There’s a scene in the first episode of The Studio, Seth Rogen’s new Apple TV+ showbiz satire, when his character, Hollywood executive Matt Remick, charges into the office building of his employer, Continental Studios, past a tour guide who’s telling visitors that the structure was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1927 “in his signature Mayan style.” It was built, the guide says, “to literally be a temple of cinema.” Remick, who is woefully on his way to a meeting about a potential Jenga movie, audibly scoffs, telling his equally fast-paced assistant, “A temple of cinema, huh? And they want me to make movies out of wooden blocks.”

That exchange sets up the whole premise of the already highly praised, cameo-packed series: Legacy film studio fights to stay relevant in the era of streaming, franchises, and fractured viewing. While Rogen’s Remick is a self-described artist and film buff, he’s made his bones pumping out action thrillers. Later in the premiere, he’s promoted to head of the studio, but there’s a catch: His first project has to be a big-budget blockbuster about Kool-Aid. Oh, yeah!

To build the (fictional) studio at the center of The Studio, Rogen and series cocreator/longtime collaborator Evan Goldberg first had to build out their vision for Continental. To do that, they enlisted production designer Julie Berghoff, who’d previously worked with the pair on AMC’s Preacher. They told her they wanted her to think out of the box and create something akin to one of the “Big Five” Hollywood film studios (Warner Bros., Paramount, Sony, Universal, and Disney), complete with its own movie lot and backstory.

She knew from the show’s script that Continental Studios started around 1923, which led her to look at Art Deco and Spanish Revival architecture, two of the dominating styles in Los Angeles during that era. Rogen and Goldberg love midcentury design, with Rogen in particular having a fondness for John Lautner, so the trio settled on Frank Lloyd Wright’s Mayan Revival period. (Wright was an early mentor to Lautner.) It was an easy reference, with examples of that early 1920s Wright era, like the Ennis House, already dotting the L.A. landscape. Berghoff got to work.

“Wright came to Los Angeles after the World’s Fair in San Diego and he was in a very dark place—he was designing a lot of buildings that were very tomblike because he’d lost his wife and his children,” Berghoff explains. “Seth and Evan liked the idea that the studio’s office could feel tomblike too, because it was embracing the fact that this silver screen cinematic world was almost coming to an end with streaming. Creating this place that was antiquated amplified the storyline of the studio.”

To capture Wright’s Mayan Revival essence, Berghoff designed decorative blocks that reference the Continental Studios logo for the facade of the building, as well as the atrium’s pillars and the cavernous entry. “That logo is throughout the whole set,” Berghoff says. “It’s on the floor, it’s in the fountain, it’s on the walls, it’s on the screens, and it’s in the office.” The textile block–style pieces weren’t made out of concrete, brick, or stone though; they were crafted through a combination of CNC routing, laser cutting, and casting. Berghoff’s team laid dark plaster on top of wood, mixed with glass aggregate so it would reflect a little light on-camera.

They had to do it all quickly, too, because they only had six weeks to build the more than 8,000-square-foot Continental Studios interior on a Warner Bros. lot soundstage. (They built the studio’s facade over the front of the actual Warner Bros. TV offices, as well.) Berghoff was conscious of camera movement and how light would reflect through the structure, saying she took particular inspiration from Wright’s Palmer House in Ann Arbor, Michigan, built with perforated brick to let light in and encourage its flow from room to room. She created boxy acrylic lights for the atrium’s pillars inspired by Wright’s Imperial Hotel in Tokyo. Berghoff says the building’s front doors were inspired by the almost-brutalist sunburst doors at Lautner’s Hollywood Hills Harvey House, which is where Catherine O’Hara’s character, a savvy producer and Remick’s former boss, lives on the show. (Lautner’s Carling House stands in as Remick’s home, and another Lautner classic, Silvertop, or the Reiner-Burchill Residence, is the setting for one of the show’s standout episodes.)

When The Studio takes place in the faux-Wright building, it’s often for scenes full of long, moving shots that soar from the atrium to the balcony level of offices above, or that let Remick survey his whole domain through a wall of glass in his corporate fishbowl. Set decorator Claire Kaufman was responsible for sourcing all the studio’s contents, from Remick’s 10-foot walnut desk to a massive mural of Hollywood’s geodesic Cinerama Dome or a custom conference table etched with the studio’s logo.

Location: 249 Goldsmith Road, Bethel, NY

Price: $1,095,000

Year Built: 2022

Architect: INC Architecture

Footprint: 2,072 square feet (3 bedrooms, 2 baths)

Lot Size: 10 Acres

From the Agent: “Bethel Pines is a meticulously curated 10-acre sanctuary nestled in the heart of the Catskills. Located just under two hours from NYC, this fully furnished and turnkey property offers both a meditative escape and a vibrant base for exploring the boundless natural beauty of the region. More than a home, it’s an experience—a retreat designed to remind you of the art of slowing down and living well. The prime location places you at the crossroads of culture and nature, just minutes from Bethel Woods Center for the Arts, Jeffersonville’s charming Main Street, and the vibrant energy of nearby towns like Livingston Manor, Narrowsburg, and Callicoon. Whether you’re drawn to the Upper Delaware’s pristine waters or the region’s thriving arts and culinary scene, this home offers a rare balance of solitude and connection—a place to live fully and intentionally.”

Jane McDougall and David Beynon didn’t quite know what to expect of life when they moved from their apartment in Melbourne to a standalone in Launceston, Tasmania. David’s new teaching position at the University of Tasmania, the reason for their move, meant that Jane, a generational Melbournite, would become the sole practitioner of the couple’s architecture practice, alsoCAN. It also meant that their new home would need space to host family, particularly their elderly parents, and friends coming from Australia and as far as the U.S.

The couple bought a 1920s California-style bungalow with apricot trees and an ample garden—a refreshing change from their inner-city apartment—that had a 600-square-foot shed in the back. It was previously used as a sleep-out, an outbuilding used to escape the heat before air conditioning became commonplace in Australia, but also held a garage/workshop, a derelict bathroom, and an outhouse (or a “dunny,” as they say in Australia). It presented the perfect renovation opportunity to create a guest suite; it also felt right given the couple’s architectural ethos, which emphasizes using space more effectively instead of expanding unnecessarily.

• New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani wants to combat rising food costs and food deserts with city-owned grocery stores, a concept already gaining traction in Midwest cities like Madison and Chicago. The plan promises to lower prices, challenge monopolies, and provide fresh produce to underserved communities—if it can survive a competitive market. (The New Republic)

• Jan Sramek, a Czech tech millionaire, wants to build a utopian city in California’s Solano County, promising affordable housing and job growth. But locals aren’t buying it, and neither are their elected officials. (Politico)

• Trump’s push to privatize Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac could hand billions to investors but hit home buyers with higher mortgage rates. By shaking up leadership and killing first-time home buyer assistance, the plan could make the American dream much more expensive. (The New York Times)

• Despite a few software hiccups and pole run-ins, Waymo, Alphabet’s self-driving car service, is already operating in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix, and Austin. Now it’s slated to arrive in Washington, D.C., in 2026. But first, the company will need to convince local lawmakers that its cars are safer than the average commuter. (Reuters)

• In the early 2000s, a group of eight artists created a hidden apartment inside a Rhode Island mall, where they lived on and off for four years. Now, with a new documentary shedding light on the squat, two of the occupants unpack their experience. (Dwell)

Top image courtesy of Luis Alvarez/Getty Images