Actor Tony Hale Loves Inviting Guests Over to His Homey ‘Sit-by-the-Fire’ Abode

LifeStyleApril 17, 2020

Arrested Development actor Tony Hale and his wife, Martel, love inviting friends over to their cozy home in Los Angeles. The Southern pair—Tony’s from Tallahassee, Florida while Martel is from Anniston, Alabama— wanted their home to be a welcoming refuge for anyone who comes over. Someplace where guests can easily make themselves comfortable the minute they walk in, kick off their shoes, and maybe even stay the night in their guest house furnished with a Murphy bed.

Tony and Martel Hale wanted their home to have a cozy and comfortable vibe

Tony said that he loves to have people come and visit. He wants them to feel joy inside their home, which he says has a cozy, sit-by-the-fire vibe that makes you want to have a glass of wine and relax. Tony and Martel would likely serve up their go-to recipe from Southern Living, a one-pan rosemary-lemon chicken, along with some cheese straws to welcome their guests.

This love for entertaining and coziness is reflected in their design choices for the home. When the Emmy-winning couple—Tony won for the series Veep and Martel for makeup—moved into their 3-bedroom Studio City ranch house 5 years ago, they called in their interior designer friend, Jason Martin of Martin & Brockett, to give it a more homey feel. Martin was also the one who worked on their first house, which was located in Griffith Park.

For the design, Martel wanted it to be pretty and Southern. She also wanted to insert a touch of modernity but a bit traditional. Ultimately, she wanted the home to have a relaxed feel. Tony was also in agreement. He didn’t want to sacrifice comfort just for the interior to look good or extra cool.

And so, Martin filled the main residence and the guest house with cozy monochromatic shades, tufted furniture, and showers that would make you wish you can spend all day there.

Interior designer Jason Martin filled the space with monochromatic and neutral colors

Basically, the Hales wanted to apply a comfort-based philosophy throughout their home. A prime example of that is their master bedroom. You can roll out from the bed right onto a tufted sofa and then to overstuffed ottomans. You won’t even encounter a hard surface throughout that rolling spree.

The cozy vibe of the house is also due to the abundance of personal touches found in various areas. Lining a wall in the kitchen is a slew of Saturday Night Live costume sketches, which Martel salvaged from the trash. She got them when she was part of the show’s makeup team sometime in the late ’90s to the early ’00s.

Another personal touch is their kitchen table, which was given by Martel’s mother as a wedding gift. Photos taken by a production coordinator from Tony’s show, Arrested Development, are hung in the living room. Meanwhile, the powder room features a masterpiece by an artist recommended by Tony’s Veep co-star Julia Louis-Dreyfus.

The home is filled with personal touches in almost every room

Tony, Martel, and their daughter, Loy, love to make use of all the rooms in the house—making their family home a lived-in warm-hearted retreat.

Martin, who has been hanging out with the Hales almost weekly for the last 16 years, can attest to their unpretentious love of home and hosting. They even constantly give out open invitations to their friends whenever they come to L.A. For Tony, the design aspect of their home gives him excitement because it’s their gift to anyone who comes in their front door. He just wants them to have a genuine, restful time in his home.