7 Set Design Secrets Hidden in ‘The White Lotus,’ Season 2

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Are the set designers dropping us major hints?

"I live for beauty," Tanya McQuoid-Hunt breathes while languidly sipping a fizzing glass of Champagne in episode 5 of The White Lotus, season 2. "I know you do," her mysterious (and most definitely sketchy) host, Quentin, tells her, adding cryptically, "I’d also die for beauty, wouldn't you?"

While we could analyze this exchange ad nauseam for clues as to who will be spectacularly killed off, we’re choosing to focus on Tanya's (played by the legendary Jennifer Coolidge) tipsy assertion: Beauty reigns this season. As the whodunnit plot thickens, the out-of-this-world sets and the intriguing art and objects within them, become as important as the titular characters that suspensefully flaunt themselves on stage.

To find out how these halcyon worlds were created, we checked in with The White Lotus, season 2's production designer Cristina Onori. "I was born and raised in Italy, and [it's a] pleasure to live in this country," she tells us. No surprise, then, that Onori—who trained as an architect in Rome—incorporated plenty of antiques and regional flourishes to make the sets come to life. Here's what we learned.

One of the most ubiquitous elements in the White Lotus resort is the teste di moro, or Moor's head, whose blank faces foreshadow that—yes—heads are about to roll. They’re a narrative device that both White and Onori selected, and it was up to Onori's team to source antique and modern ones. In addition to the heads, "We spread the famous Sicilian colorful ceramics everywhere in the hotel, from the common spaces to the hotel rooms—such as pine cones (representing lucky and healthy life), plates, vases, and tiles," the production designer tells us. "The items were collected one by one in workshops from all around Sicily."

Art is everywhere this season and, just like the fever dreamy title credits, the wall hangings make clandestine allusions to each character in the frames. Albie di Grasso's room, for example, features an image of martyr Saint Sebastian, who was tied to a tree and riddled with arrows (notably, this didn't kill him; he was rescued by Saint Irene of Rome. Clue?). Tanya's room, meanwhile, features a painting of Mount Etna erupting and Bert Di Grassos's room has a spooky depiction of Santa Lucia, a virgin martyr whose eyes were gouged out (another clue?).

To transport the audience to Sicily and to set the series’ mood, Onori and her team needed to select just the right hotel. That ideal was found in the heavenly San Domenico Palace, Taormina, a Four Seasons Hotel, a 14th-century monastery carved into a cliff overlooking the Ionian Sea.

"It was a good base for The White Lotus," Onori explains. "On these bones, we wanted to [showcase] some typical elements of Sicily, such as its heritage (especially in the common spaces), nature (i.e., the volcano paintings in Tanya's room), art, and religion." Though the hotel is now closed for the 2022 season, there are still 2023 dates to be had. But book quickly—suites are filling fast.

To allow for proper lighting and equipment, most characters’ hotel rooms were filmed on a separate soundstage, according to Onori. Those rooms included Ethan and Harper's and Daphne and Cameron's suites (linked by that mysterious door), Albie's, and a portion of Dominic's chambers.

To make the White Lotus hospitality franchise extra convincing (as if the plush hotel rooms weren't enough!), Onori and her team got obsessive with the tiniest of details. "We designed a new logo," Onori explains. "It was used as the brand for all the WL Hotel amenities. Working with Four Seasons suppliers (the best Italian companies producing sheets, towels, and bathrobes), the logo was incorporated into everything including boats and vans. We had so much fun!" They even designed custom room keys and pamphlets all branded with the logo. And, unfortunately for us, those covetable hotel room blankets are also one-offs.

Though the White Lotus Hotel incorporates plenty of regional antiques—including centuries-old decorative coral artworks in the corridors—some decorative elements had to be concocted in the IRL Four Seasons, including the courtyard fountain. "Starting with a basin that was already in the courtyard (a memory of the old monastery and probably in its place there was a well), we added a square base in marble and put a small basin on top as a fountain." Consider us fooled!

We were swooning as soon as we got a glimpse of Harper and Daphne's sumptuous historic hotel when they stole away to Noto, Sicily. If you want to recreate the trip (sans the weird vibes), you’re in luck: The fresco-filled villa is bookable in real life, but you’ll actually be staying in Palermo. Called Villa Tasca, the estate can trace its roots back to the 1500s and has since played host to guests ranging from Richard Wagner to Jackie Kennedy—and perhaps you!

Tanya quickly falls in with bon vivant Quentin and his crew of sycophants and hunky, errr, relatives. And of course he lives in a Baroque villa that matches his larger-than-life personality. The set designers didn't have to reach to fantasy to create it, however; instead, they left it to world-famous decorator Jacques Garcia, who operates the Noto-based villa as an ultraluxe vacation rental. And if you can't shell out for a private villa with a lap pool, you can live vicariously through Garcia's new book on the property.

Anna Fixsen, Deputy Digital Editor at ELLE DECOR, focuses on how to share the best of the design world through in-depth reportage and online storytelling. Prior to joining the staff, she has held positions at Architectural Digest, Metropolis, and Architectural Record magazines. elledecor.com

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