Toronto, Canada – Drake has provided a rare glimpse of his Toronto mansion. On Wednesday (April 8), Architectural Digest ran a feature on the 6 God’s home, or as they call it, his “eye-popping pleasure dome.”
The luxury home — conceived by Canadian architectural and interior designer Ferris Rafauli — boasts 50,000 square feet and numerous amenities, including an NBA regulation-size indoor basketball court crowned by a 21-square-foot pyramidal skylight, a Bösendorfer concert grand piano designed by Rafauli and Takashi Murakami and a 3,200-square-foot master-bedroom.
“Because I was building it in my hometown, I wanted the structure to stand firm for 100 years,” he explained to AD. “I wanted it to have a monumental scale and feel. It will be one of the things I leave behind, so it had to be timeless and strong.”
Rafauli pulled from traditional Beaux Arts architecture when designing the home, which is also referred to as “The Embassy.
“In form, materials, and execution, the structure is a proper 19th-century limestone mansion,” Rafauli said. “But the exterior profiles are more minimal and the lines are a bit cleaner. This isn’t stucco, paint, and fake gold. That’s not what Drake wanted, and that’s not what I do.”
Drake added, “It’s 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.”
Rafauli’s Art Deco influences are vivid in Drake’s canary-yellow lounge is featured in his videos for “When to Say When”/“Chicago Freestyle” and the recently released “Toosie Slide.”
The article serves as the cover story for the May 2020 issue of Architectural Digest and is on stands now. Browse through the photos of Drake’s home here.