The white-brick residence, nominally English-country style, was built in 1941 for members of the Von der Ahe family, founders of the Vons supermarket chain. A deeply religious clan, the Von der Ahes are said to have hosted Pope John Paul II at the house when he visited L.A. in 1987. It’s unclear what His Holiness would have made of Delevingne’s vagina tunnel, a secret passageway concealed behind a low, painted panel, which leads from the living room to an adjacent bunk room. One enters the so-called rebirth canal through a vulval soft sculpture (think Judy Chicago on acid) and then proceeds to crawl out of a round washing-machine door suggestive of a rectum.

The pontiff also might have done a double take, if not a full-on spit take, at the sight of Delevingne’s attic party bunker, replete with a mirrored ceiling, a tasseled swing, serpentine soft seating inspired by the Courrèges logo, wrist and ankle restraints, and, of course, the obligatory stripper pole. “Cara is a creature of pure delight. This place is her ultimate expression of home—a Cara-style fantasy filled with references to the many things that turn her on,” Bini explains, emphasizing the joy he found in indulging the madcap desires of his free-spirited client and her circle of international glamour-pusses.

Yet despite all the blingy accoutrements—the Chanel surfboard, the David Bowie memorial bathroom, the Chemical X bull’s-eye sculpture made of thousands of Ecstasy pills suspended in acrylic—Delevingne insists that her house is more than simply a louche theme park. “It still feels like a home. There’s a proper dining room and living room and a great kitchen. But it’s also a kind of journey. The deeper in you go, the more treasures you discover,” she says.

One of the most fascinating aspects of the renovation is the fact that Delevingne and Bini kept much of the previous owner’s furniture, an unlikely prospect given the complexion of the erstwhile decor. “There was a goth-glam quality to all of it—lots of black fabrics and finishes and dark, moody spaces,” Bini recalls. But his client was not deterred. New upholstery treatments, bespoke details, fresh paint, and a few strategic architectural additions (like the living room’s new coffered ceiling) completely transformed the spirit of both the furnishings and the rooms they inhabit. “It felt wasteful to toss everything out. Sometimes sustainability just means working with what you have,” Delevingne notes. “The big crystal chandelier in the living room wasn’t exactly my thing, so we put a disco ball in the middle of it and added colored lights. All of a sudden it feels like me.”

Ultimately, that’s the success of Casa Cara—the house feels like a perfect reflection of its owner, in all of her gorgeousness, naughtiness, and outré humor. “It’s the design equivalent of a jaw drop,” Delevingne concludes. “There’s no mistaking whose house you’re in.”

Photography: Laure Joliet
Styling: Amy Chin