The Embassy. Drake Manor. The pleasure dome. These are all different ways Architectural Digest referred to Canadian rapper Drake’s absurdly extravagant Toronto home, recently completed after six years of careful renovations and design work. The 50,000 square foot mansion is finally being revealed in all its glory, and we’re more than a little blinded by the luxury of it all. So much marble. So much velvet. So very many chandeliers. But don’t worry — the words “too much” aren’t in Drake’s vocabulary.
Before we get into these photos, it’s best if you hear the decor described by the man himself. “It’s overwhelming high luxury,” Drake explained to Architectural Digest. “That message is delivered through the size of the rooms and the materials and details of the floors and the ceilings. I wanted to make sure people can see the work I’ve put in over the years reflected from every vantage point.”
Believe us, Drake: we can see it. Designed by Ferris Rafauli, Drake’s home was built like a classic 19th-century limestone mansion in the Beaux Arts style of architecture. The decor inside is described as modern Art Deco, and there’s an emphasis on using quality materials: Nero Marquina marble, bronze, antique mirror, mother-of-pearl.
Features of the home include a recording studio, a massive adjoining lounge, an NBA-size basketball court, an awards room, a hall of mounted sports jerseys, an indoor pool, a two-story closet (which houses a considerable number of Hermès Birkin bags), and a 3,200 square foot master bedroom suite. Our favorite features from the suite alone include a headboard with a built-in whiskey and champagne bar, a bathroom with a 4,000-pound black marble tub carved from a single block, and 1,100 additional square feet of covered terrace space.
“The bedroom is where I come to decompress from the world at the end of the night and where I open my eyes to seize the day,” Drake told the outlet. “The bed lets you float, the shower lets you escape and gather your thoughts, and the closet makes you want to talk to yourself while you’re getting dressed.” Suddenly, our expectations for our own living spaces feel awfully low.
In keeping with the theme of high, high luxury, just about every corner of Drake’s home is museum-worthy, but the crown jewel may be the “great room.” Proudly displayed in the great room, Drake has a bespoke Bösendorfer concert grand piano designed along with Japanese artist Takashi Murakami, which sits surrounded by floor-to-ceiling macassar ebony, bronze screens, and antique mirror.
And hanging above it all? A chandelier designed after the one created for the Metropolitan Opera in New York City in 1963, made of 20,000 pieces of hand-cut Swarovski crystal and measuring the second largest light installation of its kind in the entire world.
“Because I was building it in my hometown, I wanted the structure to stand firm for 100 years. I wanted it to have a monumental scale and feel,” Drake concluded. “It will be one of the things I leave behind, so it had to be timeless and strong.”
Rest assured, Drake. The Embassy is, in every single detail, a monument to your legacy.
Before you go, check out these photos of Oprah Winfrey’s seven spectacular homes.
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