From “Inside Lenny Kravitz’s Regal Paris Home | Open Door | Architectural Digest” by Architectural Digest
Inside Lenny Kravitz's Paris home, Hotel D. Roxy
A house built to make music, and to remember.
Key points
- Kravitz's design approach is 'soulful elegance': elegant and sophisticated, but with soul, heart and spirit, because design without feeling is just designer names. 4:14
- Comfort matters most: a room must be comfortable to work, even when its lines, silhouettes, fabrics, lighting and art are all good. 7:06
- Kravitz fills the house with objects tied to people who changed, inspired or educated him, such as items linked to Jimi Hendrix, James Brown, Prince, Bob Marley, Miles Davis and John Lennon. 9:47
- A room gains energy from a few substantial, bold pieces rather than many small ones, which is why his bedroom holds only a bed, two chairs, two tables, two lamps and a console. 11:56
- The house is built as a record of his family and history: he moved into an empty house 22 years ago, furnished it as he felt then, and kept evolving it, and says he does not expect to touch it again in his lifetime. 0:44
Words the video explains
- recreation — Kravitz defines 'recreation' as the process of continually renewing oneself so an artist stays inspired. 11:12
- Soulful elegance — Kravitz's name for his design style: elegance and sophistication with soul, heart and spirit, authentic to who you are. 4:28
- Roxy Rune — The name of the petite salon, dedicated to his mother. 3:23
Rooms in the order he walks them
- 1. Entry hall and staircase — Kravitz welcomes the viewer, names the house after his mother and shows the Steinway piano under the staircase. 0:28
- 2. Petite salon (Roxy Rune) — A dark-panelled salon dedicated to his mother, with framed photographs of her and a chandelier. 3:20
- 3. Grass salon — The room built around Muhammad Ali and Andy Warhol, where he receives guests and plays music. 5:32
- 4. Dining room — A dark dining room centred on his grandfather's photograph, with a long black table and African-style chairs. 7:36
- 5. Library — A library filled with his mother's books, including African art books, and James Brown's boots. 9:39
- 6. Work floor (studio) — The basement studio with objects linked to musicians who inspired him, including a shirt once belonging to John Lennon. 10:11
- 7. Bedroom — A large, quiet bedroom with an oval plan, a bed, two chairs, rugs and no television. 11:48
Things to look at closely
- Steinway grand piano — A wooden grand piano with a zigzag inlaid pattern and handcarved legs stands in the entry hall.
- Piano inlaid pattern — Close view of the piano body showing dark geometric triangle and zigzag marquetry across the wood.
- Agate tabletop — Slices of banded agate set into a dark glossy table top, lit from beneath.
- Red fringed leather jacket — A red leather jacket with long fringe hangs in a clear acrylic display case on a dark wall.
- Framed black-and-white photograph — A framed black-and-white photograph of a guitarist and a seated woman hangs on a dark wall.