VOLUME V / ISSUE II / FEBRUARY 2021
MANSION OF THE MONTH
AMERICA'S PRICIEST HOME THE ONE · LOS ANGELES · $350 MILLION
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A RECORD-BREAKING ESTATE WITH 105,000 SQUARE FEET OF LIVING SPACE
FTER NEARLY A DECADE OF DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT WORK, WHAT IS BEING BILLED AS “THE WORLD’S MOST EXPENSIVE HOME” IS FINALLY READY FOR ITS CLOSE-UP. SET ON A FIVE-ACRE PARCEL IN THE POSH LOS ANGELES ENCLAVE OF BEL-AIR—AND APTLY NAMED THE ONE—THE 105,000-SQUARE-FOOT PROPERTY’S INTERIORS HAVE REMAINED A CLOSELY GUARDED SECRET. UNTIL NOW. WE HAVE AN EXCLUSIVE LOOK AT WHAT’S INSIDE THIS RECORD-SETTING PROPERTY— AND THE DESIGN AND AESTHETIC MINDS THAT MADE IT HAPPEN.
er Nile Niami to help it live up to its reported $350 million price tag.
Surrounded on three sides by a moat and a 400-foot-long jogging track, the estate appears to float above the city. Completed over 80 years—and requiring 600 workers to build—the home was designed by architect Paul McClean and interior designer Kathryn Rotondi, who were enlisted by owner and develop-
The use of black, white and gray throughout the home was based on Niami’s desire to have a neutral palette that would allow the landscape and panoramas to shine.
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“This project felt exciting and simultaneously intimidating,” says McClean. But the home’s impressive site and his long-standing relationship with Niami persuaded McClean to not just take on the project but “create something unique and spectacular.” And McClean certainly has delivered. With its 26-foot-high ceilings, the home’s main entrance leads to an array of gathering areas with panoramic 360-degree views of the Pacific Ocean, downtown Los Angeles and the San Gabriel Mountains. The entry area is filled with water, along with a sculpture and bridge. “Water is something we often use in our design process because it allows for a sensory change that helps you adjust to your surroundings,” says McClean.
Drawing inspiration from the surrounding environment and history of Los
Angeles modernism, McClean has connected the home’s inside with outside “to provide that quintessential L.A. living but on a bigger scale,” he describes. “To allow the home to feel livable, we separated the entertainment spaces from the living areas. [The former] are located at the lower level [and] this creates a plinth for the rest of the house to sit on and reduces [its] apparent mass.” Beyond the eye-catching design are the home’s equally jaw-dropping stats. There are 42 bathrooms, 21 bedrooms, a 5,500-square-foot master suite, a 30car garage gallery with two car-display turntables, a four-lane bowling alley, a spa-level, a 30-seat movie theater, a philanthropy wing (with a capacity of 200) for charity galas with floating pods overlooking Los Angeles, a 10,000-square-foot sky deck and five swimming pools. Along with Niami, Rotondi, founder of KFR Design, worked on the interior design to shape distinctive spaces that flow into one another despite the grandness of the house. “I was really drawn to ‘wow factor’ elements in the hospitality sector” for inspiration, says Rotondi, who looked to top luxury hotel brands such as Aman, Bulgari and Baccarat.