Most of us know Tom Ford as an “it” fashion designer and Oscar-nominated film director of Texas origin. Some would remember him rejuvenating the Gucci brand throughout the 10 years of being their creative director — from 1994 to 2004. A few would name his clothing, cosmetics, and accessory line, which was established in 2005. But did you know that, aside from fashion, Tom Ford is also deeply interested in architecture? It was his major study and passion in Parsons, New York, where he moved after having quit New York University. Though architecture hadn’t become his matter of life, the gained skills, as well as childhood spent with his parents-realtors, have taken their toll. Tom Ford is known to invest in an astonishing portfolio of real estate.
Has he managed to fill his houses with glamor and sexiness as he did with Gucci? Or are there trinkets depicting Ford’s provocative personality and shrewdest traits? We’ll find that out on a short, symbolic, but truly exciting house tour!
For a long time, Tom Ford’s main residence was a spectacular mansion in the Los Angeles neighborhood, which had been Betsy Bloomingdale’s property for more than fifty years. Together with his dedicated partner, journalist Richard Buckley, he was raising their son Jack, born in 2012, up to Richard’s death in 2021. The aficionados of Ford’s original style could admire the photo of their idol in front of a lovely rose garden planted by Tom Ford’s husband in the September issue of Vogue in 2019. This was a kind of diplomacy: Buckley took care of the roses while Ford made interior-related decisions on their new house. There was a lot of work to do: Ford had to replace old-fashioned chinoiserie wallpapers and dark Chippendale furniture with his beloved monochrome palette, velvet, lacquer, pony, and cashmere.
This family pact wasn’t easy for a precise and methodical Tom, who blamed his Virgo nature for intractability. Striving for symmetry and perfection, he couldn’t restrain himself and arrayed the garden in a perfectly segmented spectrum. Buckley’s consistent effort and the mentorship of a celebrity rosarian from Santa Barbara had given their yield, and the family could enjoy six-foot roses blooming in the summer. Ford is very picky when it comes to flowers: he can’t stand red roses, preferring beige roses of “Koko Loko” kind and orchids instead.
For more details, please check our video about Tom Ford