“Breaking Bad” actor Aaron Paul’s idea of the perfect family getaway is simple: a log-clad, cabin style home in rural Idaho, where he’s from.
The five-bedroom house has been revealed to Architectural Digest magazine, and was designed by the Pearson Design Group of Bozeman, Montana, with interiors curated by Los Angeles-based Jake Arnold, whose client list includes Rashida Jones and Julianne Hough.
Located in a village on the shores of a pristine glacial lake, Paul’s new pad is close to where his grandparents owned an A-frame house, and at two and a half hours away from the nearest airport in Boise, it’s also well disconnected from the actor’s bustling LA life.
“it takes me right back to my childhood – lying in the back seat and staring up at the trees, covered in snow,” he told AD.
After an extensive search, Paul and his wife Lauren (along with their two-year-old daughter) settled on a five-acre site bordered on two sides by the banks of a river, and set on to build a wilderness home from scratch, true to the style but influenced by a lighter, European feeling.
There is reclaimed Wisconsin barnwood throughout the house, including the raftered ceilings of the living room, which is dominated by a 13-ton hearthstone covered in Montana moss. “I never thought I’d get so excited about rocks. I found myself daydreaming about rocks,” said Paul about the colossal stone.
While the general style adheres more or less strictly to the guidelines of a frontier cabin, there is an escape in the form of the downstairs lounge, fashioned after an old-school London club on Pall Mall, a perfect place to sip on mezcal from Dos Hombres, the spirits brand that Paul founded with “Breaking Bad” co-star Bryan Cranston.
Paul calls the house “Camp Pretty Bird,” a name inspired by the nicknames he uses for his wife.
“I poured my heart and soul into this thing, as did Jake Arnold and Pearson,” Paul said. “I was pulling my hair out a lot during the process, but living in a place that you built is a dream come true.”