I wanted it to be a place to indulge my senses and restore me – the Flamingo Estate co-founder on creating his oasis-like LA home, and the life-affirming rituals that bring him joy

Hidden by a lush orchard and dense gardens, sitting high atop the hills of Los Angeles, Richard Christiansen and Aaron Harvey have transformed a 1940s Spanish revival house and extensive grounds into Flamingo Estate as a hub for hundreds of collaborators, farmers, growers, herbalists, makers, artists, chefs, even Pamela Anderson, who has recently launched a new pickle line with the estate, Pamela's Pickles.

Richard's philosophy in life is simple: wake up early, drink water, sip wine, take care of one another and the earth, eat well, eat everything, move your body, calm down, be grateful. Here he shares his daily rituals.

Richard Christiansen's rituals for positive vibes and a life meaningfully lived

How do you start the day?

I start with a cup of coffee as the sun rises above the garden, and the hummingbirds dart around. As I walk to the bathhouse at the bottom of the garden, I feel the sun on my skin and relish the blue sky before taking a long bath. The three-story bathhouse was inspired by the ancient Persian Alamut fortresses, where soldiers bathed and it features a poured concrete tub oriented toward sunrise, and blue and white stained-glass windows that open out to the birdsong and views of the neighbourhood below.

Afterwards, I love a breakfast of eggs laid by our estate chickens (they eat lots of watermelon and greens, so the bright orange yolks are the colour of a harvest moon), fried and drizzled with our olive oil.

Has bathing always been an important ritual to you?

Growing up, family conversations happened around the bathtub as our parents took turns to soak, and my twin brother and I listened to the tales of their day. Now, I find a bath – scrubbing clean with our estate soaps – is really good for lowering blood pressure, increasing heart rate, activating the immune system, burning calories, reducing tension, soothing anxiety, and lifting dreary spirits.

How did you find your Los Angeles home and transform it into what it is today?

I found the property when I visited the previous owner about installing beehives on his estate. It has been largely untouched for 60 years, previously home variously to a goat farm, vineyard, adult film studio, political action headquarters, pirate radio station and a pleasure garden. I felt like an archaeologist, unearthing a treasure buried under rubble, with a dusty, broken house engulfed by knee high grasses in need of love.

Out went the remnants of its past lives, and in came a kaleidoscope of colour and texture, designed in collaboration with StudioKO. I didn’t want beige or open-plan, I wanted to see the garden from every room, and I wanted it to be a place to indulge my senses and restore me while I worked to restore it.

How does your home make you feel now?

Someone once described it as a ‘happy jamboree of global references’, with its tactile mix of hand poured Venetian terrazzo (inspired by an old hotel in Rome), mottled Iranian marble, glazed Moroccan tiles, velvet against rough wood walls, plush rugs made in collaboration with Beni next to mirror, wicker and cork.

The house is drenched intentionally in colour to enliven our moods as we walk through it. The colour palette has been drawn from the outside: lavender, lemon, plum, strawberry, rose, hot tomato, mango, and shades of green inspired by the oleander, coyote sage, eucalyptus, avocado and prickly pear leaves in the garden.

How important is your outdoor space?

I wanted the gardens to be life-giving, transportive, full of raw, verdant life. Landscape designer Arnaud Casaus helped us to design it as a Noah’s Ark for plants – there are hundreds of drought-resistant varietals from around the world – with whispers of colour everywhere.

It was my dream to create a tropical oasis around the pool, a cactus garden on the hill, an orchard filled with figs, apples, peaches, apricots (to make my grandmother’s jam), olives and plums, and a citrus grove where our cocker spaniels Freeway and Daylesford can run. Among the Californian natives, like sage and poppies, there are frangipani, banksia, grevillea and golden wattle trees as a nod to my Australian home.

What has nature taught you?

For a long time, I felt lost and stressed but my life changed when I started looking around me and began paying attention to the seasons, the power of scent, the dawn and dusk, the song of insects and birds and the hum of the bees. I realised that there was more to life – life is meant to be lived, not just endured.

Do you prefer to go out or stay at home?

I’d rather stay home with my goats and watch them nibble on everything or make my grandmother’s lasagne on a Friday night for Harvey. I put on some music, open a bottle of red wine, slowly simmer down the ingredients for the tomato sauce (the longer it cooks, the better it gets), and use lots of butter, parmesan and ricotta. When it’s ready, I plate up a large slice, put it on a little rattan tray with a napkin and two forks, and we share it while watching a movie.

Do you have any other dining rituals?

I take great delight in setting the table. Nothing fancy – I light a candle, put some flowers in a vase, and only use nice napkins, proper plates (speckled green and white, collected on my travels in Puglia, Marrakech, and Kyoto), cutlery, and mismatched crystal glasses. Harvey sits facing the window; I sit with my back to the sink so I can lean back to turn the oven off or grab a spoon. These are scared memories for me, souvenirs of a happy life overflowing with moments of sensory joy. These are the things that I believe will flash before my eyes before I die.

Do you like to entertain?

Not to brag, but no one throws a party like we do! The Flamingo Estate team shakes cocktails in tuxedos; we have singers and brass bands performing live; hundreds of candles light paths through the gardens; and in between the fortune tellers and synchronised swimmers in the pool, there’s not a plastic cup or sensible shoe in sight.

Where are you happiest?

In the kitchen, where I find bliss and warmth in a place where we have laughed and cried with friends and one another, savouring its cacophony of smells: salty water boiling for Harvey’s Sunday night instant pick-me-up pasta, chickens roasting, coffee brewing, bread baking. The business we started together from our kitchen is fundamentally about taste and the pleasure it brings. Harvey is the butter on my bread, the pepper to my salt.

Is keeping fit important to you?

I go the gym and swim every day, but gardening and walking up and down the 69 steps from the house to the Goat Shed, back and forth all day long, keeps me in shape. The Goat Shed is our apothecary-like laboratory (with walls lined with custom de Gournay wallpaper featuring the estate’s animals and plants) – all our formulas and relationship with plants furthers and deepens here.

What is your philosophy for life?

It’s important to be grateful for being able to do something I love every day. My former university lecturer Dr Kerry Howells believes if you start the day with gratitude, you set the tone for the day ahead. Personal grown thrives in commitment – I realised that I just had to choose something I believe in and see where it takes me. With Flamingo, I allowed myself the freedom to play and to be curious rather than successful. Now I’m not afraid to try, fall over, fail, and get back up again.

Re-create Richard Christiansen's rituals with these mindful buys

This interview is part of the My Ritual series from Homes & Gardens, which explores the ways that leading tastemakers find calm and connection in their busy lives. Part of our wellbeing and sanctuary content, you'll find plenty of tips and nuggets of wisdom as well as product recommendations to help you create your own daily wellness rituals, for a healthy body and calm mind.