We want you to feel loved, to feel safe, to feel relaxed. And “when you come into our home, that’s exactly what we want you to feel. That’s what our art is about,” Keys states. “When you hear a song or something we’ve produced, the foundation is to make people feel good and feel loved.
They’re all too eager to swing open the doors to “Dreamland” as soon as it’s safe to do so again. Known in the industry for their legendary house parties, Keys and Dean are consummate hosts who need no excuse to throw a bash. “Without even knowing it, he gets to absorb this excellence.” “When Egypt is practicing piano, he has a Basquiat behind him and the Toyin in front of him,” Keys marvels. That can be really special.’ ” The room also houses Keys’s first baby grand, a gift from the record label that signed her when she was only 16.
“She was going to get rid of that piece, and I was like, "Toyin, I don’t think you should. “I watched her finish that piece in front of me,” Dean says, referring to one of a pair of remarkable Odutolas that has pride of place in the library/music room. African sculptures-a vintage Baga Nimba ceremonial shoulder mask from the early 1900s is a treasured standout-also abound. Vintage Africa chairs by Afra & Tobia Scarpa quietly dazzle, as does Jordan Casteel’s vibrant Fallou and a multimedia drawing by Nigerian American artist Toyin Ojih Odutola. On the main floor, Derrick Adams’s hypnotic ode to leisure, Floater 74, rests above the custom ebonized-oak table by Kelly Behun Studio in the formal dining room. They are not intimidated by this place at all.” They’re running around enjoying themselves. When you look at a home like this, you think people are living in it stiffly-they’re not. Fashion styling by Jason Bolden.Ĭunningham, who has since become friends with the Dean family, says that “it’s nothing like you would imagine. Kasseem Dean (in a Saint Laurent shirt and trousers) and Alicia Keys (wearing a Brunello Cucinelli Dress and Bottega Veneta Shoes) poolside. “The interiors don’t in any way shout they’re simple and timeless,” says Behun, later adding, “It was never going to be about trying to upstage the natural surroundings, the architecture, or the art.” The palette leans heavily on colors that harmonize with the views-golden sands, caramel browns, buttery cognacs. Keen on making the home more family-friendly and less like a place a “superhero would live in,” Behun brought in warmth by introducing wood elements, Moroccan wool rugs, and seating upholstered in soft fabrics like shearling and cotton velvet. Being remote would normally be an obstacle, he was so in tune with what he knew he wanted, and that’s why everything just clicked.” Erected in 2007, the cantilevered structure comprises floor-to-ceiling glass, white concrete, grand walkways, manicured courtyards, and floating staircases. “He lives and breathes that house he understands every square inch of it. “They might as well make a sculpture of her the Statue of Liberty.”Ī hectic schedule, however, didn’t keep Dean from being a hands-on collaborator during the nine-month-long project, says Behun. “She’s Miss New York,” Dean, himself a Bronx native, declares. It’s worth noting that one of Keys’s biggest and most beloved hits to date is “Empire State of Mind,” the 2009 collaboration with Jay-Z that has become the unofficial anthem of the city that never sleeps. Still, he worried that his wife, born and bred in Manhattan’s Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood, would veto a move to the West Coast. “When your screen saver comes to life, it’s unbelievably crazy,” he exclaims. When the couple’s real estate agent, Stephen Sweeney, called with news that the house was again available, Dean was elated. “I was low-key manifesting it,” he states. During that time the multilevel manse, named after the neighboring Razor Point Trail, appeared and disappeared from the market, but the producer remained hopeful. Dean set a picture of Cunningham’s singular creation as his phone’s screen saver for eight years. It took some time for that dream to become a reality.