In 2020 amid a pandemic escape from New York City, Brad Walsh hit the road toward Cleveland with two friends. The singer, songwriter, producer and visual artist — with global notoriety for fashion photography in Vogue and InStyle, plus music remixes for Netflix — didn’t expect to stay long. But his travel companions fell in love with Cleveland, says the Euclid native. “And the longer you stay near family, the more your mother is like, ‘Look for a home around here.’”
So he did, and he landed on a 1948 relic a few blocks from Chardon Square in Geauga County with 3,300 square feet of canvas for drawing, painting, decorating — and fixing. Upon entering, Walsh immediately recognized potential for plenty of passion projects.
His hand-drawn doodles span walls, while other original paintings were created specifically for designated spaces. Every room is a personal expression.
Living in his house is perpetual spring, Walsh says, in a region where winter through April is “black, white and gray.” There’s nothing subtle about his style.
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Walsh has always curated, layered and emboldened his environment. At age 5, he would constantly rearrange his room, his mom reminded him. He collected posters of favorite music groups like many high schoolers.
“I would save money and frame everything I put on the walls,” he says. “I’ve always been into colors and making things work on a visual level.”
These days, his home is a maximalist masterpiece four years in the making. “Without realizing it, I was building my own little paradise,” he says.
Walsh assigned each room a purpose that speaks to his lifestyle, art, music and fashion. One bedroom is a master suite and another a guest quarter. The other three are happy spaces that suit the way he wants to spend time at home: a library lined with hand-built shelves, a dressing room with a vanity and his music studio. Initially, Walsh converted the basement into a nightclub complete with lasers, fog and stellar sound. Now, it’s a movie theater.
“I’m a big homebody,” says Walsh. “If I’m going to be home most of the time, why not have spaces for my artistic pursuits?”
Walsh is naturally inclined to picture a scene, a mood, a moment. He meshed his visual sensibilities with inspiration from the Netflix series Ratched, where actress Sharon Stone’s character lives in one of America’s most photographed houses, “Dawnridge,” a 1949 estate built by Tony and Elizabeth Duquette.
“It’s lots of color, textures, malachite, prints, layers of art, furniture and fabrics,” Walsh describes of the jade-chartreuse mint colorway in his sitting room. Though it may look like he spent a fortune, he’s just a thrifty shopper with high-end taste. He nabbed the sitting room’s pair of white spindle chairs for $25 each. They’re by the luxe F. Schumacher and Co., and Walsh knew it. The resale shop didn’t. “Those easily should have sold for $600 to $800 a piece,” he says.
Textures throughout the space create a sensory experience. For instance, rather than paint or wallcovering for the room’s facade, Walsh employed grass-green ceiling-to-floor drapes as a background for artwork. One of his originals is positioned above a palm-frond bench.
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His Victorian-era dressing room holds space for a vintage vanity and his haul of stand-out garments — not everyday wear. Cue emerald peel-and-stick wallpaper peppered with English ivy and peach notes, plus a mustard sofa by The Novogratz. It punctuates the space, offering function by folding out into a bed for auxiliary guest space.
“I’ll sit in front of the vanity and pretend like I’m Gloria Swanson for a half-hour,” quips Walsh of the famed Sunset Boulevard star.
“I’ve had this kitchen in my mind for a long time,” he says.
The checkered floor and original cabinets are elements he maintained while trading out hardware. He went mint for the walls and tore out some cabinet doors for open shelving to showcase his daintiest dishes. Classic white subway tile is a clean backdrop for pops of teal by way of a teapot, toaster, KitchenAid mixer and microwave.
With a four-year project of pouring artistic vision into every corner of his home, Walsh had originally planned on keeping it for the long haul. But plans change. He expects to list it for sale in early summer.
“Hopefully whoever moves here next will appreciate the character and artistic choices,” he says.
How will it feel to leave a labor of love?
“I’m out of projects,” he says, relating that he’ll continue the art of expressing himself through interior design wherever he lands next.
Walsh points out, “Home is wherever I make it.”
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