Inside Jennifer Garner’s stunning $7.9 million LA home built ‘from scratch’ after divorcing Ben Affleck

Jennifer Garner opened the doors to her stunning $7.9 million farm-style home.

On Tuesday, the 52-year-old actress, who purchased the property back in 2019 after finalizing her divorce from Ben Affleck, gave Architectural Digest a tour of her stunning property, which she built ‘from scratch.’

Following her move out of the 8,798 square-foot mansion she once shared with her ex-husband and their three kids Violet Anne, 18, Fin, 15, and Samuel, 12, the 13 Going on 30 star embarked on a mission to create her own dream home in Brentwood.

‘I realized that I was going to need to move out of a dream house kind of scenario,’ she said while looking back on her search for the perfect place to raise her family.

She continued: ‘I looked and looked for a house to move into, but I needed privacy, and any house that had privacy was more grand than I felt comfortable in.’

After getting ‘frustrated’ by what was on the market, she opted to buy a lot and teamed up with designer Brooke Giannetti and architect Steve Giannetti.

‘I started panicking in the middle of the build,’ she admitted. ‘I thought, I never even made a Pinterest board. I never even showed him pictures from a magazine. I just told him what I wanted and he did it… but it turns out I’m really, really happy.’

The mother-of-three explained to AD  that this marked her first time making design decisions on her own.

This includes building a space with plenty of custom features, including a Harry Potter-themed office for her son, an aquarium for their fish and ‘slumber party room.’

The performer, who was born in Houston, Texas, and raised in Charleston, West Virginia, went on to say that her favorite spot in the house was her upstairs reading nook.

She went on to describe a ‘magical night’ with her three kids ‘piled’ next to her in the reading nook as they ‘pulled down all the books from when they were little’ and ‘read them one after the other.’

‘All of us are readers,’ she noted. ‘And if you’re building your own house, you might as well offer people as many great places to read as possible.’

Another unique feature is Garner’s own ‘vegetable house.’

‘I’m all about herbs,’ she said. ‘Mostly I want thyme. I cannot grow enough. My kids and I love kale chips, so we always have a lotta kale.

In addition to spending time in the kitchen cooking for her kids and cuddled up on the couch as a family, she raved that she loves hosting friends as well.

‘If it’s nighttime and I have friends over… we turn heaters on, fire, blankets, cozy,’ she said.

After giving the outlet a house tour, Garner explained her surprising decision to give fans a look into her home.

‘I’m such a private person about my home,’ she acknowledged, before listing the reasons why she wanted to show off her space.

The Golden Globe winner raved that she had ‘never built anything all by’ herself before and was ‘so proud of it.’

‘I am filled with gratitude, every time I walk into my house,’ Garner said. ‘That I get to live here. That I’m so lucky to have my kids here. So, it’s unlike me, yet, I’m so happy to have shared it with you.’

Her architect, Steve, said Garner ‘wanted a new, warm, family home.’

‘I had this idea of creating something that felt like a farmhouse and a barn,’ he said. ‘We wanted natural wood, coziness—a kind of warm embrace of a house for her because she’s such a lovely person.’

Steve’s wife, Brooke, who was responsible for the home’s beautiful interior design, pointed out that ‘Jen loves vintage pieces’ and that there’s ‘something a bit whimsical about her’ taste.

‘She likes gentle shapes, curves. This place is kind of the house version of Jen’s personality,’ Brooke explained.

Steve added that his client isn’t ‘trying to be showy or have huge pops of color or stuff like that.’

She moved into the property following the end of her 10year marriage to Affleck, who recently purchased a $20.5 million Pacific Palisades home next to her current residence amid his ongoing divorce from Jennifer Lopez.

Earlier this week, a source told People that Affleck is ‘slowly moving into his new home’ and is ‘where he wants to be: close to his kids and in a neighborhood that he loves.’

‘He enjoys working too, and is very focused on the positives,’ the insider continued.

He is currently in the process of selling his and Lopez’s former marital home, which they paid $60.85M in May 2023.

On August 20, Lopez filed for divorce from Affleck in LA County Superior Court on what would’ve been the second anniversary of their wedding at his $8.9M, 87-acre property on the Hampton Island Preserve in Georgia.