At Home With Naomi Watts

Naomi Watts opens the doors to her new house in Montauk, and talks about the meaning of home and the journey that led her there.

- Eleonore Marchand

Naomi Watts welcomes us barefoot and makeup-free, wearing light blue leggings and a matching tank top, wrapped in a chunky blue knit cardigan.

The 53-year-old actress, who has proven to be a chameleon throughout her career, with a penchant for intense and enigmatic characters, reveals an instantaneous warmth and casualness that immediately draws you into an unexpected world of normalcy.

Her house seems to exude that same warmth. Raw oak wood floors throughout offset the surrounding white walls while giving the space a natural, rustic feel. A fully renovated kitchen opens into a window-walled living room boasting a sprawling two-storey beach stone fireplace.

The graceful five-bedroom house is enriched with natural-fibre rugs, and patinaed wood and rattan furniture pieces, collected over time from antique shops, thrift stores and some of her various travels. Splashes of colour subtly interrupt the overall neutral tones: linen cushions and throws sourced from Turkey and Morocco; wall art featuring assorted paintings and prints gathered through the years; as well as a selection of family photos—an altogether carefully curated mix that unveils the more intimate side of Watts.

“Home is such a big part of your identity and self-expression,” says Watts. “I find myself investing in my home now the way I used to in clothes. I would never have dreamed of spending money on a garden in my 30s. My mum always used to say that after a certain age, you go to the garden. After your reproductive years are over, you take pride in planting trees and flowers. And she’s not wrong. You want to watch something else grow.”