The basketball star creates a personal paradise that accommodates his many interests

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On the basketball court, Miami Heat superstar Jimmy Butler has carved a 14-year career by gliding through space with the melodic flow of an orchestra. When he dribbles, the basketball doesn’t seem to leave his hand so much as become an extension of it. But if anyone believes that professional athletes focus on little more than their capacity to win under pressure, they have not met Butler. While he is undoubtedly an NBA sensation, the six-time All-Star has an expansive personality that rivals his athletic prowess. And Butler’s new home outside San Diego perhaps best exemplifies this fact.

“I grew up with a whole bunch of nothing, so I’ve dreamed of having a home for myself, for my family, and I put everything into this house,” Butler, a native of Tomball, Texas, says. “This is for my kids. I do this to inspire—to show that if you want something you can go get it.”

Jimmy Butler, wearing an Elder Statesman sweater, Bode shorts, Cherry Los Angeles socks, and Loewe shoes, perches on the counter of his home café for BIGFACE, a coffee and lifestyle brand he founded in 2021. Elliot pendants by Suzanne Kasler for Visual Comfort & Co.; Lee Industries leather counter stools; BIGFACE mug and custom La Marzocco Leva espresso machine. Fashion styling by Mecca Cox.

That fervent mentality, of knowing exactly what he wants and running through walls to achieve it, can be sensed throughout the Spanish Revival residence he purchased in early 2020. When he first joined the NBA, everyone told him he should live in LA during the offseason, but ever prescient, he worried that lifestyle would hurt his young career. “I want space, I want quiet,” says Butler, who is often up before sunrise to get in the first workout. (LA is roughly just a two-hour drive away whenever the bright lights beckon.)

Coming out of high school, Butler was not a highly recruited player. After college, he was the final first-round pick in the 2011 NBA draft (he can list each player selected before him). Butler is living testimony to the belief that “resilience requires happiness,” as he sagely puts it. And happiness, for Butler, has come from expanding his horizons. He lives with both eyes wide open, which has allowed him to discover interests that have changed his life in profound ways. His tally of passions is as long as he is tall (Butler stands a towering six feet seven): coffee, fine wine, international travel, dominoes, tennis, sand volleyball, soccer, and of course, basketball, all of which have dedicated places all over the abode. (Butler, in fact, loves playing dominoes so much that the game—which his father used to teach him to count in childhood—has two allocated spaces on the property.)

A custom Hammerton Studio pendant light by Tiffany Brooks crowns a sunny dining area. RH ivory leather dining chairs surround a Resistance dining table by Noir. Walls here and throughout in Farrow & Ball’s Strong White.

Although Butler now spends the offseason here, the space still needs to allow for mental and physical discipline, while also providing opportunities for relaxing with family and friends. “I can’t be serious all day, I need balance. This home has it all, which is why I call it a resort.” Yet, according to Butler, the residence wasn’t always such a retreat. “When I first saw it, the house was in no way how I wanted to live.” But he knew it had potential. Butler just had to find the right person to realize his vision.
Shop Jimmy Butler’s house:

Shop Jimmy Butler’s Open Doors

The NBA sensation’s home combines a traditional color palette with unique focal points to highlight the athlete’s swagger. Get the look of his tasteful San Diego abode with this editor-approved curation.

Every time I sit with him, I learn something new about his life and about what he loves,” Brooks explains of the design process, which she started in late 2020. The designer leaned into all that Butler absorbed from his travels, using that worldliness as her cardinal design direction. That meant overhauling the interiors and opening the space to fit Jimmy’s aesthetics. “With his traditional palette, he wanted a lot of natural light and an open feel to mimic the plazas of Europe,” says Brooks, who worked with Island Architects and Flynn Development to realize the renovation. When it came to bringing what Brooks calls Jimmy’s “swagger” to life, she felt it necessary to create statement areas, like “exclamation points.” One such space is the entrance, where visitors immediately get a sense of Butler’s distinct character from the art and custom furniture on display.

A painting by Keith Jackson and a custom chair by Constance Posse Furniture in Maxwell Fabrics’s Caldera print make a statement in the foyer. Julie dining table by CFC; Delos hand-knotted area rug.

 Art: Keith Jackson

“Jimmy has so many facets; he’s like a diamond. Every time I sit with him, I learn something new about his life and about what he loves.” – designer Tiffany Brooks

Similarly defining moments—including his very own coffee shop—are found around the house. For several years, Butler has cultivated a passion for coffee. So when COVID halted everyday life and the NBA formed an isolated bubble to continue league play, Butler began selling coffee to fellow players. While teammates saw him as a talented barista, Butler saw a business opportunity. In October 2021, BIGFACE, which is slang for a $100 bill, opened for business with Butler as the owner. For him, BIGFACE was born not only from a love of coffee, but the opportunities for meaningful conversation that coffee provides. While the first BIGFACE location is, in fact, here in Butler’s home, the company, which also sells apparel and coffee gear, is set to open its first public-facing store in Miami’s Design District this month.

Butler, wearing Bode swim trunks, on the volleyball court he added to the property.

Currently, Butler is starring in a new Netflix series called Starting 5, where—along with LeBron James and three other renowned NBA stars—he’ll provide a behind-the-scenes look at the 2023-24 season. The show is greater proof that, at 35 years old, Butler has become a totem of success. Nevertheless, it’s the future that he’s most excited about—and for good reasons. He has plans to incorporate a music studio, a speakeasy-style bar, a more extensive workout facility, and an in-home barbershop. And work is nearly complete on an indoor, regulation-size basketball court dedicated to his late father. “I continually grow, I continually learn,” Butler reflects. “And I want to leave room for that in this house.”

Jimmy Butler’s house is on the cover of AD’s November issue.