Drake in a Kapital sweatshirt and 1017 ALYX 9SM trousers in the lounge with Rafauli.
Remember the chintzy, pimped-out McMansions from the long-running MTV show Cribs? The Toronto home of mega recording artist Aubrey Drake Graham is unlike any other. Drake’s extravagant home measures 50,000 square feet and includes amenities such as an NBA regulation-size indoor basketball court crowned by a 21-square-foot pyramidal skylight. Instead of vast swaths of cheap drywall and mountains of awkward furniture upholstered with a hot glue gun, stately Drake Manor, as envisioned by Canadian architectural and interior designer Ferris Rafauli, is a marvel of old-world craftsmanship made of limestone, bronze, exotic woods, and other noble materials. Every aspect of the sprawling estate has been meticulously planned and executed. And there isn’t a Scarface poster to be found.
Kaws’ sculptures flank the home’s entrance. Rafauli created a custom bronze-and-solid-marble chandelier, and the floor is covered in Escarpment Light and Nero Marquina marble.
“Because I was building it in my hometown, I wanted it to last for 100 years.” Drake says of his passion project, “I wanted it to have a monumental scale and feel.” “It will be one of the things I leave behind,” he adds, “so it had to be timeless and strong.”
The Embassy draws inspiration from traditional Beaux-Arts architecture, which has been distilled and slightly abstracted to imbue the classic idiom with a more contemporary spirit. “The structure is a proper 19th-century limestone mansion in form, materials, and execution.” However, the exterior profiles are more minimal, and the lines are cleaner,” says Rafauli, who runs his own luxury design/build firm in Ontario. “This isn’t stucco, paint, or phony gold.” That is not what Drake desired, and it is not what I do.”
Drake is at home in Toronto, wearing Tom Ford and Nike trainers. Mellany Sanchez did the fashion styling.
Rafauli describes the crazy ꜱеҳy cool interiors as “modern Art Deco,” again referencing a classic historical style that has been tweaked and rejuvenated to mirror the spirit of the times as well as the DNA of his high-profile client. “Once you’ve chosen a certain style, you can dance within that style,” the designer observes. Drake insists, “It’s an overwhelming high luxury. 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.”
The great room is anchored by a bespoke Bösendorfer concert grand piano designed by Ferris Rafauli and Takashi Murakami
From the moment one enters the vast entry hall, which is clad in solid limestone with beveled inserts of Nero Marquina marble beneath a faceted ceiling of antique mirror framed in bronze, the scale of the rooms sets the tone for the home experience. The epic great room, which soars to 44 feet in height, amplifies the sound even more. A bespoke concert grand piano designed in collaboration with Japanese artist Takashi Murakami and Rafauli by the venerable Austrian piano maker Bösendorfer sits nestled within a portal defined by floor-to-ceiling panels of Macassar ebony set alongside bronze screens fronting more antique beveled mirror at one end of the space. “Drake’s entire world revolves around music, so he wasn’t going to buy any old piano.” Rafauli describes this prized possession as “an authentic marriage of artistry, craft, and quality.”
Rafauli incorporated a hummingbird tapestry by Alexander McQueen for The Rug Company into the bedding in the master bedroom. The Rug Company’s Rafauli custom carpet. The bed was designed by Hästens x Ferris Rafauli, and the pendants were created by Jonathan Browning Studios.
The great room’s second jewel is a massive version of Lobmeyr’s iconic Metropolitan chandelier, which was originally designed by Hans Harald Rath for the Viennese maker to decorate the Metropolitan Opera in New York City in 1963. With over 20,000 hand-cut Swarovski crystal pieces, the dazzling light sculpture is the world’s second-largest installation of its kind.
A backlit slab of Nero Assoluto granite over the pool provides interchangeable atmosphere lighting.
The lavish canary-yellow lounge, which, like several other spaces in the house, can be seen in Drake’s videos for his songs “When to Say When”/”Chicago Freestyle” and “Toosie Slide,” emphasizes the designer’s nods to Art Deco style. A foliate ceiling of concentric backlit hexagonal panels wrapped in Alcantara faux suede, with a massive Venini-glass sunburst chandelier dropped from its center, is the room’s crowning glory. Rafauli custom designed the furnishings here, as well as throughout the home, in materials ranging from dyed ostrich skin and mohair to Macassar and bronze.
The studio lounge is softly illuminated by a backlit panel of brown agate semi-precious stone. Aluminum cocktail table by Erwan Boulloud; vintage Ricardo Fasanello chair.
Drake’s favorite room in the house is his 3,200-square-foot master bedroom suite, which also includes an additional 1,100 square feet of covered terraces. “The bedroom is where I come at the end of the night to decompress from the world and where I open my eyes to seize the day,” he says. “The bed allows you to float, the shower allows you to escape and gather your thoughts, and the wardrobe encourages you to talk to yourself while getting dressed.”
Rafauli chandeliers adorn a suspended cantilevered block marble stair.
God, as always, is in the details. The bed and bed base, which weigh approximately one tonne and cost more than many people’s entire homes, are from Rafauli’s new Grand Vividus line for Hästens. On the other side of the headboard, which is accented with an antique mirror and channel-tufted leather, is a whiskey-and-champagne bar. The nightstands are inlaid with mother-of-pearl, and the bedding features an Alexander McQueen hummingbird tapestry from The Rug Company.
Drake’s lifestyle brand, October’s Very Own, inspired the design of the official NBA-size court.
The master bath’s focal point is a 4,000-pound tub carved from a single block of faceted black marble. Drake’s two-story closet, adorned with amethyst hardware, rock crystal, and seating upholstered in diamond-tufted shearling with polished nickel studs, is equally dramatic. It’s the ideal setting for the musician’s extensive wardrobe, sneaker collection, and collection of Hermès Birkin bags that he’s been amassing for years.
The master bath has a vanity and tub made of Nero Marquina marble. Lumifer custom chandelier; Brabbu sconces; Rafauli chair.
Rafauli suede chairs line a Paonazzo marble island in the kitchen. Pendants by Gabriel Scott; La Cornue x Ferris Rafauli range; Kohler sinks; Waterworks fixtures.
Drake’s Grammys can be found in his awards room.
Basketball legends’ uniforms line the jersey hall. Lighting by Gabriel Scott.
In the recording studio, a Ferris Rafauli custom daybed is draped in a Jean Paul Gaultier textile. Rafauli’s accent pillows are made of Jonas Wood x Louis Vuitton Monogram silk scarves.
Venicem custom chandeliers hang in the master walk-in closet. Rafauli millwork and shearling banquette.
Baccarat lighting is featured in an enfilade.
Another look at Drake’s pool.
A 12-person table is surrounded by Rafauli velvet chairs in the dining room. Chandelier made by Baccarat.
And the blows keep on coming. There’s the world-class recording studio, which Drake compares to “eccentric 1970s studios mixed with Annabel’s in London”; the well-used kitchen, which includes the first stove from Rafauli’s new La Cornue line; the awards room, which tells Drake’s story from his childhood to his years on the Canadian television show Degrassi: The Next Generation to his reign as a Grammy-winning artist; the hall of sports jerseys displayed in museum-like vitrines;
“I think the house shows that I have true faith in myself to take on this task when I was just 27 and see it through,” Drake says, surveying the splendors of his Canadian pleasure palace. “I also believe the house says that I will always be solid in the place where I was born.”