Diane Keaton, a Life Between Cinema, Architecture, and Wine

Diane Keaton, the celebrated actress known for her roles in films like "Annie Hall" and "The Godfather," spent much of her life moving between New York and Los Angeles. Her fascination with homes began early, growing up in Santa Ana, California, where she often accompanied her father, a real estate agent, to open houses. This early exposure sparked a lifelong interest in architecture and design that would later shape her personal life as much as her career.

After moving to New York in the 1960s to pursue acting, Keaton returned to Los Angeles in the 1980s. For 15 years, she became known for buying neglected homes, renovating them, living in them briefly, and then selling them before starting the process again. She once admitted that she never really settled down for long, but found joy in the constant renewal and creativity that came with each new project.

In recent years, Keaton finally built what she called her dream home in Sullivan Canyon, Los Angeles. The house is an 8,000-square-foot structure designed to be both earthquake-resistant and fireproof. Its most striking feature is its use of burnt-red brick, a material that held special meaning for Keaton since childhood. Inspired by the fable of "The Three Little Pigs," she always imagined living in a sturdy brick house.

Keaton’s new home took three and a half years to design and build. She worked closely with architect David Takacs and designers Stephen Shadley, Cynthia Carlson, and Toben Windahl. The process was highly collaborative. Keaton used Pinterest extensively to collect ideas and share them with her team. She described herself as a "tear-sheet person," someone who gathers inspiration from images and organizes them into visual boards. This digital approach helped streamline communication during the design phase.

Once construction began, the team often created mock-ups of key features—such as the kitchen island—so Keaton could see how they would look and function in real space. She compared this process to working on a film set, where adjustments are made until everything feels right.

The finished house reflects both her love of New York’s architectural style and her appreciation for rustic materials. It features wide-plank wood floors, raw concrete slabs, exposed 18th-century brickwork, and antique furnishings. The kitchen is Keaton’s favorite room, filled with natural light from angled skylights and anchored by vintage pieces like an oversized clock and an old analog scale.

Wine has always been part of Keaton’s daily routine, but this is the first home she designed with dedicated wine storage. The kitchen includes a tall Sub-Zero wine cooler and a large vintage cabinet. The only wines she keeps at home are from her own label—a project she launched with Bruce Hunter of Shaw-Ross Importers and Napa winemaker Robert Pepi.

The Keaton Red is a blend of Zinfandel, Petite Sirah, and Syrah; The Keaton White combines Verdelho, Pinot Grigio, and Riesling. Both are intended to be served over ice in a lowball glass—Keaton’s preferred way to drink wine—and come with screwcap closures for convenience. Grapes are sourced from several California regions including Sonoma Valley, Paso Robles, Mendocino, Lake County, and Lodi. A portion of proceeds supports Keep Memory Alive, an organization focused on brain disease research—a cause close to Keaton after losing her mother to Alzheimer’s.

Each evening at dinner in her brick house, Keaton enjoyed two glasses of her own wine—always over ice—surrounded by family: her daughter Dexter, son Duke, and golden retriever Emma. For Keaton, home was not just about architecture or design; it was about creating rituals and spaces that brought comfort and pleasure.

Diane Keaton died on October 11, 2025, in Santa Monica at age 79 from bacterial pneumonia. Her family confirmed her passing. The news was met with sadness across the film industry and among fans who admired not only her work on screen but also her unique approach to life off screen—where creativity extended beyond acting into every corner of her home.