In ADâs May issue, Lenny Kravitz invites us into his home in Parisâ 16th arrondissement, a renovated 1920âs hôtel particulier with neo-classical flair that he affectionately dubs âHotel de Roxieâ after his late mother Roxie Roker. In his second Open Door tour (his Brazilian ranch previously appeared in our pages in 2019), thereâs a lot to admire between the tall ceilings, marble floors, brutalist details and elegant light fixtures that adorn the placeâa fittingly grandiose place for someone with 30 years in the music industry, numerous awards and albums under his belt, plus his very own interiors-focused creative studio. Our favorite design moment, though, is undeniably the dining room.
A three-time Grammy award winner is going to have some interesting and esteemed guests over for dinner parties, and to accommodate them, heâs arranged rows of Africa chairs by Italian design duo Afra & Tobia Scarpaâeight on each sideâaround a 20-foot table lacquered in goatskin vellum by Karl Springer.
Designed for the Italian merchandiser Maxalto in 1975, the namesake of the Africa chair is not lost on Kravitz, and feels like the perfect complement to a home that he describes as âcontinually paying tribute to my ancestors.â The iconic chair references artisanal African designsâthe double trestle structure with rounded backing and variegated wood gives the chair an organic look, and highlights the chairâs handcrafted quality. Dark, rounded walnut meets a curved black leather seat for an ergonomic and sculptural design that integrates particularly well into spaces both bohemian and modern, much like Kravitzâs Paris home.
Kravitzâs aesthetic, which he calls âsoulful elegance,â is based on the idea that âcollectingâ¦really reflects who you are, what you are, where youâve been.â In other words, you wonât find a piece without some personal meaning in Kravitzâ home, from his Scarpa chairs to his bespoke Steinway grand piano or his collection of Paul Evansâ brutalist pieces.
The rare, vintage chairs retail for about $9,000, and share a niche following with other celebs like Alicia Keys, who owns a few in her cliffside California mansion, along with Jay Z, the Melbourne-based Flack Studio, and architect Charles Zana in his 18th-century Paris apartment. Since you may not be on a rockstar budget yourself, see more ways to find a similar style below.