Meet Me at Crafty

Five seasons in, it’s tradition: Every year, Only Murders in the Building brings another impossible architectural challenge for production designer Patrick Howe. Season 5’s secret underground casino, however, might be his most dazzling creation yet.

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“I really did have fun with that one,” Howe says, laughing. “John [Hoffman, the showrunner] just handed me this gift, another secret space inside the Arconia.” The backstory he invented was typically specific: Located beneath the courtyard, the casino began as the building’s stables at the turn of the century before being secretly converted into a gaming parlor. That’s why there are those soaring arches and support pillars throughout. “I referenced Grand Central Station, because it’s a beautiful building and has several floors below street level, so I thought that was a perfect starting point,” Howe says. “And those arches give a lot of interest to a space without windows. That and an awful lot of chandeliers.”

“I think we rented every chandelier in New York,” he jokes. “In fact, part of the  criteria for the style almost became what quantities would be available. Our decorator, Mila Khalevich, found fixtures that were timeless and read beautifully both up close and from a distance.”

The result was a gilded, glowing hideaway, one that was perfect for the season’s “ladies night” episode, in which Meryl Streep, Renée Zellweger, Dianne Wiest, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, and Selena Gomez hold court. “Talk about a power blackjack table!” Howe says.

Elsewhere in the building, Howe kept busy transforming Oliver’s dining room into a neutrals fever dream courtesy of Zellweger’s character. After seasons of slowly chipping away at lonely Oliver’s hoarders-esque apartment, “it was really fun to do the whitewash makeover,” Howe says. “I happen to be a fan of beige on beige, so I enjoyed that opportunity.”

Of course, not all sets live forever.  Loretta’s studio apartment went up in flames as a plot point this season, but it was Howe’s fondness for that set that initially saved it.  “We had permission to throw it away,” he says. “But I kept it. It was a compact little apartment, not in the Arconia style. So I was just keeping it for the scenery inventory in case I needed to convert it to something else. And then they wrote that it was on fire, and we’d need to see it again. So we didn’t have to build it over again, which was nice.”

The casino, however, met a more ignominious end for such a glamorous space. “The gaming parlor was the first set to go in the trash at the end of the season,” Howe says. “That’s one of the harsh realities of show biz that audiences don’t really know about.”

Patrick Howe is an Emmy-winning and ADG Award-winning production designer whose credits include As the World Turns, Godfather of Harlem, and Iron Fist. His go-to at craft services? “Peanut M&Ms are essential.  A little protein, a little sugar, and you’re good to go. We have bumps of M&Ms throughout the day.”