American singer-songwriter, record producer, multi-instrumentalist, and actor Leonard Albert Kravitz was born on May 26, 1964. He has developed a highly unique vision that combines several genres, eras, styles, and inspirations. Some of the most popular genres Lenny Kravitz works with are rock, blues, soul, R&B, funk, jazz, reggae, hard rock, psychedelic, pop, and folk. He received several honours and also established a record for the most prizes in a row in one category. In the course of his career, Lenny Kravitz has sold more than 40 million records globally.

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Lenny Kravitz _©Gage Skidmore

Kravitz Design

Lenny Kravitz founded Kravitz Design Inc. in 2003, situated in New York City. Kravitz Design’s primary areas of concentration are commercial, residential, and product creative direction and design. The work of Kravitz Design always transmits a soulful elegance via a natural, comfortable sense of style, according to its vision statement, which describes it as a creative conceptual firm emphasising on interiors, industrial design, branding, and graphic design.

Lenny Kravitz has designed public areas and suites for hotels in Miami, Las Vegas, and Toronto throughout the 16 years since he founded Kravitz Design. He has also created goods ranging from furniture and door hardware to wallpaper and ceramic tile. Lenny Kravitz comes from an artistic and creative background, and he continually challenges conventions and forges fresh avenues for artistic expression to create every conceivable piece of art. Kravitz has a variety of opulent homes in various cities and villages. His background’s taste and method of sculpting space affect all habitable environments. Lenny Kravitz’s personal initiatives have received much of his taste and aesthetic expression.

An inside look at Kravitz’s Brazilian retreat.

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The lawn of Kravitz’s house in Brazil_©Simon Upton

One of his most fascinating side projects was his Property, a recreation of a Brazilian coffee estate from the eighteenth century outside Rio de Janeiro. About ten years ago, Lenny Kravitz visited Brazil on tour and became incredibly drawn to the country’s people, culture, music, and landscape. He immediately felt a strong connection to everything. Kravitz slept on the Property for a night and became engrossed in the enchanted beauty of the incredibly verdant surroundings. We were “nestled in a valley, surrounded by mountains, with waterfalls, cows, horses, monkeys, fruit orchards, and vegetable fields—the complete panoply of nature,” the speaker recalled.

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Brazilian Retreat ancillary space_©Simon Upton

When he acquired the almost 1,000-acre expanse two years later, Lenny Kravitz decided to keep the farm’s operations while creating a private refuge for family, friends, and partners where art and nature could dwell in perfect harmony. 

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Brazilian Retreat pool area_©Simon Upton

Lenny Kravitz transformed some farmhouses and barns on the expansive Property into guest quarters, a gym, a poolhouse, and a recording studio. The Property comprises a real town of 19th-century Portuguese colonial-style farmhouses and outbuildings. He just began his remodelling work by making the old structures lighter and brighter. He also started bringing furniture and artwork to decorate the newly painted rooms.

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Master Suite’s wall covered with Palm-Inspired Mural_©Simon Upton

The location is honoured with furniture designed by Brazilian masters, including Oscar Niemeyer, Sergio Rodrigues, and Jorge Zalszupin, as well as traditional Brazilian tiles and other regional accents. 

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Modern furnishing with vintage touch in drawing room area_©Simon Upton

With his trademark flamboyant flair, Lenny Kravitz added a variety of midcentury modern furnishings, including works by Warren Platner and Eero Saarinen, as well as one-of-a-kind creations from his design studio and opulent extras like vintage Paco Rabanne wall hangings and a Kawai clear-acrylic grand piano.

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The living room of Brazilian Retreat_©Simon Upton

Additionally, Lenny Kravitz asked friends who were also artists to stop by and add their works, including various foliate paintings that adorned the walls. Naturally, the musician left his imprint. But for Kravitz, the continuous work is less about preserving his secluded refuge’s futuristic aesthetics than conserving its spiritual force.  

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Earthy look for the kitchen with modern furnishing_©Simon Upton

An inside look at Kravitz’s Miami Mansion

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Waterfront home in Miami_©Danielle Fox

Miami’s Mediterranean-style mansion on Sunset Island II, which formerly belonged to Lenny Kravitz, was sold in 2005 for $16.5 million. The 25,000-square-foot estate has a guesthouse, pavilion with a summer kitchen, saltwater pool, Jacuzzi, and private beach. The approximately 12,000-square-foot house has six bedrooms, arched windows and doors, a home office, a gym, and a theatre.

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Backyard with pool_©Danielle Fox

Previously owned by Lenny Kravitz, the house showcases unusual furnishings and intriguing textures designed as a gathering place. This home is all white, and Miami decorating trends tend to like it. The modern house has 100 feet of shoreline on Biscayne Bay and is finished with Calcutta marble. 

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The beautiful ceiling in the family_©Danielle Fox

The 3,500-square-foot living area has windows that look out into Biscayne Bay. It is painted a crisp white, and the highlight piece is a large wooden table. Some windows open to a magnificent pool in addition to offering a fantastic view of the water form.

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Luxurious white themed bedroom in waterfront property of Miami_© Danielle Fox

The major portion of the home connects to the wonderful western side with an excellent outlook. It lets outside light inside the house. There is an eating room and a sitting area in the well-lit kitchen. It’s an Italian kitchen from Boffi. Calcutta marble is used across the floors, and the cabinetry has a black lacquer finish.

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Kitchen along with dining area_©Danielle Fox
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Private meditation garden area_©Danielle Fox

An inside look at Kravitz’s Los Angeles Mansion.

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The Stanley House offers panoramic views and a dazzling outdoor deck and transparent pool._© Simon Berlyn

With views of the city and the ocean, the modern residence sits on a hilltop in Hollywood Hills West, about a third of an acre above the Sunset Strip. The Stanley House, the city’s first single-family home, recently went on the market for $38 million. It has the best promontory view in all of Los Angeles, with unhindered 270-degree bird’s-eye views and the utmost solitude. The house is on the 50-yard line of Los Angeles; Chateau Marmont, Runyon Canyon, and all of Hollywood’s entertainment are nearby, while Beverly Hills is a 10-minute drive away.

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The Stanley House in secluded Hollywood hills_© Simon Berlyn

Lenny Kravitz, the project’s design director, chose the furniture and items and added embellishments made of exotic wood and stone. The home was designed by Austin Kelly and Monika Haefelfinger, co-founders of XTEN Architecture and a husband and wife team who passed away in 2015. It was Kelly’s final project. 

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Wide indoor-outdoor spaces promoting visual connectivity_© Simon Berlyn

The project is a combination of classic and modern design, said Hilton & Hyland agent Branden Williams, who is listed as a manager of the business that owns the Property. Williams said, “We searched far and low for interior designers who could infuse this building with such profound personality, and that’s what Lenny Kravitz and his team did. You are uncertain of the time period in which you are now located. We meant to keep everyone confused”.

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The staircase adjacent to the water element _© Simon Berlyn

A lovely staircase connects the three levels of living space, which also feature terraces and an outside patio. The continuous Vitrocsa doors separate the 10,700 square foot house’s interior from the exterior.

Dark woods, marbleized walls, countertops, and bars, leather furniture, velvet ottomans, plush carpets, bespoke closets, stylish wicker deck chairs, several fireplaces, enormous glass windows, and a nightclub on the first level are all features of the house.

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The open Kitchen _© Simon Berlyn

Artist Retna creates art both in galleries and public spaces. The fully-immersive home has five bedrooms, seven bathrooms, and a master suite with numerous zones. It is created as a distinctively Californian experience, fusing exquisite one-of-a-kind design with once-in-a-lifetime living practicality.

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Different exotic textures and materials with the collaboration of dim lighting _© Simon Berlyn

A 12,000-pound granite block served as the foundation for the outdoor fire element. The swimming pool, which is round and 70 feet wide, seems to float in the air. A hydraulic lift is used to open and close the “invisible” garage door. The sombre, gloomy home strikes the appropriate notes with its brilliant glowing semicircle pool, seductive lighting, flickering candles, cosy fire sconces, and torches.

Williams cites lighting as one of the house’s most crucial features. We didn’t want any LED lights inside since we wanted to showcase the incredibly cosy, seductive lighting of movie stars. The gloomy illumination highlights the unusual decor even more.

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One of the five bedrooms_© Simon Berlyn

The house uses a variety of unusual and distinctive materials, such as travertine, basalt stone from Bali, Hawaiian lava rock, and other stones chosen from all around the world. A number of Brazilian exotic timbers are also used extensively.

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Master bathroom with spectacular vistas _© Simon Berlyn

An inside look at Kravitz’s Townhouse in Paris.

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Fireplace of Paris townhouse_©Francois Halard

Lenny Kravitz’s Paris residence, a four-story hotel particulier, is located in the city’s 16th arrondissement and is concealed by palm fronds and bamboos. It was constructed in the 1920s to serve as the US Embassy in France, but it currently holds a diverse collection of modern artwork, exquisite instruments, and museum-quality artefacts. 

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_The Living area_©Francois Halard

Lenny Kravitz lives in a four-story, unabashedly opulent home in Paris. It was constructed in the 1920s and underwent a complete renovation in 2008. It is tucked away at the end of a quiet cul-de-sac and backs up to a public park. The home is a huge 1,500 square metres, or 16,145 square feet, and features a soigné entryway, a roomy living room with garden access and two other sitting rooms, as well as four kitchens, two laundry rooms, and seven bedrooms with suite bathrooms. The Lenny Kravitz home features a fully equipped kitchen, maid service, forced air heating and cooling, many closets on each level, and modern communication and security systems. It also comes completely furnished and with housekeeping services.

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The staircase at the entrance connecting other floors_©Francois Halard

The Lenny Kravitz townhouse in Paris features a wealth of intricate and exotic architectural details, including extensive wall tracery and a marble staircase with curlicue wrought iron railing, as well as an enviable collection of top-tier works by well-known artists like Walker Evans, Andy Warhol, and Jean-Michel Basquiat.

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The exotic interior details in seating areas_©Francois Halard

It is a museum-worthy collection of significant contemporary furnishings that complements modern art, much of which is hung in gilded frames. These pieces include a set of white leather Ligne Roset’s iconic Togo sofas, numerous and excellent works by German-born designer Karl Springer, a rare gilded Hand Foot Chair in the master bathroom by sublime Mexican designer and artist Pedro Friedeberg, and, on an upper floor stair landing, a one-of-a-kind “Monster” console.

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Glamorous dining area arrangements_©Francois Halard

An entire interior of the house is an extravaganza of flashy and decoratively eccentric trinkets to the high-impact glamour, such as a number of magnificent Baccarat, Venini, and Swarovski chandeliers, several footstools covered in zebra print, two enormous elephant tusks that guard the fireplace in the main salon, and a lively plexiglass grand piano in the double-height stair hall.

An inside look at Kravitz’s Former New Orleans Hideaway.

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New Orleans cottage_© Miao Li

A glimpse at the 19th-century cottage that the rocker turned into a chic urban retreat for Mardi Gras. This $1.16 million Creole villa, located just a block from Bourbon Street’s bustle, may appear dilapidated, but its interiors are unexpectedly glitzy. The 19th-century house was purchased by musician Lenny Kravitz in 1994. The 1,800 square feet of living space is split over two storeys, with one bedroom taking up the entire upper floor. The rocker-turned-designer then gutted the interiors while retaining what the listing refers to as an “artfully distressed façade.”

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The living area of a New Orleans cottage with black oak floor, exposed brick wall and wall coverings by Flavor paper _© Miao Li

According to reports, Lenny Kravitz lived there for a while before demolishing the interior of the original cottage and replacing it with a very modern, cocoon-like rock star hideaway with few windows, exposed brick walls, a vaulted exposed beam ceiling, and gleaming ebony-coloured hardwood floors that reflect light.

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The spiral staircase imported from France in the living area leads to the mezzanine floor_© Miao Li

The main living area features an Ingrid Bergman-owned Lucite grand piano, wing-backed chairs covered in zebra skins that match the zebra skin rug, eye-catching, shimmery silver wallpaper by Flavor Paper, a flat-screen television mounted in a mirrored niche, an enormous pink portrait of Billie Holiday, and a large sectional sofa covered in gleaming black material that resembles slippery alligator skin that would stick to bare thighs on a hot.

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The open kitchen with 14-foot long granite island_© Miao Li

For his bedroom and sleek private bathroom, Kravitz partitioned off a small portion of the interior space. Overlooking the main living space, a bedroom loft that can accommodate overnight guests is only accessible by a built-in ladder. 

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The bedroom on the mezzanine floor_© Miao Li
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Use of skylights in the bedroom to entertain natural light to the space_© Miao Li

The listing information describes a small courtyard at the back of the house as “Metro Chic,” a style that reportedly calls for enormous wicker patio furniture with white canvas cushions, a sizable strangely Asian glass top coffee table, some bamboo, and a lot of potted ferns.

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The master Bathroom_© Miao Li
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The curtains separating the living room and courtyard_© Miao Li

An inside look at Kravitz’s first New York Building Design.

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A vintage Milo Baughman sofa in a graphic-print fabric is a living room standout_©Evan Joseph

The encompassing attitude is physically expressed in New York Building Design. The first New York City structure with interiors by Lenny Kravitz Design is Penthouse B, a $7.7 million duplex residence presented by the French furniture tycoon Ligne Roset. 

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The living room of Kravitz’s house in NYC_©Evan Joseph

It is a lavish triplex penthouse of 6167 square feet with an extra 3000 square feet of charming terraces in Sohos’ most sought-after full-service pre-war condominium. Enter via a keyed elevator to either floor. This magnificent sun-filled loft has five bedrooms, four bathrooms, four powder rooms, a huge gourmet eat-in kitchen with a walk-in butler’s pantry, a separate formal dining room that faces East enclosed in a glass solarium, an expansive living room with fireplace, and a library/media room. 

It is also surrounded by unquestionably one of the most stunning private terraces in all of Soho. A distinct private master suite with spa, pass-through dressing area, and private patio is reached by a floating glass staircase. It is also surrounded by unquestionably one of the most stunning private terraces in all of Soho. A distinct private master suite with spa, pass-through dressing area, and private patio is reached by a floating glass staircase.

Ligne Roset requested that Lenny Kravitz Design use the same range of materials and textures throughout the apartment, including smooth stones, textured metals, and solid oak, in order to make the interiors cohesive with the rest of the structure.

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With many windows, it’s a truly light-filled residence_©Evan Joseph

A significant effect was colour. There are a few places in the room where brighter colours stand out, but there are also some that are a little more understated. The Togo sectional, which is pleated and a more muted shade of blue than the vivid, cerulean pumpkin chair in the same room, is one of the most well-known pieces of furniture from the company. The neutral and blue colours, according to Simone Vingerhoets-Ziemann, managing director of Ligne Roset Americas, are an allusion to the confluence of the night sky and the concrete jungle.

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The kitchen with features like custom cabinetry and Gaggenau appliances._©Evan Joseph

From the beds to the taupe and green chairs on the balcony, every piece of furniture in the room is from the Ligne Roset collection. However, the project also has other well-known brands; the kitchen has Gaggenau equipment, and the entire apartment is decorated with six landscape pictures by Modernist Cuisine Gallery photographer Nathan Myhrvold. According to developer Dan Hollander of DHA Capital, the latter is particularly notable because it will be the first time that the former Microsoft CTO’s work will be displayed in New York City.

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One of the bedrooms._©Evan Joseph

An automated parking garage, a 24-hour concierge, a fully furnished gym, a courtyard, and rooftop space are among the building features. From the wooden-slat screens in the gym to the quartzite and travertine floors in the lobby, each features details that the Lenny Kravitz Design team has meticulously chosen.

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The Staircase connecting the upper floor consisting bedrooms._©Evan Joseph
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The outdoor terrace._©Evan Joseph

References:

  • Wikipedia.com (2007) Lenny Kravitz (Last updated 2 October 2022) [Online]

Available at- 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lenny_Kravitz

  • Kravitzdesign.com (2021) Kravitz Design [Online]

Available at-

https://kravitzdesign.com/

  • Architecturaldigest.com (2022) Step Inside Lenny Kravitz’s Otherworldly Brazilian Compound  [Online]

Available at-

https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/set-foot-onto-lenny-kravitzs-otherworldly-brazilian-compound

  • Maianmidesigndistrict.eu CELEBRITY HOME IN MIAMI: LENNY KRAVITZ HOUSE [Online]

Available at-

http://www.miamidesigndistrict.eu/design/celebrity-home-in-miami-lenny-kravitz-house/

  • Forbes.com (2017) Lenny Kravitz Designs Sexy Interiors For $38 Million Hollywood Hills Estate [Online] 

Available at-

https://www.forbes.com/sites/keithflamer/2017/12/20/sunset-strip-tease-lenny-kravitz-designs-sexy-interiors-for-38-million-hollywood-hills-estate/?sh=65e4817e569f 

  • Dirt.com (2015) Lenny Kravitz to Let Louche Hôtel Particuliar in Paris , (2010) Lenny Kravitz Lists Creole Cottage in The Big Easy [Online]

Available at-

https://www.dirt.com/more-dirt/real-estate-listings/lenny-kravitz-to-let-louche-hotel-particuliar-in-paris-1203529209/ 

https://www.dirt.com/more-dirt/real-estate-listings/lenny-kravitz-lists-creole-cottage-in-the-big-easy-1203473988/

  • Robbreport.com (2020) Inside a $7.7 Million NYC Penthouse That’s in a Building with Interiors by Lenny Kravitz [Online]

Available at-

https://robbreport.com/shelter/homes-for-sale/kravitz-design-nolita-penthouse-1234587882/ 

Author

Ayushi Samarth is a freshly graduate architect. Reading, understanding and writing upon the analysis made have always been the keen interests of Ayushi. She has always been curious in understanding the impact of social issues on architecture and design. Dealing with the theory of user and context interaction with architecture and narrating the story of architecture always has her attention.