Constance Zimmer

Constance Zimmer

The New York Times-Real Estate·2026-05-05 06:01

Living room

AT HOME WITH

Constance Zimmer

The ‘Love Story’ actress showcases memories, mugs and mustaches.

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The actress Constance Zimmer in a bright living room with her two dogs.

By Nicole Stock Photographs by Philip Cheung

April 27, 2026

The actress Constance Zimmer and her husband, Russ Lamoureux, a director, have lived in their home nestled in the hills in Los Angeles since 2017. But their carefully curated collection of heirlooms, art, photography and memorabilia tells a much older story.

The actress Constance Zimmer in a bright living room with her two dogs.

“The biggest compliment I get when people come into our house is they always say it feels so lived in,” Ms. Zimmer said, adding, “That is, for me, what matters.”

The actress Constance Zimmer in a bright living room with her two dogs.

Ms. Zimmer, 55, is best known for her roles in “UnREAL,” “Entourage,” and most recently FX’s “Love Story,” a dramatization of the lives and deaths of John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette. She plays Ms. Bessette’s mother, Ann Freeman.

The actress Constance Zimmer in a bright living room with her two dogs.

In her Los Feliz home, Ms. Zimmer has adorned nearly every room with art made by the couple’s 18-year-old daughter Colette “Coco” Lamoureux, along with items she’s collected or inherited over several decades.

The actress Constance Zimmer in a bright living room with her two dogs.

“We really like to mix old with new,” Ms. Zimmer said.

Her living room features a modern couch, two brown chairs, exposed wood beams and hanging plants.

After a 54-step climb, the front door opens to a light-filled living room.

The sitting area is anchored aesthetically by a low coffee table, which was the first piece of furniture Ms. Zimmer and Mr. Lamoureux purchased as a couple. It has moved with them from house to house, serving as the primary building block of their living room designs.

Atop it, a shallow orange bowl holding dozens of Swarovski crystals sits next to a crystal kaleidoscope. Both originally belonged to her father and stepmother, who were collectors of fine art and objects. Ms. Zimmer, who lost both them and her mother within the last three years, brought many of their cherished items into her home.

“I’m just realizing how many things I now have in my house that are from loss,” she said.

Resting against the wall, the focal point of the room is a painting made by their daughter last year. The painting symbolizes transformation during loss, she said.

The dining room includes a sideboard filled with mementos.

Since her mom’s passing, Ms. Zimmer said she sees her in butterflies. Symbols of them dot rooms throughout the house.

An amber-colored butterfly, which belonged to Ms. Zimmer’s mother, rests on top of Japanese light box frames.

A bright red postcard stand, which Ms. Zimmer and Mr. Lamoureux picked up from a thrift shop in New York, now holds generations of memories: cards that have been sent to them, as well as postcards she sent to her parents, and ones they sent to their own parents.

“My whole family history is in postcards,” she said.

Constance Zimmer and her husband, Russ Lamoureux, pose for a portrait in their kitchen.

They spend a lot of time in their kitchen. Mr. Lamoureux is quite the cook, Ms. Zimmer said, remarking that they refer to him as the “gifted amateur.” She, in turn, has become the baker of the family.

Constance Zimmer and her husband, Russ Lamoureux, pose for a portrait in their kitchen.

The space is airy. Open shelves are stacked with dishes, including mugs of all shapes and sizes — one of their favorite items to collect.

A glazed, multicolored ceramic mug was a gift from Scott Lawrence, a fellow actor on the Netflix legal thriller, “Lincoln Lawyer.” He makes them in his free time.

A blue mug with three golden feline faces is a token from her episode on the comedian Marc Maron’s podcast, back in 2015. (Notably, her episode aired a few weeks before one with then-sitting President Barack Obama. “I feel like I got a little hidden, but it’s all right. I don’t mind being upstaged by Obama,” she said.)

Each one is much more than a vessel for coffee, tea or water: It’s a visual memory aid.

“It brings me right back to that moment,” Ms. Zimmer said, adding later, “That’s why it’s very hard to get rid of things. Because I feel like if you get rid of it, you get rid of the memory.”

The TV room has deep blue walls and is filled with books, plants and art.

At a quick glance, the family’s TV room reads as a résumé for a successful Hollywood couple. Mr. Lamoureux’s Emmy Award sits a few books away from Ms. Zimmer’s Critics Choice award. Not wanting a TV in their primary sitting room, they filled this room to the brim with all things entertainment, making it “the room where all of our egos could just explode,” Ms. Zimmer joked.

But the room is filled with photos, artwork and mementos that come from all phases of Ms. Zimmer’s life. She has a box of old Polaroid cases that she converted into picture frames, which hold a special collection of family memories, and also a photo of her and the actor Benicio Del Toro. (The two studied acting together at the Stella Adler Academy in Los Angeles.)

An atmospheric clock, which uses changes in the room’s temperature and atmospheric pressure to run, is another item she inherited from her father. It was one of his prized possessions.

A gallery wall features posters, photographs and drawings.

A gallery wall features drawings from the ‘70s from the first time she went to Universal Studios with her mother; a needlepoint with a butterfly on it, handmade by her grandmother; early artwork from her daughter and art made by a fan that was sent to her while she was starring in “UnREAL.”

A poster from “Grease” is a reminder of the show that first sparked her interest in acting. After seeing the movie nearly a dozen times, she landed the role of Patty Simcox in her high school’s production. From then on, she knew she wanted to be an actress.

The bathroom features black-and-white floral wallpaper and a small red rug.

The home is filled with whimsical touches in every room, but the bathroom might be the most eye-catching.

Mustaches adorn the walls, part of an elaborate art project that Mr. Lamoureux spent several years assembling. The fake mustaches were collected piece by piece, many of them coming from movies, he said. Finding the right frames, which he did with the help of a “vintage picker,” was its own artistic process.

“It was just a matter of finding ones that went with the mustaches,” he said.

A nondescript box in the bathroom also holds one of Ms. Zimmer’s most treasured gifts: a hefty stack of cards from dozens of people, a present from Mr. Lamoureux for her 50th birthday, during the first months of Covid.

He reached out to nearly everyone in her address book — people she went to high school with, neighbors, former colleagues — and in return, they sent over drawings, witty postcards and heartfelt messages. Now, every year on her birthday, she rereads them.

A reading nook with a small window and a white leather chair. The nook is lined with framed art and mementos.

In a vault nook in their bedroom, Ms. Zimmer can sit in a chair and look at her life on the walls: “It does really feel like you’re walking into a photo album,” she said.

There are several photos from their wedding, which was held at the Soho House in Los Angeles. They wrote their wedding invitations as if they were coming from their daughter, who was 2½ when they got married. At her wedding shower, Ms. Zimmer had the note, “Thank you for being such a good friend to my mom. XoXo, Coco,” screen printed on vintage handkerchiefs.

A large stuffed bear named Petzi is a reminder of the summers Ms. Zimmer spent in Germany with her grandparents. He’s at least 45 years old, she said, and was a gift from her grandfather to her grandmother.

Constance Zimmer sits on a bench in her backyard with her dog.

Ms. Zimmer’s home has become a reflection, and a reminder, of how full her life is.

Constance Zimmer sits on a bench in her backyard with her dog.

“I really like being surrounded by my life. I like being reminded constantly where I’ve come from, where I’m at,” Ms. Zimmer said.

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