If the cathedral-esque houses in the latest series of Succession are anything to go by, the top 0.1 per cent like their homes to whisper wealth rather than drip diamonds. With their muted colours and simple furnishings, the US$30 million (NZ$48m) Montecito mansion and US$83m Pacific Palisades beach house featured in the first episode are defiant attestations of extreme affluence without being brash, echoing the cast’s understated yet impossibly expensive wardrobes.
“Obvious expense has been replaced by natural-looking, high-quality, sustainable design,” explains Anthony Kooperman of Albion Nord, the interiors firm behind the £60m (NZ$120m) Chelsea Barracks townhouses in London.
Such tasteful opulence isn’t easy to create, which is why ultra-high-net-worth individuals defer to their interior designer. “I don’t dictate, but I educate clients through the process,” explains Tim Gosling, an interior designer to the super-rich. “I want to make the house how they want it, but there is always a balance to be struck.”
As an in-house arbiter of taste, Gosling’s opinion becomes so valued by his clients that they consult him on all matters. “They want to know what exhibitions I’ve been to and what restaurants I go to,” he says. “I find it bizarre when they could eat anywhere in the world, but it’s a wonderful privilege.”
The top 0.1 per cent follow the rules religiously when it comes to proportion, colour and material and will pay handsomely for a statement piece.
According to Martyn Lawrence Bullard, who has created homes for the Kardashians, Elton John and Sylvester Stallone, luxury at this level is defined by customisation. But in return, they expect a project to be turned around in record time. Gosling says he often finds himself explaining that it’s not simply a question of throwing more money and men at the job. “Their world is very fluid and they work at a speed that you or I can’t fathom,” he says.
He’s learnt to stop assuming clients want to put down roots; after a couple of parties they’ll be onto something bigger and better – their interior designer is the only permanent part of the furniture. “They end up forming emotional bonds with the gang that creates their homes rather than the homes themselves,” Gosling explains. “Never assume that they’ll spend much time at a house or even keep it for long.”
Design rules for the top 0.1 per cent
The approach will give you goosebumps
Intimidating doesn’t begin to describe the drive up to Eric Schmidt’s US$30m Montecito mansion, which stars as Nan Pierce’s villa in Succession, with its winding driveway, panoramic views and fortress-like portico.
According to Martyn Lawrence Bullard, the super-rich are well aware that we make up our mind about a house within a few seconds and are thus prepared to invest heavily in first impressions. “Meticulous thought goes into the approach: the landscaping, the exterior lighting, the front door and how guests reach the reception space,” he says.
It’s a hotel, really
It goes without saying these days that every five-star hotel facility will be available. The super-rich stopped going to hotels in lockdown and now they have professional make-up rooms, hairdressing salons and massage rooms at home, along with gyms and spas that are larger than the living room.
To ensure staff can deliver five-star service, the house will also have a hotel-style infrastructure of lifts, staircases and dumb waiters. “As you leave the room, an army of staff will appear from nowhere to comb footprints off the silk rugs,” Tim Gosling says.
You’ll feel like you’re in the south of France
Stately symmetry, classical details and decadent structures involving porticoes, columns and treble-height glass are sought after by the super-rich, with the Mediterranean villa currently the most coveted architectural style, according to Bullard.
“Mid-century glass-box houses are still popular, but younger people want Mediterranean style; they like the way it’s more ornate, with a flavour of personality,” he says.
Everything is bespoke – even the tea towels
To keep ahead of the Joneses, Bullard’s clients demand that furnishings are customised to the nth degree – and yet never gaudy enough to provoke comment. Kendall Roy’s Manhattan penthouse in Succession exemplifies this, with its muted armchairs and subtle panelling.
“Given that labels such as Chanel and Louis Vuitton are available to anyone with a credit card, bespoke is the definition of luxury these days,” he explains. “Interiors at this level are akin to couture gowns.”
Chandeliers are just for show
Never, never will a super-wealthy homeowner switch on a chandelier, even if it’s Murano and cost half a million pounds. “Those wealthy enough to hire lighting designers will avoid overhead lighting like the plague, particularly over sofas and tables,” Bullard says.
“If you’re going to look beautiful whenever anyone takes your picture, it’s about understanding the layers of lighting. In wealthy circles, chandeliers are seen as pieces of jewellery, providing sparkle and decoration, and the main source of lighting is low level, which is 100 times more flattering.”
The technology will be invisible
Whereas screens and dials used to make a house seem cutting edge, now they make it look brash and dated – the most expensive houses have the most basic-looking knobs and switches, which operate a spaceship’s worth of technology hiding beneath the plaster, says Anthony Kooperman.
You’re (always) on camera
Gone are the days of intricate burglar-alarm systems; security is now CCTV-led, with every inch of the property watched by cameras, which are not only monitored by professional security guards but via the mobile phone of the super-rich homeowners themselves.
“They’ll have cameras installed in the living spaces and their dressing rooms, ensuring they can keep an eye on their staff in their private quarters and, of course, it’s de rigueur to have them in nurseries and children’s bedrooms,” Bullard says.
There’ll be a trophy desk
Now the super-wealthy conduct most of their business from home, Gosling spends his life designing desks worth hundreds of thousands. They must be breathtaking to sit at, while looking bullish on Zoom. “I can’t make them fast enough,” he says.
Every detail is deliberated over, he says, from the surface (leather, wood, white onyx or rock crystal), to the shape (kidney bean, rectangular, partner), to the technology embedded within the drawers and cupboards. Albion Nord’s campaign desks, designed specifically for the Chelsea Barracks townhouses, echo those used in wartime.
And a cocktail bar
The home bar has become a non-negotiable addition to the living space among those who have outsourced every aspect of their life to their staff. The bar itself will be designed and built from scratch to reflect the whims of its owner, and the staff will ensure it’s permanently charged with the spirits, mixers and ice required for mixing impromptu cocktails.
The dining room is where it happens
Most of us gave up on the concept of a dining room long ago, but when you have staff to cook and serve your meals, a dining room makes perfect sense, providing the backdrop for tense family get-togethers, such as those hosted by Logan Roy in Succession, as well as board meetings and top-level corporate entertainment.
“A formal dining room doubles up as a boardroom, so it will be rigged up with all the latest tech,” Bullard explains. “An oil painting will rise up to reveal a massive television screen logged into a Zoom meeting and the dining table will have ports and sockets beneath it.”
There will be at least one Warhol
Another super-rich Covid hangover is the obsession with collecting art. Bidding at auction became an addictive pastime during the pandemic and now anyone who is anyone has a Warhol, a Banksy and a Picasso, and the really cool have works by Rashid Johnson and Jean-Michel Basquiat, too.
There’ll be no copying the paint colours
Paint colours have a Mediterranean or North African feel to them right now: shades such as blood orange, pine green, aubergine, chocolate brown and Andalucian rose complement the usual “power” shades of camel, biscuit and taupe.
“They’re not pastel, whimsical tones; they’re saturated and mixed bespoke by a professional paint mixologist,” Bullard explains.
The wallpaper will be surprisingly grannyish
As demonstrated by Lily Allen in her Brooklyn townhouse, wallpaper is back and it’s blowsier than ever: bright florals, chintz and damasks by companies such as Zuber and Pierre Frey. Kooperman is putting botanical wallpapers into cinema rooms, while Bullard is layering patterned wallpapers and fabrics in a way that Colefax and Fowler never would have dared.
Even billionaires draw the line somewhere
And it’s usually at bedside tables, according to Gosling: “They’re the most difficult thing to pitch – they can cost £20,000-£30,000 to make if they’re to have the same level of beauty and wonder and functionality as any other cabinet, but I can see my client thinking ‘no one’s ever going to see them’.”
It’s just a house, at the end of the day
Never assume the super-wealthy are at all sentimental about their homes or their furniture, Gosling warns. He’s worked on houses for a year, only to be told that they’re a stopgap until the bigger one is finished. “These people work in time frames that we mortals won’t consider; they move fluidly from one home to the next without much emotional attachment,” he says.