Taps Designers to Add Outdoor Kitchen to Home He Bought From Them

Bobby Flay’s got a lot cooking: On top of running his many restaurants across the country and growing his onscreen portfolio, the celebrity chef is also expanding his real estate holdings with the purchase of a new home located in the Hollywood Hills above the Sunset Strip, not far from the $6.5 million home he purchased in 2019. His new midcentury-style residence was originally built by Michael and Arya Martin, the married couple behind design firm OSKLO, as a home for themselves, but recently sold to Flay for $7.6 million. (Branden and Rayni Williams of Williams & Williams at The Beverly Hills Estates and Tomer Fridman of Hilton & Hyland held the listing.)

The 5,700-square-foot single-level home includes four bedrooms and five bathrooms, with each bedroom opening onto a private terrace. The free-flowing, open-plan house also features a sleek kitchen and a cozy media room, a living room outfitted with floating shelves and custom stonework, and a high-ceilinged great hall that looks onto an interior atrium containing an olive tree more than a century old. Much of the hillside home’s living spaces include glass walls looking out onto the secluded backyard, which holds a swimming pool, outdoor entertaining space, and formal gardens.

The only thing the stunning home’s new owner found missing was an outdoor kitchen—so Flay called on the Martins to add one that would complement the rest of their design and his own culinary expertise. The OSKLO founders told AD they’ve been collaborating directly with Flay and his team to design the new space based on his “exact needs.” They added, “From there we just put an added layer of design on it and a few elements of usability, like proper shading from a pergola and seating requirements.”

The new addition, which is still a work in progress, takes its inspiration from far beyond the West Coast. “Anyone who’s traveled extensively will have a new level of admiration for Bobby, as well as a true appreciation for the outdoor kitchen we are creating,” the design duo said. “It utilizes a truly extraordinary lineup of grills and ovens that most people only see abroad, let alone in an outdoor kitchen in the Hollywood Hills.”

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Rather than distract from the rest of the home, however, the Martins said that the otherworldly new design actually makes the entire abode more down-to-earth. “In modern design there’s often a lack of practicality, [but] this has brought a layer of usability to the house that is more personalized and enjoyable when entertaining,” they told AD. “That’s essentially the goal of what we do, to bring a function to a distinct style that fits someone’s lifestyle—and what a gift that it’s Mr. Flay.”

Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest

Originally published February 3, 2021, 1:18 PM