Loren Ridinger Opens the Doors to Her 'Sleek' Miami Penthouse (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

Loren Ridinger in her Miami penthouse.Photo:Amelia Riley

Amelia Riley

Loren Ridingercontinues to honor her late husbandJRevery single day — especially at the Downtown Miami penthouse they once shared.The Market America CEO — whose new bookScrambled or Sunny-Side Up?is out now — opened up to PEOPLE about the chic design style reflected in her home and why this place is so special to her.She and her husband were renovating their longtime Miami Beach abode when they decided to take the leap and purchase the stunning penthouse that overlooks Biscayne Bay and the Atlantic Ocean beyond.She wanted to create a completely different feeling in this place while they waited for their primary residence to be finished, she shares.Amelia Riley“We looked at all these penthouses and this was the first one we saw, and we went back to it again. [JR] said, ‘I just want to live in this place quietly with you while we enjoy our life,’” Loren recalls. “And so we did, and we furnished it with a totally different look than we’re used to having.”While they sadly only had “a few months together” in their downtown home, following JR’ssudden death in August 2022, Loren tells PEOPLE that she “still has the same feelings about it as when I moved in.”Loren Ridinger’s Miami penthouse.Amelia Riley“It’s very Miami penthouse,” she says of the “modern and chic” aesthetic reflected in the space. While she wanted it to be “very clean and organized” with “sleek lines” throughout, she made sure to balance it out with texture and natural elements.“Even though we use a lot of white and blue clay, we put wood paneling on some of the walls. We did a lot of cool things that would bring in texture throughout the house so it wouldn’t feel so stark.“As the place is massive (around 11,000 square feet!), Loren had to ask herself, “How do we make this a warm space? So we brought in a lot of plants, and we created little landscapes throughout where people could cop a squat and read a book.”She continues, “My husband is notorious for walking and stopping along the way, and sitting and finishing an email. So I kind of created a space where you could do that everywhere.”Loren adds that while she leans towards a more “high-glam, family-oriented” style in her other home, she “just took a chance” on design features in the penthouse that she “would never do in a house.” And it turned out exactly how she wanted.Loren Ridinger’s Miami penthouse.Amelia RileyWhile she loves every aspect of the home, her absolute favorite feature is the “sentimental” tribute she dedicated to her husband after his death.As she details in her new book, JR was known for writing thousands of love letters to Loren over the course of their 36-year relationship.“He had given me literally 5,000 love letters. We were in the same house, and he would write me a letter. So I love that about him, and I saved them all these years,” she tells PEOPLE. “I saved them in different boxes, different houses. When he died, I went crazy looking for them all.”Loren Ridinger’s tribute to late husband JR in their Miami penthouse.Amelia RileyLoren then carefully placed her collection of letters in a Louis Vuitton trunk along with a special photo of the couple holding hands on a plane that JR had on display in his office. Above the trunk, she placed a “beautiful” Domingo Zapata painting of her husband that says, “The King That Became an Angel."“So it’s kind of our forever journey together,” she shares. “I filled that box with all the love letters, all the cards he gave me. It’s really sentimental and it’s probably my favorite thing in the entire house.”Loren Ridinger and her book, ‘Scrambled or Sunny-Side Up?'.Amelia RileyShe notes that it became a place where not only could she begin to heal after his death, but where her and JR’s daughter, Amber, and her three kids could too.“That kind of became my place where I would go have a cry or just sit there and talk about something so personal. And it’s a place that I think my grandchildren now have felt comfortable opening up the box on their own. It’s a different way of getting to know him.”Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.‘Scrambled or Sunny-Side Up?’ book cover.TGC WorldwideWhileScrambled or Sunny-Side Up?explores Loren’s journey of grieving her husband, it is not just a book about grief.“There’s so many lessons in it,” Loren tells PEOPLE. “I never really saw what [JR] did for me until after I lost him. And so the lessons are far bigger than the grief because it’s more about seeing those things when people are alive now.”Loren — who co-founded the global marketing company Market America with JR in 1992 — wants her book to empower readers to live fully and find strength in working through grief. The memoir’s title pays tribute to a question JR would ask her every morning before the pair sat down to have breakfast.Loren Ridinger in her Miami penthouse.Amelia RileyIn addition to also inspiring her readers to bring back the art of writing letters, just like JR did, she strives to “share the gift of believing in themselves” like she says he encouraged her to do.“I wish I had told him, thank you for changing my life too. Thank you for believing in me enough,”  she says of her husband. “I want people to be able to say that to somebody now before they leave, before they lose them, and to realize, ‘I don’t need a thousand people to tell me I can do it. I’m enough.’”To learn or Sunny Side-Up?, visit the book’sofficial website.

Loren Ridingercontinues to honor her late husbandJRevery single day — especially at the Downtown Miami penthouse they once shared.

The Market America CEO — whose new bookScrambled or Sunny-Side Up?is out now — opened up to PEOPLE about the chic design style reflected in her home and why this place is so special to her.

She and her husband were renovating their longtime Miami Beach abode when they decided to take the leap and purchase the stunning penthouse that overlooks Biscayne Bay and the Atlantic Ocean beyond.

She wanted to create a completely different feeling in this place while they waited for their primary residence to be finished, she shares.

“We looked at all these penthouses and this was the first one we saw, and we went back to it again. [JR] said, ‘I just want to live in this place quietly with you while we enjoy our life,’” Loren recalls. “And so we did, and we furnished it with a totally different look than we’re used to having.”

While they sadly only had “a few months together” in their downtown home, following JR’ssudden death in August 2022, Loren tells PEOPLE that she “still has the same feelings about it as when I moved in.”

Loren Ridinger’s Miami penthouse.Amelia Riley

“It’s very Miami penthouse,” she says of the “modern and chic” aesthetic reflected in the space. While she wanted it to be “very clean and organized” with “sleek lines” throughout, she made sure to balance it out with texture and natural elements.

“Even though we use a lot of white and blue clay, we put wood paneling on some of the walls. We did a lot of cool things that would bring in texture throughout the house so it wouldn’t feel so stark.”

As the place is massive (around 11,000 square feet!), Loren had to ask herself, “How do we make this a warm space? So we brought in a lot of plants, and we created little landscapes throughout where people could cop a squat and read a book.”

She continues, “My husband is notorious for walking and stopping along the way, and sitting and finishing an email. So I kind of created a space where you could do that everywhere.”

Loren adds that while she leans towards a more “high-glam, family-oriented” style in her other home, she “just took a chance” on design features in the penthouse that she “would never do in a house.” And it turned out exactly how she wanted.

While she loves every aspect of the home, her absolute favorite feature is the “sentimental” tribute she dedicated to her husband after his death.

As she details in her new book, JR was known for writing thousands of love letters to Loren over the course of their 36-year relationship.

“He had given me literally 5,000 love letters. We were in the same house, and he would write me a letter. So I love that about him, and I saved them all these years,” she tells PEOPLE. “I saved them in different boxes, different houses. When he died, I went crazy looking for them all.”

Loren Ridinger’s tribute to late husband JR in their Miami penthouse.Amelia Riley

Loren then carefully placed her collection of letters in a Louis Vuitton trunk along with a special photo of the couple holding hands on a plane that JR had on display in his office. Above the trunk, she placed a “beautiful” Domingo Zapata painting of her husband that says, “The King That Became an Angel."

“So it’s kind of our forever journey together,” she shares. “I filled that box with all the love letters, all the cards he gave me. It’s really sentimental and it’s probably my favorite thing in the entire house.”

Loren Ridinger and her book, ‘Scrambled or Sunny-Side Up?'.Amelia Riley

She notes that it became a place where not only could she begin to heal after his death, but where her and JR’s daughter, Amber, and her three kids could too.

“That kind of became my place where I would go have a cry or just sit there and talk about something so personal. And it’s a place that I think my grandchildren now have felt comfortable opening up the box on their own. It’s a different way of getting to know him.”

Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

‘Scrambled or Sunny-Side Up?’ book cover.TGC Worldwide

TGC Worldwide

WhileScrambled or Sunny-Side Up?explores Loren’s journey of grieving her husband, it is not just a book about grief.

“There’s so many lessons in it,” Loren tells PEOPLE. “I never really saw what [JR] did for me until after I lost him. And so the lessons are far bigger than the grief because it’s more about seeing those things when people are alive now.”

Loren — who co-founded the global marketing company Market America with JR in 1992 — wants her book to empower readers to live fully and find strength in working through grief. The memoir’s title pays tribute to a question JR would ask her every morning before the pair sat down to have breakfast.

Loren Ridinger in her Miami penthouse.Amelia Riley

In addition to also inspiring her readers to bring back the art of writing letters, just like JR did, she strives to “share the gift of believing in themselves” like she says he encouraged her to do.

“I wish I had told him, thank you for changing my life too. Thank you for believing in me enough,”  she says of her husband. “I want people to be able to say that to somebody now before they leave, before they lose them, and to realize, ‘I don’t need a thousand people to tell me I can do it. I’m enough.’”

To learn or Sunny Side-Up?, visit the book’sofficial website.

source: people.com