Behind Kylie Jenner’s sprawling California mansion: meet Martyn Lawrence Bullard, celebrity home designer for Khloé and Kourtney Kardashian, Cher, Tommy Hilfiger and Ozzy Osbourne – interview

Dec 10 , 2020

Kylie Jenner is one of Martyn Lawrence Bullard’s many celebrity clients. Photo: @kyliejenner/Instagram

Saint Laurent surfboards, Basquiat paintings and furniture to match Kylie Cosmetics lip colours are just a few of the luxuries in Kylie Jenner’s mansion – all thanks to Los Angeles’ go-to celebrity interior designer Martyn Lawrence Bullard

In 2018, Martyn Lawrence Bullard was designing a home for a 21-year-old client who had some unusual requests for a starter home – she wanted to fill it with Damien Hirsts and silk Patagonian carpets.

Of course, it was a then-pregnant Kylie Jenner, who at the time had an estimated net worth north of US$800 million. And for her Hidden Hills, California home, Bullard knew he had to bring his A-game.

“It was very important for me to be respectful and to make sure that we brought her the best of the best of things,” Bullard said. “I wanted to make the house playful … a super-customised home with a playful young edge, but sophisticated still.”

And so he worked tirelessly, helping the young mogul fill her home with Basquiats, Warhols and Hirsts. He picked out the silk, alpaca and shearling Patagonian carpets that were then laid throughout the home. He carefully situated the dining room chairs, each customised and upholstered in various shades of pink, from cerise to powder, dyed to match the colours found in her lip kits.

Kylie Jenner’s dining room, including chairs that designer Martyn Lawrence Bullard dyed to match her lip-kit colours. Photo: Martyn Lawrence Bullard

The result was a home that, in early 2019, graced the cover of Architectural Digest. It became one of the biggest interior design stories in the history of magazines, amassing over 1.6 billion impressions within the first month of its release.

“That’s a billion more than any other design story at the time,” Bullard said.

Kylie Jenner’s bar area, with, among other things, a custom Saint Laurent surfboard. Photo: Martyn Lawrence Bullard

But it was just another day on the job for Bullard, as Jenner is just one of many celebrities on his roster of clients. There’s also the likes of Cher, Tommy Hilfiger, Khloé and Kourtney Kardashian, Ellen Pompeo, Kid Rock and Ozzy Osbourne.

This doesn’t even count his hospitality and retailing endeavours, which include Jimmy Choo boutiques in London and Osaka as well posh hotels in Switzerland.

Bullard likes individuality, and when he’s working with a client he makes sure that the home is a reflection of their tastes and style rather than his own.