Would you like a tour?
Just days after giving fans a sneak peek at his Toronto mansion in the “Toosie Slide” video, Drake invites Architectural Digest over for a tour. The 50,000-square-foot “pleasure dome,” dubbed The Embassy, was designed by Canadian architect and interior designer Ferris Rafauli and boasts extravagant amenities including an NBA regulation-size indoor basketball court and 3,200-square-foot master-bedroom suite.
“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 tells the magazine. “It will be one of the things I leave behind, so it had to be timeless and strong.”
Drake’s manor was modeled after a 19th-century limestone mansion with modern Art Deco interiors. “This isn’t stucco, paint, and fake gold. That’s not what Drake wanted, and that’s not what I do,” says Rafauli.
The epic great room features 44-foot-high ceilings with a Bösendorfer grand piano designed by Takashi Murakami and a dazzling iteration of Lobmeyr’s Metropolitan chandelier with 20,000 pieces of hand-cut Swarovski crystal.
“It’s overwhelming high luxury,” says Drake. “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.”
Drake’s favorite room in the house is his 3,200-square-foot master bedroom, with an additional 1,100 square feet of covered terrace. The master bathroom includes a 4,000-pound tub made of black marble carved from a single block. His two-story closet houses his vast collection of Hermès Birkin bags.
“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,” he says. “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.”
Other features include a world-class recording studio, an indoor swimming pool, hall of sports with Kobe Bryant and LeBron James jerseys, and an awards room where he keeps his four Grammys.
“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,” says the 33-year-old superstar, who also owns property in Hidden Hills, Calif. “I also think the house says that I will forever remain solid in the place I was born.”
