Is this the 'Home of the Century?'

Lenny Kravitz's Parisian home makes me want to fly away with inspiration!

Lenny Kravitz recently broke the architectural internet with a photo shoot of his Paris home, published in Architectural Digest. the sister publication (lol) to this Afri-tectural Digest.

I thought I’d seen it all ….but this home is crazy . Crazy on a level where it might even be the Home of the Century. Not just because of the 22 year curation process, the iconic Parisian location and architecture or the design masterpieces. These are fundamental but what tips the balance is the deep ancestral energy and LOVE that come across so powerfully.

Through every room, Kravtitz honours and celebrates his African heritage. In his own words, the house is about “Black history, American, African, it’s all African” - you tell them Lenny!

This makes for pure interior design magic and I have learnt so much from pouring over the small and larger details of the house and which I will, with the greatest of pleasure, share with you. What makes it really exciting is that so many aspects of the interior design are replicable in our own homes, so we can all sprinkle Kravitz energy in our lived spaces.

Kravitz’s own term for the energy he brings to his home is ‘soulful elegance’ which he explains in the quote below:

‘Soulful elegance’ means it’s designed, curated, balanced, not too minimal, not too maximalist,” he explains. “It’s comfortable, clearly. But also chic. It’s got a lot of ethnic and African elements mixed with European, because I love that balance of African, European, and Afrofuturism mixed with midcentury pieces. I love things that are extremely glamorous and also extremely brutal.

Let’s go in together for a deeper dive. AD did actually make quite a good attempt to label the provenance of most of the African pieces photographed, which makes this job a lot easier, although they couldn’t resist the following statement which did rankle me, the house contains

“Warhol masterpieces, African artifacts, and rare furnishings by Paul Evans, Karl Springer, Afra and Tobia Scarpa, Joe Colombo”.

As usual absolutely everyone gets a name check apart from the African pieces. Let’s rectify that here with our Afri-tectural Digest and see just how Lenny created his soulful elegance.

The Grand Salon: Muhammed Ali, Bamileke Tusks and Beni Ourain rugs and Senufo birds

This picture could be the newsletter it itself, where do we begin?! What draws your eyes first? Maybe the lithographs of Muhammed Ali (by Andy Warhol) which dominate the room. They are sensational. And what is lovely is Lenny says it is not just the beauty of the images that attracted him, but also the significance of the great man himself and his brave fight for equality.

Also note the layered Beni Ourain Moroccan rugs . Stupendous Bamileke tusks from Cameroon dominate the fireplace sourced from his favourite boutique and my personal favourite, the pair of 19th century Senufo birds from Ivory Coast.

Placed alongside these African masterpieces are Western masterpieces, like the 1970s Ado Chale coffee table in the centre, which I don’t think the photo does justice, but is £116,000 worth of hand sculpted beauty. Which brings me to a point. Our African masterpieces are often highly undervalued, a Senufo Bird or pair of Bamileke Tusks would be a fraction of this. Even less if you patronise contemporary artisans. And the picture show how well they work in a European neoclassical type setting. What is stopping more of us from making a conscious effort to include large scale African hand carvings in our homes too?

I love that he also designed the Swarovski chandelier - the items in the room that you think are completely Eurocentric, are not at all, they also have Kravitz’s soulful elegance!

The Hallway: The Kravitz Grand

Kravitz is making the ultimate musician’s flex in this photograph. Five years ago, he partnered with Steinway & Sons to produce the Kravitz Grand, a limited-edition of handcrafted pianos in hard maple, Madagascar ebony, and bronze, with African-style wood carvings on the case and legs. The piano looks stupendous, with lots of beautiful close ups available on the video tour. Look closely and you will see an animal print piano stool next to it! I am all set to re-upholster my stool now, what an easy way to add soulful elegance in any home that has a piano, no matter if, like mine, the piano is a long way off a Kravitz Grand!

But look behind Lenny! What’s that formidable sculpture? No credit from AD sadly but I think it is a Baba Nimba mask from the Guinea coast, its looks wonderful and a perfect juxtaposition next to the piano.

The ancestors take centre stage

Studying ancient African homes for my upcoming book I noticed how in every traditional home there is a sacred space reserved for the ancestors. Not only that, but ancestors are often buried in a location just outside the home.. So everyday lives were shared with both the living and the dead in the most spiritual, non-spooky and beautiful way.

The essence of these traditions are being continued into the modern day - see the recent newsletter from ‘Keep on Living’ which is a wonderful substack account about Black interiors.

Lenny says he can feel his ancestor’s presence in the house and that the entire home is a tribute to his ancestors. The two photographs below show the Petit Salon, a room devoted to Lenny’s mama (something only single men would be allowed to get away with!) The second is wonderful photograph of his grandfather dominating the dining room.

One thing to note are the beautiful frames, even Kravitz himself says he winced at the framing cost, as they are Louvre Musuem quality. However it makes a good point to not forget the impact of a good frame, which can elevate the most grainy or mundane of pictures.

The collector’s items

Everyone can collect something! I collect postcards and pick one up wherever I go somewhere new. Lenny happens to have a slightly bigger ambition and budget and collects incredible rockstar memorabilia - including Muhammad Ali’s Adidas lace-up boxing boots and several pairs of James Brown’s shoes. For Kravitz shoes have a powerful symbolism given “the whole thing of walking in someone’s shoes and their journey,”

Kravtiz also hangs up poster that had been in his childhood home. Which reminded me that collections don’t always have to be things we go out and buy, it can be our very own personal archive. Your child’s first pair of walking shoes on a shelf. A wonderful report card from the 80s framed in a hallway. A postcard sent from a loved one. All these are things I have collected and am sure you have some too and they can call be used to give our homes some ‘soulful elegance’. Kravitz himself says that a house with design and elegance without telling your story and where you have been, becomes a house just full of “stuff”

A house with design and elegance without telling your story and where you have been, becomes a house just full of “stuff”.

Lenny Kravitz

The Library: A Geoffrey Holder !

Oh man, when I saw Lenny Kravitz had a Geoffrey Holder painting, I swooned. When I saw it was of Diahann Carroll I was so impressed but when I read Diahann Carrol was his Godmother I almost fainted! Could this man be any cooler? Could there be anything his house did not give to the max?!

In case you have not come across him before, Geoffrey Holder in a wonderful late Trinidadian American an artist and a painter and he and his brother Bosceo created some wonderful pieces, which I think are highly undervalued and I would love to own one one day.

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