Picture it: a mansion in sunny California. Five of Gen Z's finest living together, each armed with a smartphone and access to social media. Hilarity ensues. No, we're not describing a season of Big Brother. It's a content house. But what is a content house? What happens there? Do content houses actually mean anything for brands? Keep reading for answers to all of these questions and more. Plus, we'll even share some content house examples.
First things first...
What Is a Content House? Plus, Content House Examples:
What Is a Content House?
A content house is a space for creators and influencers to come together and collaborate. They're sometimes called "creator houses" or "influencer houses," but they all have certain similarities. Mostly, they have lots of space, a pool, and great lighting. Oh, and they typically cost a lot of money to rent.
While the rise of TikTok and Instagram has definitely been a catalyst for a content house explosion, content houses have actually been around for a while. Way back in 2014, a YouTube collaboration channel called Our Second Life moved into a home they dubbed 02L Mansion. The next year, in 2015, most of the stars on Vine moved into their own collaboration house at 1600 Vine Street (New York Times). In 2017, this trend was continued by Jake Paul, one of YouTube's highest-paid stars, who purchased a home (Team 10 House) for the members of Team 10 to share. According to the Team 10 website, the group was intended to act as an "incubator for aspiring social media influencers." If you listen to Paul's neighbors at the height of Team 10 House, it was more like living next door to a war zone.
The purpose of a content house is so members can tag each other in their content, expanding their audience and playing off one another's popularity to gain more popularity on their chosen platforms. Many content houses also encourage creators to collaborate on content creation and sharing business and industry knowledge, too.
Do Content Houses Really Benefit Brands and Influencers?
According to the New York Times, content houses help influencers in several ways. Since the creators are all in close proximity to one another (even though not all team members opt to live in the houses full-time), they can quickly and easily collaborate on content and even offer moral and emotional support to one another.
Brands foot the bill for content houses for a reason: they can pay off. Many content houses require that creators meet quotas on the content they produce. In exchange, brands get dedicated influencers who are literally doing nothing except working on content all day, increasing the brand's reach. And, as we've repeatedly seen, content can earn influencers bank. Just take a look at TikTok's highest-earning influencers if you're unclear.
Content House Examples
There are tons of content houses these days. The number ebbs and flows as new ones crop up and existing houses, like Rihanna's Fenty House, close their doors. Let's take a look at some of the most popular content house examples.
1. Sway House
@theswayla
TikTok's Sway House has come to an end a little more than a year after getting its start in January 2020. The influencer collective was founded by Talent X Entertainment and included several top names from the short-form video content platform: Josh Richards, Griffin Johnson, Bryce Hall, Jaden Hossler, Noah Beck, Blake Gray, Anthony Reeves, Kio Cyr, and Quinton Griggs. The group ranged in age from 17 to 21.
The house itself was an 8,500-square-foot home with six bedrooms, 10 bathrooms, skylights, a fireplace, wet bars, a library, a pool, a sauna, a spa, and even an elevator. Several French doors throughout the home opened to private balconies offering up beautiful ocean, city, and canyon views. The price for this dream home? A budget-breaking $11,000 per month.
In an interview with PEOPLE, Talent X and Sway House co-founder Michael Gruen says that Sway "as a content collective that lives together and is with each other every day" is over but "Sway was always about a bigger message, and that will never die."
2. Hype House
@thehypehouse
Hype House was founded by Chase Hudson and Thomas Petrou in 2019 and quickly became the cool kids’ table for TikTok influencers. Around 20 influencers are part of Hype House, making it one of the largest TikTok content houses. Hype House members include Chase Hudson, Connor Yates, Alex Warren, Addison Rae, Avani Gregg, Wyatt Xavier, Ryland Storms, Nick Austin, Ondreaz Lopez, Tony Lopez, Kouvr Annon, Thomas Petrou, Calvin Goldby, James Wright, Jack Wright, Patrick Huston, Larray, Kelianne Stankus, Nate Wyatt, Mia Hayward, Hootie Hurley, and Michael Sanzone.
The original Hype House home was a 6,600-square-foot Mediterranean-style home in Encino that included 10 bedrooms and nine bathrooms. The home had fireplaces, wet bars, and a gym, as well as two private courtyards and a pool. In 2020, Hype House moved into the Hollywood Hills mansion vacated by Clout House.
3. FaZe Clan
@fazeclan
FaZe Clan started out as FaZe Sniping in May 2010. It was a YouTube channel where the founders (Eric "CLipZ" Rivera, Jeff "Timid" Emann, and Ben "Resistance" Christensen) could show off their Call of Duty skills. While members would come and go, FaZe continued to climb in popularity in the eSports and gaming niches. Richard "FaZe Banks" Bengston joined the Clan in 2013 and the group began to add lifestyle content to its content offering.
FaZe Clan started out in a home next door to Clout House but moved into a 12,700-square-foot mansion in Burbank with 10 bedrooms, 16 bathrooms, a home theater, gym, library, games room, and spa, all on a 36,000-square-foot lakefront property that includes a guest house and two apartments. Oh, and there's also a boathouse, heated pool, and outdoor entertainment space. In late 2019, Clout House ended up consolidating into this space, too.
4. Clubhouse BH
@clubhousebh
Clubhouse BH (Beverly Hills) was created by Daisy Keech and Abby Rao after Keech left Hype House which she co-founded. This content house has been associated with influencers like Tessa Brooks, Sebastian Topete, Isaak Presley, Abby Rao, Chase Keith, Mariana Morais, Kinsey Wilonski, Charly Jordan, Christopher Romero, Leslie Golden, Teala Dunn, Carrington Durham (formerly of Clout House), Isabella Durham, Katie Sigmond, Emmy Combs, Alecia Montes, Alexa Montes, Leslie Hannah Belle, and Lindsay Brewer. Yeah, there are a lot of influencers in this content house.
The house itself is a 12,000-square-foot gated property in Beverly Hills with seven bedrooms and nine bathrooms, scenic views, a walk-in wine cellar, theater, library, meditation garden, zero-edge infinity pool, and a two-bedroom guest house.
5. Shluv House
@theshluvfamily
Shluv House was founded by Michael "Just Maiko" Le (one of TikTok's hottest stars) and was built out of a community of supporters of his work as a comedic dancer. These days, the group tends to be associated with Michael Le, Jonathan Le, Spencer X, Javier Romero, Matthew Gonzalez, Michael Uy, Derek Graham, Jon Klaasen, and Elyssa Joy.
In 2020, the Shluv team moved into a 9,000-square-foot Los Angeles home with a Spanish/modernist vibe. The house has floor-to-ceiling windows, a beautiful grand staircase, a pool, a theater, and a basement space that can be converted into a gaming or production space.
6. Bay House
@bayhousefl
Bay House is a newer TikTok content house based in St. Petersburg, Florida, and founded in November 2020. Members currently include Danielle Cohn, Desiree Montoya, and Jazlyn G. There's been a bit of controversy around Danielle Cohn—she claims to be 16 but her estranged father has said that she's actually just 14 years old. The three current members of Bay House are all under the age of 18.
7. Icon House
@itsiconhouse
Icon House is a UK-based TikTok content house. The members, some of which are former reality TV stars, are kept secret until they're revealed in a dramatic fashion (during a skydive and that sort of thing). Members that have been revealed so far are Elis Watts, George Harrison, Josh Ryan, and Luke Mabbot.
8. Wave House
@thewavehouse
Wave House is another UK-based TikTok content house. Like Icon House, members of Wave House are revealed one at a time in dramatic fashion. Confirmed members so far include Eloise Fouladgar, Jimbo H., Kate Elizabeth, Millie T, and Bobby Moore. Similar to other content houses, Wave House lives in a fancy mansion.
9. Byte Squad
@bytesquadhq
Byte Squad was the UK's first TikTok content house and is located in central London. The current roster includes Shauni Kibby, KT Franklin, Monty Keaes, Sebastian Lazarou, Jake Sweet, and Lily Rose. This group is well-known for pranking one another and taking shots at Hype House. Byte Squad has partnered with Rise Above, a mental health initiative developed by Public Health England.
10. V@ult House
@thevaultla
Another LA-based TikTok content house, V@ult House is run by influencer marketing agency Six Degrees of Influence and includes TikTok influencers Addy Tharp, Cayman Rhodes, Devyn Winkler, Jackson Krecioch, Kaylee Pereira, Bryce Xavier, Peyton Sama, Rave Vanias, Mariano Castano, Keith Pichardo, Maile Hammahz, Malcolm Saurez, and Kiera Vanias. The creators share a 5,000-square-foot West Hollywood home with seven bedrooms, a rooftop deck, a pool, and an interior courtyard.
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