Celine Dion may have her watergun station, Drake may have his grotto, but not all celebs opt for waterpark-esque outdoor adornment for their personal palaces. Some, it turns out, are more into the basics: Trees! Flowers! Pavers! Patio furniture! Below, invaluable pearls of decorating wisdom by the most famous people on Earth, courtesy of the national shelter magazines (Arch Digest, Elle Decor) that publish their homes.
↑ Bette Midler's triplex Manhattan penthouse, featured in Arch Digest's May issue, takes cues from Central Park, that very famous slice of green it so happens to overlook. Out on the terrace are 'Alchemist' climbing roses, a full, fragrant breed; the railing was designed by the NYC firm Sawyer Berson; and the limestone pavers are interspersed with turf to form one rather unique checkerboard pattern. [previously]
↑ Midler's other terrace—but of course!—has custom Sawyer Berson furniture "inspired by a '30s suite designed by Jean-Charles Moreux and Bolette Natanson." Again, but of course!
↑ When rocker John Mellencamp came across an old church in Myrtle Beach, S.C., he was so enraptured that he decided to buy it and convert it into a clean-lined country home. Featured in this year's March issue of Arch Digest, the space includes a screened porch festooned with Restoration Hardware furniture. [previously]
↑ Four years ago, Patrick "McDreamy" Dempsey paid $7M for a 1968 Frank Gehry design in Malibu, Calif., turning what Arch Digest described as a "rhomboidal corrugated-metal-clad live/work space" into a proper family home. The actor was "looking for a little land and space, and a house with architectural significance," he told the magazine in March. As for that land: it's shared by an Airstream trailer—"a romantic hideaway"—as well as flower, herb, and veggie gardens filling raised beds made from old scaffolding. [previously]
↑ In constructing her New Mexico ranch, Jane Fonda channeled the very same pro-self-improvement exuberance that made her workout videos so famous. She took the time (three years) and did the legwork (ugh, sorry) to create a dwelling traditional to the area, complete with a pitched tin roof, double-adobe walls, and an exterior of terra-cotta-colored plaster. Outside, a terrace features Pakistani fabrics and beaded folk-art figurines. [previously]
↑ If Cindy Crawford seems to live a picture-perfect life, the frangipani trees, teak furniture, Ralph Lauren Home fabrics, and John Robshaw pillows on the courtyard of the supermodel's Baja California retreat do absolutely nothing to shatter the illusion. The home, featured in the Nov. 2013 Arch Digest, sits right next to George Clooney's, who's such a close friend that the two stars hired the same architect to design their neighboring villas. [previously]
↑ Gisele Bündchen and Tom Brady wrapped construction on their L.A. palace, designed by megamanse sire Richard Landry, in early 2012, and spiffed it up just in time for a big reveal in the Sept. 2013 issue of Arch Digest. As for the outdoor spaces surrounding the 22,000-square-foot Xanadu, the shelter-babble says it best: "James Perse chaise longues invite repose atop the reclaimed-oak deck; the pool is lined in hand-poured glass tile." The driveway, meanwhile, "leads over a pond to a motor court paved in reclaimed cobblestones and then to a stone bridge spanning a koi-stocked moat that's picturesque but not pompous." The pool, though "unassuming," is "laid out with two straight sides and one long, sinuous edge that helps give the impression of a natural lake, particularly in the early-morning and late-afternoon light." Light, schmight! The celeb couple listed the McCastle for $50M in March, and it sold in June for $40M to Dr. Dre, who was surely enticed by those chaise longues. [previously]
↑ When chef and TV food person Bobby Flay and his actress wife, Stephanie March, built a Hamptons beach house from scratch, cooking and entertaining were obviously chief concerns. Interior designer Tom Delavan, now the creative director of Gilt Home, did the outdoor kitchen, which has a Viking stovetop grill and fridge, plus a wood-burning oven. [previously]
↑ The space, featured in the July 2013 Elle Decor, has an outdoor dining room with Restoration Hardware chairs and a custom table, both teak, as well as a rather romantic-sounding "pergola of wisteria-wrapped cedar" overhead.
↑ The wheelings and dealings of big-time real estate buyers Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi are pretty hard to keep up with, but here's a look at the couple's former eight-cabin equestrian estate in L.A., which they purchased in 2009 for $8.5M. Many years and one Elle Decor spread later, the 26-acre compound hit the market for $11M and sold just six weeks later for $10.85M. Which means others are now enjoying those oak trees, pergolas, French military daybeds, and wicker outdoor furniture. [previously]
↑ John Legend's midcentury modern L.A. home, photographed for Arch Digest's March 2013 issue, is as slick and refined as the R&B singer/pianist himself, and the outdoor spaces are no exception. Out on the terrace are B&B Italia chairs designed by Patricia Urquiola; another terrace, meanwhile, features a Rodolfo Dordoni sofa and a James Perse daybed upholstered in Sunbrella fabric. [previously]
↑ After Elton John bought a low-slung 1966 home in Beverly Hills, the Brit rocker and his husband, David Furnish, called in their go-to decorator, Martyn Lawrence Bullard, to spruce the place up. The interior designer swept his signature glam look over everything, designing the terrace's sofas himself and covering them with crisp white fabric. The pool, meanwhile, features Ann Sacks tiles, and there's a Lichtenstein sculpture out there, as well. [previously]
· All Outdoors Week 2014 posts [Curbed National]
· All The Printed Page posts [Curbed National]
· The One Percent Live in Pimped-Out Waterparks, Basically [Curbed National]