Liesl Martinez Balaguer is a Dominican-American architect and designer best known professionally for her work in architecture and, more broadly, as the wife of American actor Wilson Bethel.
She earned her architecture degree from the Pratt Institute in New York and has built an independent career in design that predates the public attention her marriage brought.
Who is Liesl Martinez Balaguer?
Liesl Martinez Balaguer is a professional architect and designer who was born in the Dominican Republic and later moved to the United States for her education and career.
She works in architecture and interior design, with a practice focused on structure, aesthetics, and personal meaning in the spaces she creates. Her creative sensibility is both technically grounded and artistically driven.
She came to broader public attention through her relationship with Wilson Bethel, an American actor known for roles in Hart of Dixie, Daredevil, and All Rise.
Despite that association, she has maintained a clearly separate professional identity. Her work exists on its own terms, independent of Hollywood.
Liesl Martinez Balaguer is a private person by nature. She gives few interviews and shares limited personal details in public spaces.
That discretion has made her a subject of curiosity for fans of her husband who want to know more about the woman behind the relationship.
Her story is one of quiet determination. She built her professional identity through rigorous education and creative practice, not through public performance or celebrity.
Early Life of Liesl Martinez Balaguer
Liesl Martinez Balaguer was born in the Dominican Republic, where she spent her early years before moving to the United States to pursue higher education.
The details of her upbringing, including the names of her parents and whether she has siblings, remain private. She has kept that part of her life deliberately out of public view.
Growing up in the Dominican Republic gave her a cultural foundation that has informed her approach to design.
Her multicultural background, moving between the Caribbean and the United States, shaped her aesthetic sensibility and her appreciation for how spaces carry meaning across different cultural contexts.
She has not spoken publicly about her childhood in detail. What is known is that she left the Dominican Republic to pursue an architecture education in one of the most demanding design programs in the United States, which speaks to both her ambition and her preparation.
Liesl Martinez Balaguer Age / Birthday
Liesl Martinez Balaguer’s exact date of birth has not been publicly confirmed. She is believed to be in her 40s as of 2026, based on multiple reports indicating she was born in the 1980s.
Liesl has chosen to keep her birth date private, consistent with her broader approach to personal information.
She continues to work as an architect and designer while raising her daughter with Wilson Bethel in Utah.
Liesl Martinez Balaguer Ethnicity and Nationality
Liesl Martinez Balaguer is Dominican-American. She was born in the Dominican Republic and later became based in the United States, where she built her education and professional career.
Her dual cultural identity has been a quiet but consistent influence on both her personal life and her creative work.
Liesl Martinez Balaguer Education
Liesl Martinez Balaguer completed her undergraduate education at the Pratt Institute in New York City, where she earned a Bachelor of Science in Architecture.
Pratt is widely regarded as one of the most prestigious design and art schools in the United States, and her degree there gave her a rigorous foundation in both the technical and creative dimensions of architectural practice.
Her choice of architecture as a discipline reflects an interest that goes beyond aesthetics. Architecture combines spatial thinking, structural problem-solving, and cultural understanding in ways that suited her background and her creative instincts.
The education she received at Pratt has been the foundation of her professional career. It gave her the tools to move from concept to construction, and to develop the design voice that she has applied across her projects in the years since graduating.
Liesl Martinez Balaguer Career
Liesl Martinez Balaguer has worked as an architect and designer since completing her studies at Pratt Institute.
She operates with a strong focus on residential and personal design projects, bringing both structural knowledge and a refined visual sensibility to her work.
Her career has not been built around public attention, and she has kept the details of her client work and professional history largely private.
Her design approach reflects care for the people who will live in and use the spaces she creates. That attention to human experience within architectural form is a quality noted by those familiar with her work.
She has earned respect within her professional circle for the quality and thoughtfulness of her design practice. Her career stands as a distinct and independently established chapter of her life.
Notable Design Work
One of her most discussed projects is the home she designed for Joyce Maynard, Wilson Bethel’s mother and a celebrated American author.
The house, known as Casa Paloma, is a lakeside property located on the shores of Lake Atitlán in Guatemala.
Maynard has referred to the home warmly in public, and the design has been noted for its sensitivity to its natural setting and to its owner’s personal needs.
Maynard named a guest structure within the property after her granddaughter Una, a detail that reflects both the personal nature of the commission and the closeness of the relationship between Liesl and her mother-in-law.
The project demonstrated Liesl’s ability to carry a design from concept through to a completed home that carries personal meaning.
That commission stands as the most publicly visible example of her work. It connects her architectural practice to her personal life in a way that is both genuine and professionally meaningful.
Liesl Martinez Balaguer Husband
Liesl Martinez Balaguer married American actor Wilson Bethel on November 28, 2020, in a private ceremony organized by Wilson’s brother, Charlie Bethel.
The wedding was intimate and attended by close family and friends, consistent with the couple’s preference for a private personal life. Wilson Bethel is known for his roles in Hart of Dixie, Daredevil, and All Rise, among other productions.
The couple reportedly began dating around 2017, though they kept their relationship out of public view for several years.
The first public confirmation of their relationship came in late 2020, when Wilson’s mother, Joyce Maynard, spent Thanksgiving with the couple in Los Angeles, a detail Maynard shared publicly.
Before her marriage to Wilson Bethel, Liesl was married to Matthew Paul Danison. That marriage took place in August 2015 and ended with a divorce filing in October 2018 at the Orange County Superior Court.
She and Wilson Bethel met and began their relationship in the period following that divorce.
As of 2026, the couple lives in Utah with their daughter. Their relationship has remained private and stable, with both choosing to keep their personal life away from the entertainment media.
Liesl Martinez Balaguer Daughter
Liesl Martinez Balaguer and Wilson Bethel welcomed their daughter, Una Bethel, on November 24, 2022, in Los Angeles, California.
The news of Una’s birth was shared publicly by her grandmother, Joyce Maynard, who expressed joy at the arrival of her granddaughter on social media.
The couple themselves have not shared images of Una publicly, in keeping with their commitment to protecting their child’s privacy.
Una’s arrival was a celebrated moment for both sides of the family. Maynard described her granddaughter warmly in subsequent posts and also named a guest structure at her Lake Atitlán home after Una, a tribute that connects family, architecture, and affection in a meaningful way.
The couple has raised Una largely out of the public eye since her birth. Their approach to parenthood reflects the same values of privacy and intentionality that have characterized their relationship from the beginning.
Liesl Martinez Balaguer Net Worth
Liesl Martinez Balaguer’s exact net worth has not been publicly disclosed. Her income comes from her career as a professional architect and designer, a field that rewards experience, specialization, and the quality of projects undertaken.
She has been working in architecture since completing her degree at Pratt Institute, and her practice represents a sustained professional commitment over many years.
Her financial position is independent of her husband’s career. She established herself professionally before their relationship became public, and her earnings reflect her own work in architecture and design.
Wilson Bethel’s net worth is separately estimated at around $4 million as of 2026, based on his acting career across television and film. The couple’s combined household reflects two independently established professional lives.
Liesl Martinez Balaguer Social Media
Liesl Martinez Balaguer maintains an Instagram account under the handle @lieslcmb.
Her presence on the platform is limited and does not include regular personal updates or career announcements.
Conclusion
Liesl Martinez Balaguer is an architect who built her professional identity long before public attention found her, and who has held onto that identity through a marriage that placed her in an unfamiliar spotlight.
Her work, her privacy, and her commitment to family tell a coherent and quietly impressive story.