[imagesource: Khadija Farah]
Naomi Campbell’s villa in the seaside town of Malindi, Kenya, is an ode to the rich and flourishing spirit of Africa.
It is also the only place she says she can fully relax, after all her hard work.
She is a world-renowned supermodel, after all, who is still in high demand despite being 50 years old.
Campbell first visited Malindi in the mid-1990s and returned again a few years later to create this home, which has since been her ideal breakaway for around 20 years, according to Architectural Digest.
Overlooking the Indian Ocean, and with a pool that connects outside and inside living spaces, it does look good for chilling:
“It’s a very calming place,” she says. “You don’t really want to be on the phone. You’re not trying to find a television. You just want to read and be with yourself. It’s nice to just have the silence and the crickets.”
Campbell, who takes sanitisation very seriously, has made sure the home is as impeccable as ever:
“Because of the air, wind, and sea salt, things can break down very quickly here, but it’s held up so well, and it’s just like a piece of art in itself.”
She has collected furniture and decor from all over Africa; Latika lanterns from Morocco, several large-scale tableau maps of Africa, and Kenyan-made tables and doors, for example.
She says she likes to keep things local as much as possible.
The hand-carved wooden doors that have two men dancing in traditional ceremonial dress were designed by Armando Tanzini, an award-winning artist who has lived and worked in Malindi for many years.
The house is topped with Makuti roofs, handmade from the sun-dried leaves of the coconut palm, which have been a staple in East Africa for centuries.
Enjoy the house tour video, led by Campbell herself:
These days, Campbell, who was recently appointed Kenya’s official tourism ambassador, says she wants to use her platform to throw a deserving spotlight onto all of Africa’s 54 countries.
“I love all of the African continent; there isn’t one country I love more than another, and I want that to be clear,” she declares.
“Each place in Africa has something magical about it.”
There really is so much to love from this massive continent that we also call home.
[source:architecturaldigest]
