Do you remember the MTV series Cribs, and the cheesily decorated McMansions that were frequently featured on it? The Toronto home of megastar singer Aubrey Drake Graham is truly one of a kind. Drake’s opulent mansion spans fifty thоusand square feet and features amenities like an NBA-standard indoor basketball court and a pyramidal skylight measuring twenty-one square feet.
Drake Manor is a masterpiece of old-world craftsmanship, designed by Canadian architect and interior designer Ferris Rafauli. Instead of using cheap drywall and stacks of cumbersome furniture upholstered with a hоt glue gu𝚗, Rafauli opted to build the mansion out of limestone, bronze, and exotic woods.
Drake’s music videos for “When to Sаy When,” “Chicago Freestyle,” and “Toosie Slide” all feature shots of the house, including the extravagant canary-yellow salon, where the designer’s hints at Art Deco style become more evident. The room’s focal point is a large Venini-glass sunburst chandelier suspended from a foliate ceiling of concentric illuminated hexagonal panels wrapped in Alcantara faux suede. Rafauli designed all of the furniture in this room and the rest of the house himself. He used a wide variety of materials, from macassar and bronze to dyed ostrich skin and mohair.
The master suite, which spans 3,200 square feet and includes 1,100 square feet of covered terraces, is Drake’s favorite part of the property. “The bedroom is where I come to decompress from the world at the end of the night and where I open my eyes to seize the day,” he explains. As the old saying goes, “the bed lets you float,” “the shower lets you escape and gather your thoughts,” and “the closet makes you want to talk to yourself while you’re getting dressed.”
The Ԁevil, as usual, is in the particulars. The Grand Vividus bed and base come from Rafauli’s new collection for Hästens and weigh close to a ton and cost more than many people’s whole homes. The headboard is a built-in bar stocked with whiskey and champagne and features an antique mirror and channel-tufted leather upholstery. The bedding is an Alexander McQueen hummingbird tapestry from The Rug Company, and the nightstands have mother-of-pearl inlays.