Tour Aurora James’s Vibrant Laurel Canyon Cottage

Aurora James has a strong sense of intuition, and it often pays off. In July 2020, James—who counts footwear designer, activist, and investor among her myriad of titles—was gearing up to make an offer on the first house she ever toured in Los Angeles. After scouting the listing on Zillow, she scheduled a viewing and hopped on a plane from New York. It was hard to resist the sweet Laurel Canyon cottage with a towering redwood out front, tucked away off a winding wooded road. For James, it was immediately a yes, though the friend she had brought along begged her not to pull the trigger so quickly, even calling the place a “tragic disaster.” But James, as usual, trusted her instinct and bought it. “I think I always see potential in things,” she explains. “I just saw that there were some easy tweaks that could make it better, and I felt at home.”

James is the founder and creative director of shoe and accessories label Brother Vellies and the founder of the Fifteen Percent Pledge, a nonprofit calling for major retailers and corporations to commit a minimum of 15 percent of their annual purchasing power to Black-owned businesses, among other workplace-equality initiatives. After living in Brooklyn (where she still has an apartment) for years, James felt drawn to LA for more space and privacy.

A mixed media artwork by Mickalene Thomas overlooks the living room. James, wearing a Miu Miu dress, sits on a Le Bambole sectional sofa by Mario Bellini for B&B Italia. 1950s French cocktail table; 1960s Percival Lafer MP-115 Chairs; Walls painted in Farrow & Ball’s Yeabridge Green.

Hair: Sabrina Porsche for Highlight Artists. Makeup by Meghan Gnuy. Art: © 2024 Mickalene Thomas / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

Working closely with her trusted contractor, Lester Gordillo, James redesigned the three-bedroom house from top to bottom, sometimes rethinking spaces as she went, to make the result feel deeply personal. Drawing on global influences and infusing each room with artisanal pieces, she worked to create a welcoming, vibrant home filled with her favorite things. “It has been really nice to have a period of time where I could just make something that was, for sure, my own,” she says of her iterative approach. “These days more than ever, I think creating a house with the intention of satisfying your own emotional, mental, physical well-being is really important.”