There are playgrounds perched high in the Hollywood heavens, above Los Angeles’ Sunset Strip, where movie and rock stars unwind. These panoramic chill pads aren’t the cheap seats. The famous and almost famous live and party in these multi-million-dollar roosts with groovy pools and jetliner views—the City of Angels’ best seats in the house.
The Stanley House, one such headlining residence with interiors designed by rock god Lenny Kravitz, just splashed on the market for $38 million. Developed by Williams & Williams Estates, Lyons Development and Crest Real Estate, secluded Stanley House is located one-click from The Strip (in the Hollywood Hills) on what’s considered the premiere promontory view in Los Angeles—boasting supreme privacy and unobstructed 270-degree bird’s-eye vistas. Real estate husband-wife duo Branden and Rayni Williams of Williams & Williams Estates have the listing.
“The home marks the 50-yard line of Los Angeles – it’s minutes from Chateau Marmont, Runyon Canyon and all the entertainment of Hollywood, as well as a 10-minute drive from Beverly Hills,” says Branden Williams.
The 10,000-square-foot mid-century modern estate is the swan song (one of the final designs) of architect Austin Kelly, AIA, founder of XTEN Architecture before his untimely death (the home bears a dedication plaque in his name). The five-bedroom, seven-bathroom fully-immersive home is designed as a uniquely Californian experience, merging once-in-a-lifetime lifestyle functionality with one-of-a-kind luxurious design.
Kravitz served as the estate’s creative design director, composing its Bohemian rocker-meets-James Bond vibe. He designed the home’s striking façade and open, sexy interiors—lavishing love on the home via warm tones, eclectic furniture, curated motifs, and custom art installations by RETNA.
The “Are You Gonna Go My Way” rocker has boldly gone a different way that most celebs, amplifying a seductive niche with his firm Kravitz Design, founded in 2003. His sleek, chic, come-hither style flows freely, anchored to an architectural groove. Then the guitar hero lets love rule—his tender, magic touch.
Now an entrenched design insider, Kravitz creates interiors as addictive as a guitar riff, as emotive as a love lyric, as robust as his tenor voice, and as uninhibited as his personal style. Call his interiors eclectic, hip, fly, lit or whatever is the jargon of the day. It’s also refined and mesmerizing—whether its velvet sofas, fluffy striped pillows, gold honeycomb partitions or sliding sunburst doors.
And it’s not uncommon to uncover a wink or nod to rock legends Led Zeppelin here and there—including at The Stanley House, reportedly Kravitz’s first major residential design in his hometown of Los Angeles.
Kravitz (who owns several homes around the world) integrated his cosmopolitan savoir-faire into The Stanley House’s indoor-outdoor spaces, which are delineated by seamless Vitrocsa doors. The home is furnished with dark woods; marbleized walls, counters and bars; leather furniture; velvet ottomans; plush rugs; custom closets; chic wicker deck chairs; and multiple fireplaces.
The dim, moody residence hits the right notes, basking in the glow of alluring lighting, flickering candles, balmy fire sconces and torches, and a dazzling luminescent semicircle pool.
“Lighting was one of the most important aspects of the home,” says Williams. “We did not want any LED lights inside because we wanted to display that very warm, sexy movie-star lighting. The dim lighting further accentuates the eclectic interior.”
Exceptional views are the centerpiece of the house, from every room. The property features a six-car garage, state-of-the-art audio system, and a night club, “Disco Volante.” The entire home is automated, controllable from an IPhone.
The estate’s exterior is wrapped in Portuguese cleft slate, highlighted by a 12,000-lb. granite rock with a hypnotic fire feature, soothing perimeter misters, and the massive deck and transparent pool which illuminates on the horizon.
“The home incorporates many unique and rare materials including Hawaiian Lava Rock, Basalt stone from Bali, Travertine, and other stones curated from across the globe,” says Williams. “There are also a variety of exotic woods from Brazil throughout.”
The Sunset Strip teased by Lenny Kravitz? You bet. The dramatic home now awaits a buyer, someone who rocks and loves to let loose on a roost. Maybe someone in the mold of the old Rat Pack (Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Joey Bishop and Peter Lawford)—only the modern version, a double-threat singer-actor with an entourage of friends. Perhaps P. Diddy (a.k.a. “Brother Love”) or Justin Timberlake or even Lenny Kravitz himself.
“We envision the buyer as somebody looking to live the Southern California dream,” says Williams. “It truly is a one-of-a-kind home and an entertainer’s paradise. The buyer will appreciate its uniqueness and architecture, and will certainly treasure the view.”
From any angle, the view looks impressive. Whoever the buyer, Austin Kelly’s and Lenny Kravitz’s architectural collaboration is finally ready to be explored, like newly dropped hit song waiting to be heard. The Led Zeppelin imagery on the home’s wide-screen TV symbolizes this perhaps more than anything else. This sexy house rocks. And it’s Kravitz’s homecoming. How’s that for an encore?
