Super Bowl champion Vernon Davis opens his custom wellness retreat in DC

Super Bowl champion Vernon Davis scores touchdown after touchdown in his new post-NFL role as a professional house flipper, including the work he completed on his own custom home in his hometown of Washington, DC.

The 42-year-old retired tight end, who played for the San Francisco 49ersthe Denver Broncosand the Washington commanders From 2006 to 2019, he entered the real estate field during his fourteen active seasons in the NFL, although he first trained his eye for aesthetics while studying studio art in college.

After co-founding Modern Class Design, a company specializing in luxury spaces, the two-time Pro Bowler scored home design projects in 2012 with several high-end clients such as teammate Aldon Smithas well as his brother and fellow professional footballer, Vonta Daviswho died in 2024.

Today on the latest episode of Celebrity Sanctuary, Vernon reveals he is in charge of “about seven” house transactions as his business playbook calls for buying up properties as they are transferred in his hometown.

“It was fun to go back to my old neighborhood where I grew up because I understand the market,” he explains.

“People usually just come to me when they’re moving and selling their house, they just come to me and that’s usually how I get these houses. I don’t have to do a lot of work because they already know I buy a lot of the properties in that area,” he adds.

In an effort to take his renovation game to the next level, the NFL legend recently teamed up with HGTV star Mina Starsiak Hawk to be contenders for Season 7 of the network’s renovation competition show “Rock the Block.”

The athlete tells Realtor.com® The reality TV movement motivated him to develop new skills that he can put into practice during his renovations and possibly one day on his own home makeover show.

“I think we can definitely go that route, why not?” he asks, before talking about how participating in “Rock the Block” is all part of his professional long game.

“It was something I was aiming for, just different in a way, but I thought it would be fun,” he says. “I thought it would be something where I would go and learn, which I did, and cultivate relationships.”

“I learned a lot,” he adds. “I learned to make things, I learned to use my hands better, I learned the essentials of things like tiling, paving stones, just the whole nine – everything that goes into building a house from the ground up.”

Although it was his rookie season on the show, Vernon is a veteran of executing his vision for a property from start to finish.

Indeed, Vernon bought his five-bedroom, seven-bathroom, 5,600-square-foot contemporary-style home, which he shares with his 18-year-old and 12-year-old sons, 14-year-old daughter and Maine Coon cat. Rockythree years ago, while it was still under construction.

In this edition of Celebrity Sanctuary, Vernon gives a play-by-play of the design tweaks he made during and after construction, especially in his wellness-infused primary suite, to turn the place into a total touchdown.

I chose this house because it suits what I like. I like contemporary. I like modern. Everything that is just different and artistic. I went to school for an art studio, so everything that’s incorporated into my life tends to have some kind of coolness to it, you know, different.

I found the house, but when I entered I changed a lot of things. I added a music studio. I added a steam room. I added electric toilets. I put a theater downstairs.

That one [renovations] I did that before the house was finished. I came in when they had drywall and everything, but the backyard, I did the whole backyard myself.

The backyard was just dirty. I built a basketball court with a sports field floor. I added a card game. I wanted sections, so I put the deck in the middle, I bought this 20-foot hot tub, and then to the right is a fire pit.

I chose all the trees myself. I have magnolia, skip laurels, I have green giants, evergreen trees beyond. Then I installed and added lights [a] sound system. I’m still working on my sound. I now have to put sound behind the fireplace, but I have it on different sides of the house when I play music.

I just got the [outdoor] wall below black because what happens when you have grass, the water splashes and it runs down. If your stone is white, it will bleed and turn green. That’s why I painted it black so you can’t even see the green. It looks great. It looks cool.

I put these artificial plants on my patio so you can’t see them. It kind of blocks the hot tub and then I have two evergreen trees blocking the other side. It’s cool. I have these string lights hanging from the fence all the way to the house.

I’ve changed quite a few things. I came in and made it my own thing. I wish I had found the house a lot sooner so I had more freedom to do what I wanted to do, but it’s cool.

I would describe the style of this house as sturdy and sleek.

The design of the house from above would be sleek. From the moment you walk up to the house, the roof is beautifully sloped, and then as you walk inside you see several indentations in the wall, and the ceilings have texture and character.

And when I say cool, it’s just about the coolness, like the music studio, you’ve got the steam room, you’ve got the theater downstairs with the lights on the wall.

I had a designer to help me, but I figured everything out. She couldn’t take over because I knew what I wanted. I picked out the lights. I picked out the colors, the floor, everything. I just needed her when I wasn’t there because a lot of workers came in. She basically orchestrated everything. She had some input, but I chose everything.

My bedroom [is my sanctuary] Certainly. I have nice blackout curtains. I have the high ceilings. My ceilings are probably about 30 feet high. And then I have everything in it. I have my steam bath, I have my shower, my electric toilet, I have my cupboard with all my stuff.

Whatever sentimental thing I would say, my brother who passed away about two years ago, I had a suit made for him, but I ended up keeping it so I’m leaving it hanging. I have this rack, it’s a piece that I have in my room that you hang your suits and stuff on, so I just leave that suit hanging there.

My room is dark. It feels a bit like a spa. The walls are dark black, the blackout curtains are black with white piping around the curtains from the window. I have a huge TV right between the tall windows and I have an entertainment screen under the TV.

I have a nice seat with a plant that I put behind it with the beautiful light I got from Wayfair. I have a nice bench at the foot of the bed. Then I bought this big, round, curved mirror that I put on the other side of the bed with a cool, contemporary seat. It’s just a small seat where I sit next to the mirror, with a beautiful Miami-style plant next to it.

It’s just peaceful. It’s very cozy and peaceful. It’s the space where I go and catch my breath, listen to my spiritual podcast every evening. I go, I lie down on the bed, listen to it, absorb it, absorb it. I can get away from everything for a while.

[My kids] love it. They must stay outside. When I go in, I tell them to stay outside. You can’t come in here.

I feel like if I go in there and close the door, I can just get away from everything but my cat. He scratches the door, moves the handle and tries to get in. He’s the only one who doesn’t allow me to do what I need to do. You know what I mean?

Seriously, this cat is everywhere I go. He is like a shadow. His name is Rocky. He’s an interesting cat. He’s a big cat. He weighs 25 pounds. He’s a big, big Maine Coon cat. He’s huge. He’s a character.

A perfect day [in my sanctuary would be] I walk in and turn on the steam room. I get into the steamer, then shower and get out. While I’m doing it I’m playing music, my speakers are on and music is playing. Then I lie down. I lie back, take a breather, turn on my spiritual podcast, listen to it and just lay there and absorb it.

And then I’ll break that down and then start looking at emails and things like that. Then I get up and that’s it.

I would like to add a balcony [at my home]. And what I’m working on now, as we speak, I’ll explain [in] a sauna, a round sauna. I’m going to put one in the corner of my trees and I’m going to have pavers and I’m going to put a cold dip next to it.

After I got back from ‘Rock the Block’, I made a wood shop in my garage and attached these wood panels to my wall. I bought these wooden panels and hung them on my wall in my house.

I found this house before I started ‘Rock the Block’, but now, knowing what I know now, I’m looking forward to moving again, probably [in] the next four years.