Off in the Hamptons, where beachy vs. elegant is a bitterly fought decor war that pits brother against brother, and the merits of Scalamandre wallpaper are debated with much vitriol, one home sets itself apart from its peers in a total eclipse of raven-hued bad-boy decorating. Unsurprisingly, given his body of work, that is the home of photographer Steven Klein, whose dark and provocative fashion photos and celebrity portraits for the likes of Vogue and W Magazine, have led to a longstanding visual collaboration with Madonna and work directing music videos for Lady Gaga and Brooke Candy. Architectural Digest recently dove back into the paint-it-black trend by touring Bridgehampton, N.Y.'s West Kill Farm, where Klein, driven by his belief—sacrilegious for the East End—that "white and green is not a great color combination," has created a home where almost every piece of decor is as black as a skillet dropped down a well.
But despite the abundance of black leather and dark-stained wood inside chez Klein, writer David Colman holds that he's "no goth antihero," despite what one might think of a man who has a portrait of Kevin Federline with his throat slashed hanging in the dining room. (Which, it's worth noting, hardly looks out of place there.) Much of his obsidian styling apparently comes from a legitimate desire to mitigate the sun's glare. "I have seen a lot of houses while out here shooting, and they're mostly white," he tells AD. "It's so much more appealing to have this kind of cool darkness against the light." Investigate this appeal below, and head to AD for the full story.
↑ In Klein's "monastic" dining space, a Kevin Federline portrait that was part of his contribution to 2007's "Face of Fashion" exhibit at the National Portrait Gallery is flanked by Blackman Cruz floor lamps. The bespoke rocking horse is by Stevenson Brothers.
↑ Klein's living room is decorated with two Madonna portraits and a gun-shaped table lamp by Philippe Starck, plus a vintage chaise longue, a wrought-iron chandelier, and a cot-style daybed, all in black.
· 11 Times Arch Digest Has Worked the 'Paint it Black' Trend [Curbed National]
· These Bold, Brooding Houses are Very Much in the Black [Curbed National]
· All Printed Page posts [Curbed National]
· All Bridgehampton coverage [Curbed National]