Photo: Courtesy Neil Lane Couture
When it comes to putting together the perfect design for his famous customers, jewelerNeil Laneknows he has a good eye. But his aesthetic pursuits don’t end with diamonds.
When it comes to his house, Lane, who famously designs nearly all the engagement rings for contestants on ABC’sThe Bachelorfranchise, credits his stylish surroundings with his habit of making a connection with everything around him.
Authentic
“I’m very in tune to intuition, to visual, what I read, what I see, what I pick up,” says Lane. “[Whether] it registers negatively or positively, I investigate it.”
One major influence he didn’t like at first is the work of American sculptor Claire Falkenstein. Now, Lane has the “harsh, brutal” sculptures throughout his sleek and colorful home, where nearly everything comes with a personal story.
The home originally had five bedrooms, but now has “three proper” ones as Lane converted two in order to display all kinds of art.
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“I built the house. I have videos of me falling into the terrazzo,” he recalls, of its unique flooring, a composite material consisting of pieces of marble, quartz, granite, or glass.
The home is equipped with an infinity pool and offers sprawling views of theHollywood Hills. Lane credits those who lived in the neighborhood before him for making the area it what it is today.
“All the movie stars wanted to live here because they wantednew housesand mostly in Beverly Hills, they were old houses,” he says. “In the 1950s and 1960s,Elvis Presley,Frank Sinatra,they all wanted modern houses and they came up here to build them.
A few decades later, he says, the neighborhood continued its starry streak: “In the early 1990s, it got really famous withJennifer AnistonandCourteney Cox.They started buying property up here and restoring it to its original 1950s, mid-century aesthetic. I just liked it. I like the vibe.”
Another special touch around the home are the floral motifs, especially in his favorite office.
“Tulips are important to me,” Lane says. “Because I grow flowers. Tulips on the door handle, the wallpaper.”
The desk is left bare so he can sketch hisNeil Lane collection exclusively at Kay JewelersandNeil Lane Ketubah’s,his line of Jewish wedding certificates that pay homage to his religious heritage.
“I didn’t want computers on the desk,” Lane says. “I’d say that’s a design aesthetic.”
As a new year starts in his “cozy” home, the jeweler to the stars is excited to continue doing what he loves most—designing beautiful pieces for customers of all walks of life.
Kay
“Kay was really miraculous for me,” Lane says of the fashion and wedding jewelry brand. “I lived in a very elite environment when I opened up. I had movie star clients, famous writers, designers, people of Hollywood. They lived all over the world, but they were renowned creative people.”
“I really didn’t know Kay before,” he continues. “I didn’t know what was out there. I only knew my world in Hollywood, Paris and Brooklyn and such. But I didn’t know what was outside my realm in terms of what was available. I wanted to bring that aesthetic to a broader audience, to America.”
source: people.com
