If Rolling Stone's recent Drake profile is any indication, there's one thing that motivates the rapper-singer more than money, fame, or his broken heart, and that is residential pools. By Drake's own admission, he is "obsessed" with them, and he was initially drawn to his Southern California estate—which he purchased back in 2012 for $7.7M and dubbed YOLO Estate, after the shorthand he coined for 'you only live once'—primarily for its sprawling, cave-like, illuminated swimming pool. With a vibe that's "part dude ranch, part gentleman's manor, part Medieval Times," the entire estate is over the top in some of the best and worst ways imaginable. Here then, are nine essential details about haus YOLO:
9. Originally, Drake had a sign outside that read YOLO Estate, "but it got stolen three times, and it was getting a bit costly to replace it, so I just changed it to the street number. I love that some kid has that sign in his bedroom."
8. Back in 2007, when Drake was still unsigned, he asked himself, "'What are the world's craziest residential pools?' and when I searched online, this came up... This house was the desktop image on my computer years before I bought it."
7. Drake bought the place in 2012 for $7.7M when it was originally listed for nearly three times that much. The seller, a steakhouse-chain restaurateur, "was at a low moment," as Drake recalls, only to follow that up with: "I stole it from him!" YOLO, indeed.
6. The pool that Drake fell in love with is equipped with an 80-foot water slide. After pointing it out, he admits that he's "obsessed" with residential pools. (Maybe he should give this one a look?) One of his primary goals is to have "the biggest residential pool on the planet."
5. In addition to the slide, Drake's water oasis has a grotto affixed with flatscreen TVs and flame-belching iron torches, and on top, a pair of stone elk statues.
4. Visitors may recognize said elk statues as related to the giraffe statue standing next to the driveway.
3. YOLO Estate's other amenities include a mechanical bull, a 28-person theater, a championship tennis court, a volleyball court, an equestrian ring, and a half-dozen stables for all the horses Drake doesn't own.
2. When Drake has occasion to bring women over, the 27-year-old "delights in flipping a switch beside a bookshelf, which swings open to reveal his bedroom."
1. But as much as Drake seems to love YOLO Estate, his pool-centric aspirations go much deeper. Back in his native Toronto, Drake is in the early stages of building a mansion that will include "an Olympic-size pool inside the house."
· Drake: High Times at the YOLO Estate [Rolling Stone]
· Here is Drake's Insane "YOLO Estate" and Pool in Hidden Hills [Curbed LA]
· Drake Gets a 70 Percent Discount on SoCal's Cave Estate [Curbed National]
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