Zola Jesus’s Living Room Is the Centerpiece of Her Gothic House in the Woods

As the artist Zola Jesus, Nika Roza Danilova makes dark and atmospheric vibes pop propelled by deep ruminations around stillness and absence. So, when the 33-year-old singer, songwriter, and producer set out to design a home from scratch in 2015, her instinct was to erect a minimalist “black metal square” in the northwoods of Wisconsin.

Though the decision shocked local contractors, Nika pressed forward with her plan to build a “2001: A Space Odyssey monolith,” as she puts it, on the 150 acre property where she originally grew up with her family. “It’s really healing for me to be in spaces that are very clean and simple,” she explains. “There’s also something I like about brutalism in nature. Nature is so organic, and the woods are curvy, and then seeing this black box that’s so deeply human… That contrast is so much more interesting.”

With help from her uncles (one a builder, another an electrician) and her carpenter dad, the loft-style property was eventually finished in 2017. The home—where she now resides with her fiancé, their black German shepherd named Nadja, and a gray tuxedo cat named Kosha—is now a respite when she returns from touring and traveling across the globe.

Nika’s decision to move back home was prompted by wanting to “disconnect and listen to my inner voice, and to not feel like this constant sense of pressure having to be part of a society that has its own laws and rules.” Because when she’s here, she can make her own. That calming atmosphere is also where Nika made Arkhon, her expansive sixth studio record released on June that examines themes of isolation, humanity, nihilism, and hope. Much of it was completed in her living room, the elegantly gothic centerpiece of the home. “My whole life kind of exists in that space,” she says. Read on to learn more about the tastefully curated space.