The thing isBrent couldnt tell you why.
Nate and I looked at each other and were like, What is happening?
Were broken, Brent says.
Photo: By Paolo Abate
What kept them there?
More often than not, however, it was tied to memories.
In 2021, it occurred to him that he should turn these storiesand these homesinto some kind of project.
A Jeremiah Brent-designed living room for a New York City couple, Michael and Brooke, as seen inThe Space That Keeps You.
Brent interviewed nine different subjects from nine different places.
They are constantly laughing together, Brent says.
This home makes them feel like theyll be 21 forever.
The kitchen of a renovated farmhouse in Portugal belonging to Brent’s friend, Andre. “Going to Andre’s home for the first time was unnerving; it is as rural as rural can get, an hour and a half outside the city. But walking the property, I felt right away what he loved about it: it was so grounding.”
(Now a thriving winery, it is the first and only Black-owned estate in Napa.)
The most notable project featured?Oprah Winfreys Montecito retreat.
Oprah grounds her homes in whatever makes her feel comfortable.
She doesnt like more than three colors in a roomfour, max.
She doesnt like a lot of bright things bringing attention to themselves.
She wants to feel soothed, and she wants her guests to feel the same way, he writes.
Our home on Fifth Avenue was a second chance at your first love.
It was the first home that Nate and I ever bought together.
It symbolized so much about our future and now it symbolizes so much about our past, he says.
The kitchen of a renovated farmhouse in Portugal belonging to Brents friend, Andre.
But walking the property, I felt right away what he loved about it: it was so grounding.
Brent realizes now he always regretted letting it go.
Eight years later, he finally got that call.
The home watched us survive a lot.
It watched me write our vows in that house.
It watched us dream at a kitchen island about starting a family together, he says.
Now its got a whole another set of memories.
Currently, Brent and Berkus are also busy renovating a farmhouse in Portugal.
Finally, it seems theyve found their forever space too.
