Architecture + Design

Mr. Doodle: Inside a $1.5-Million Home Covered in Doodles

Sam Cox, known professionally as Mr. Doodle, spent the past two years covering every inch of the home in drawings
British artist Sam Cox and his wife Alena on the terrace of their “Doodle House” a 12room mansion covered in monochrome...
British artist Sam Cox, a.k.a. Mr. Doodle, with his wife, Alena, on the terrace of their “Doodle House.” All photos: Gareth Fuller/PA Images/Getty Images

Growing up, your parents might have told you not to draw on the walls. Sam Cox never had that experience. Known professionally as Mr. Doodle, Cox has spent the past two years covering his reportedly $1.5 million Kent home in doodles. Every inch, from the ceilings and walls down to the toaster, is outfitted in his signature monochrome, hand-drawn, cartoonish style. The journey to cover the entire property in doodles—which kicked off in 2020—started in the bedroom. In a short in a video about his one-of-a-kind home, Cox told BBC Breakfast’s Tim Muffett that waking up in the room “is sort of paradise for me.” 

Mr. Doodle and his wife sit in their doodle-covered bedroom. 

After decking out the bedroom, he moved on to the rest of the house, which includes a grand staircase and formal landing, a bathroom with a freestanding tub, and multiple bedrooms. In the kitchen, even the stove is fully covered in drawings, which Cox admits may have made the appliance unworkable. 

The appliances may be no longer workable, Mr. Doodle says. 

According to Mr. Doodle, this project is his “best piece of work.” In the caption of an Instagram post, the artist said it took 900 liters of white paint, 401 cans of black spray paint for the exterior, 286 bottles of black drawing paint for the interior, and 2,296 pen nibs to carry out the endeavor. “I’d like to thank my mum and dad because, ever since they let me draw over my bedroom walls when I was a kid, I have wanted to live in a property completely covered in characters of my own creation,” he wrote in another post. 

The stairs and landing received animal doodles. 

Mr. Doodle sits in a freestanding bathtub. 

Mr. Doodle, who is in his late 20s, took the fine art world by storm when his seemingly playful work started selling at auctions at prices much higher than most excepted (to date, his record sale was for his Spring [2019] piece, which sold for a little under $1 million at the Tokyo Chuo Auction Company). In 2020, he was the fifth most successful artist at auction under 40 years old. Many credit smart branding and the power of social media as key elements to his exceptional accomplishments. Of course, it’s impossible to negate his passion, likely the most integral element of them all. Clearly demonstrated in the BBC segment, Cox said doodling is “almost like an out-of-body experience. You’re just indulging yourself in this free-flowing state of creation.”