Jewelry designer Jivan Wolf surrounds herself with things she loves.

On a recent afternoon, Jivan Wolf is unfurling a package of stencils in the kitchen of her Biltmore-area patio home, contemplating cursive words embedded in the long sheets of paper. She’s planning on applying them to a header wall separating the kitchen from the library, a swath of white drywall she finds a bit too plain. 

Not that Jivan’s interior needs more embellishment—the 3,500-square-foot home is visually rich, layered in a lifetime collection that includes Asian artifacts, art, crystals and loads of books. But she knows the stenciled words will add the right touch without unbalancing her carefully curated setting. “I’m a self-declared  maximalist,” says Jivan of her style, “but I want it to all come together so nobody is uncomfortable.”

Her friend, Phoenix interior designer James McIntyre, agrees with her assessment. “Even though I didn’t do this interior, I love its character,” he says.“Jivan has the magical ability and fearlessness to mix a lot of things and make it all work.”

Jivan’s path to magical fearlessness included going to school in Connecticut, Virginia and Paris with the idea of pursuing fashion and art. Along the way, she developed an interest in metaphysics, minerals and adornment. “I went to the Jewelry Arts Institute of New York to learn the fabrication of jewelry,” she says, “specifically in the ancient manner, pre-1500s, all done by hand.” Indeed, her line of gold and gemstone baubles, made for private clients, looks like talismans uncovered in an ancient Roman villa or unearthed from an Egyptian tomb. 

As she built her jewelry business, Jivan grew roots in Manhattan but also lived in Hawaii, Los Angeles and Florida before simplifying her life in 2020 with her present house in Phoenix. “This place had just been remodeled, and I hardly made any changes,” she explains. “Pretty much all I brought with me from New York were my paintings, books, art objects, rugs and crystals. I had to buy some upholstered pieces to sit on, but everything else seemed to work. For the most part, I placed everything and haven’t moved any pieces since I moved in.”

Jivan’s confident eye is evident from the entry, where visitors are greeted by two Chinese Buddhas and two foo dogs guarding the door and soothed by the splashing sounds of fountains. Inside, a Chinese bronze bust with three faces anchors the entry, but most guests make a beeline to the library, where a bookcase is stacked with hundreds of tomes (“Yes, I’ve read them all,” Jivan says), and a round mirrored table is usually loaded with current periodicals. Encircled by leopard-print chairs, the space sometimes doubles as a dining room when Jivan isn’t researching inspiration for jewelry designs.

“I had to have these Chinese ladies with their musical instruments in my garden. They make me smile.”

—Jivan Wolf, homeowner

The adjacent living room is just as richly layered, with a reclining Buddha from Myanmar lounging atop a silver chest beneath two circular paintings that depict the luminous lunar surface. Massive crystals from Arkansas and Brazil glint in light from the window, where a statue of Guanyin, the Chinese goddess of compassion, holds court. “The statue has a broken piece, which I decided not to fix,” explains Jivan, “because you can see it’s made of mud and straw. More Asian figurines dot the mantel and a shelf above the TV. “It looks like I’ve lived in Asia,” says Jivan with a laugh. “I haven’t—at least not in this lifetime. I’m drawn to my objects and my art because they speak to me.”

Down the hall, her studio is located in an alcove off a sitting room, made cozy with an Hermés orange love seat and a star-shaped pouf created by her daughter, an interior designer and artist. In the primary bedroom, another Buddha, brought from Hawaii, watches over the space. “It survived a Hawaiian earthquake about 20 years ago,” Jivan says, “and you can see where its knees are worn from rocking back and forth from the rattling.”

Outside, the intimate backyard and pool create a sanctuary soothed by more fountains and guarded by a band of Chinese statues, depicting women playing different musical instruments. “From here, I can survey my rolling hills,” laughs Jivan. “If you’ve been living in a New York apartment for years, this garden is heaven.”

Her heavenly setting prompted McIntyre to suggest she open her home to last year’s Phoenix Home & Garden Home Tour. “Her house is so surprising,” McIntyre says, “and her collections have such a nice energy.” Indeed, Jivan’s house was a popular stop at the event, with guests lingering by her contemporary paintings, subconsciously picking up healing energy from the crystals and craning their necks to read titles on book spines.

After the tour, Jivan’s home reverted to being her personal sanctuary, where she is surrounded by things that make her happy. “I am a searcher,” she reflects. “I have studied all of my life. Each of the pieces I have comes with a story or a legend. My objects are not things—they are friends.”

Sources

LIBRARY—Desk chair (by Donghia): kravet.com. Bookcase: Mike Donoghue, Phoenix, (602) 615-7236.

PRIMARY BEDROOM—Bed and bench: rh.com. Chest: cb2.com.

SITTING AREA—Love seat: rh.com. Armchairs (by Donghia): kravet.com. Galaxy painting (by Andy Moses): andymoses.com.

LIVING ROOM—Sofa and chairs: rh.com. Circular paintings: Andy Moses, andymoses.com. Painting over sofa: Agata Zychlinska, represented by Saatchi Art, saatchiart.com.