Design expert Tan France is opening the doors to his new home in a show with Architectural Digest — and is opening up about how the details put his two sons, Ismail and Isaac, at heart of it.
France's eye for design extends beyond his closet; now he has teamed up with Architectural Digest on “Home at Last,” a new series that premieres Nov. 30 at 11 a.m. ET, TODAY.com can exclusively reveal.
Across five episodes, the "Queer Eye" star walks viewers through the design process in his new Salt Lake City home, starting with his primary bedroom and bathroom in the premiere and continuing on to his closet, guest cottage, kitchen and dining room and exterior spaces in the subsequent episodes.
Traditionally, a renovation show shares the design ideation for a home at the beginning, then reveals its progress in chronological order. But “Home at Last” takes a different approach: In every episode, it repeats the same timeline but highlights different spaces, slowly unveiling the finished product like a puzzle, piece by piece.
In the first episode, for example, France and his husband, Rob France, meet with design and construction firm The Fox Group in September 2022 to talk primary bedroom and bathroom. They then do a walkthrough of the framing in February, and three months later, the drywall is up and interior touches for those specific rooms begin. Come November, the rooms are revealed in full.
The style expert tells TODAY.com that family — especially the couple’s kids, Ismail, 2, and 6-month-old Isaac — is the very foundation the whole house is built on.
"The plan was always to create a home that our kids could be comfortable in and happy in," France says in an interview with TODAY.com, explaining that his two sons were considered "at every turn" of the design process.
The "Next in Fashion" host says they made sure to add personal touches to make the house a home for their kids, like a custom-built nightlight box depicting a scene inspired by one of Ismail's favorite books, "Goodnight Moon."
"The first few months of (Ismail's) life, he used to get excited when we'd read 'Goodnight Moon' to him ... So we thought, 'Well, what if we could incorporate kind of like a 'Goodnight Moon' (into our home)?'" France recalls.
"The plan was always to create a home that our kids could be comfortable in and happy in."
"Before we put (our sons) down (for bed), my eldest — my youngest son is too young — will go and lay down on the floor and say goodnight to the mice, and it's just gorgeous," he continues.
But France explains that the nightlight had more meaning for him than just "throw this into the wall and an outlet and call it good" — it's part of his desire to create traditions as a family.
"I wanted little traditions with my kids for a lot of things that we did together," he says. "I love my parents so much, but they worked so much that we just didn't get to spend much time with them as kids."
France says his family didn't move around very often and looks back fondly on his childhood home in the U.K. He wants to give his two children that same positive, grounding experience.
To this day, the design expert remains close to his family, who are very supportive of his success. France even incorporated a design detail into their new home that his sister wished they had growing up.
"My sister always wanted a bay window with a window seat, but they're usually found in nicer homes that we could never have afforded," France explains. "With this house, I created a window at the front of the house with a window seat that I call her window. That makes it feel like my family is still with me even though they're still so far away."
The bay window quickly became part of a morning tradition he shares with his husband and sons.
"Every day, we spend time in that little nook, me, my two kids and my husband. We watch the sunrise in the morning. The kids wake up exceptionally early to watch the sunrise together; I feed my youngest in that space," France says.
... the dream is to still give this up to our children, and for them to have one home they remember for the rest of their lives and think, 'That's where we were raised.'"
Other family-centric elements will be featured throughout episodes in "Home at Last," like a spice kitchen that is a nod to both his South Asian culture and family.
France says creating a sense of home through traditions and familiar details has been crucial to helping Ismail adjust to their new home after leaving the only one he's ever known. France and his husband sold that property a few weeks ago.
"The hardest part of this move has been explaining to Ismail (that he has a new home), because for the first couple of days, he kept talking about home. He just wanted to go home," France recalls, saying that the couple cried the first few nights because it was "so upsetting."
France says they made sure to keep Ismail's room looking the exact same way so it would be familiar to him, and after a short while, he no longer asked to go home. France says he's now "so entertained" in the new spaces.
The couple hopes to give the new property, which France calls their "dream home," to their two sons one day.
"Our new version of a dream home is this, but it's a secure home. It's a home that feels cozy, inviting, but the dream is to still give this up to our children, and for them to have one home they remember for the rest of their lives and think, 'That's where we were raised.'"
Until then, though, he wants to share the spaces in "Home at Last," a collaboration with Architectural Digest that originated when France wanted to document his unique project of building an English Tudor-style home with South Asian-inspired details in Utah.
"I do love that we're offering a different version — or a different view — of America than we typically see in fancy magazines," France explains.
"Home at Last" premieres at 11 a.m. ET on Nov. 30. Episodes will air every Thursday at 11 a.m. and 7 p.m. ET, and will be replayed on Tuesdays at 11 a.m. and 7 p.m. ET. The episodes will be available to watch on multiple platforms: Vizio WatchFree+, TiVo+, Redbox, Xumo Core, The Roku Channel, SamsungTV Plus (Canada), SlingTV, Local Now, The Grio and Rakuten.
