Tennis Star Madison Keys Turned to Her Fans for Helpful Advice While Restoring Her Charming Florida Home

The professional athlete brought cohesion to her Spanish-style casita and uncovered new interests outside of tennis along the wayMadison Keys in the kitchen of her Orlando, Florida home she shares with her husband Bjorn Fratangelo. “We really wanted the kitchen to feel super functional. I wanted it to be very beautiful, but we're not super fancy people. We really like things to be lived in and comfortable,” says Keys. The interior design is by Faith and Seth Freytag, the landscape design is by Naturally Rooted, and the project construction is by Completely Transformed and Hardwick General Contracting.Every athlete knows the importance of practice. And for professional tennis player Madison Keys, who earned her first Grand Slam title when she won the Australian Open in 2025 and is currently competing in the US Open, building her first house was an important warm-up exercise. She and her then boyfriend, now husband and tennis coach, retired pro Bjorn Fratangelo bought a place together and selected the materials and finishes from a builder’s limited menu. But that house was located in “suburbia land,” says Keys, and the lifelong design lover, who recalls decorating her childhood bedroom with blue walls and a purple, pink, and blue curtain, soon began craving a home with more character.The Kukka chandelier by Sarah Sherman Samuel for Lulu and Georgia adds a touch of playfulness to the living room, which is located in the original 1930s Spanish-style part of the home. Underneath it is an Arhaus sofa, Mara Hoffman for West Elm chairs, a West Elm lamp, and a wooden coffee table from Moe’s Home Collection. The fireplace sconces are thrifted and the painting on the wall (right) is by Keys. West Elm Anais Floor LampArhaus Amira Sofa“We started the search of finding something that felt a little bit more like a home instead of just a house to live in,” she says. The couple found an ideal place in an Orlando, Florida, neighborhood with “big oak trees and historic brick roads.” Their new home began its life as an 800-square-foot Spanish-style casita in the 1930s—but had a large, mismatched addition. Keys fell in love with the front portion of the home while knowing that other parts of it would require an extensive upgrade to make it just as charming the whole way through.Keys asked for ample closet space in the entryway “because of all of her tennis stuff,” explains Faith Freytag. “She’s got tons of bags and she hated just dropping them at the front entry.” The custom cabinets were designed by National Woodworks. “I looked at my husband and I was like, ‘I have to save this house. I know what it can be,’” she says. They purchased the place in 2022 and enlisted husband and wife team Faith and Seth Freytag of local design firm Concrete to Cotton to help. Faith’s first impression of the 2,700-square-foot home was that the charming casita portion and the addition “weren’t talking,” she says, calling it “just a very weird Frankenstein situation.” To remedy this, they turned all of the rectangular doorways in the new addition into archways and leaned into colors and materials reminiscent of the Spanish-style exterior, with its red clay roof tiles.“I really wanted to have a statement dining room moment,” says Keys. She achieved it by creating a custom banquette upholstered in a gold tiger-print fabric by Sarah Sherman Samuel for Lulu and Georgia. Paired with a Joss and Main table, Athena Calderone for Crate & Barrel chairs, and a Perigold lighting fixture. West Elm Eurydice Plinth Dining TableCeremonie Dresden Dining Chair by Athena CalderoneRalph Lauren Cara Small Sculpted PendantTiger Jacquard Fabric by Sarah Sherman SamuelThroughout the renovation process, Keys shared updates with her followers on social media, even getting some helpful advice from fans. The most important tip? Someone told her to create paper mockups of her future kitchen cabinets and label them with the items that would need to go inside, performing a test-run of sorts for when she’d have to put everything back. “I absolutely did it,” she says. “I stood in my kitchen without cabinets actually there yet, pretending.” The exercise allowed her to be sure she would have enough storage, and “made moving back in quite easy.”As a professional tennis player, Keys is constantly on the road. “It makes me love my house even more,” she says. As she scoured Etsy for vintage rugs late into the night and committed to bolder design choices like the upholstered dining banquette in a gold tiger-print fabric, Keys began to feel a new side of herself opening up. “I started pushing myself a little bit more and getting a little bit more creative,” she says. Eventually she even began creating original paintings, one of which now takes pride of place in the living room.An office space in the home features a cozy nook outfitted with a West Elm sofa, tables from Anthropologie, a light fixture from Shoppe Amber Lewis, and a handmade rug sourced from Etsy. West Elm Hamilton Leather SofaCrate & Barrel Lia Pendant“We spend a ton of time in the kitchen when we’re home because we get pretty sick of eating takeout on the road,” says Keys, who admits that Fratangelo is the cook in their relationship. The kitchen is located in the new addition of the house, and Keys was determined to inject it with charm. She added Designcraft cabinets in white and cappuccino and a zellige tile backsplash behind the range, surrounded by an arch. The barstools at the island are from CB2. Clive La Marzocco Linea Mini Espresso MachineCB2 Lisette Performance Bar Stool“Professional athletes have pretty rigid schedules, and I think there’s a little bit of a societal image of [who we are],” she says. “I’ve found that it’s really important to be more than just an athlete and find all of the things that bring you joy.” Her new hobbies of design and painting “help build confidence in myself as a whole person, which I think translates onto the tennis court,” she says. And allowing her fans to get to know her as more than just an athlete by sharing the process online felt good as well. “It was fun to be able to show people some of the other interests that I have.”The primary bedroom is relaxing thanks to Quince bedding and a light fixture from Crate & Barrel. Parachute Linen Duvet CoverThe Citizenry Lomas Wall HangingIn the primary bathroom, Shades of Light sconces flank a Rejuvenation mirror. Not a subscriber? Join AD for print and digital access now.Sign up for our daily newsletter to get the best of design in your inbox.Rachel Wallace is the Senior Entertainment Editor at Architectural Digest. She reports on the collision of design and pop culture, from the royal family’s palaces to Carrie Bradshaw’s apartment. Rachel was previously an editor at Us Weekly and DuJour magazines, and is a graduate of the Columbia University Publishing Course. You can find ... 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