Moby at home in Los Angeles
Moby holds his first globe, which he purchased as a child shopping with his mother at a thrift store. He collects vintage globes that show country place names that have disappeared into history, such as Rhodesia and Indochina. “It’s an object lesson in impermanence,” he says. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)
Multiplatinum-selling musician and photographer Moby has filled his Hollywood Hills castle, Wolf’s Lair, with vintage globes and cameras, art by friends and some of his own pictures. A new exhibition of his photographs -- like his recent album, titled “Innocents” -- is on display at Project Gallery in Los Angeles through March 30. Full story here. Click through the gallery to take a walk through Moby’s home and grounds.
Most of the Midcentury furniture seen in this photograph of Moby’s living room was purchased in Los Angeles’ Echo Park neighborhood. Some of his favorite artworks displayed on the walls are monoprints by Inka Essenhigh, a Gretchen Ryan drawing and a Gary Baseman print. The black-and-white work on the far wall, top, is by friend David Lynch, another favorite artist, and was a gift from the filmmaker after Moby DJed at his wedding. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)
Above and in front of the fireplace on the far wall are two photographs from Moby’s “Destroyed” series, taken while he was touring. The photographs were exhibited in Los Angeles and collected in a book released in 2011 along with his “Destroyed” album. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)
Moby sits next to a large photograph by artist and friend JR that pictures the two in JR’s basement in the Lower East Side of New York City. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)
Advertisement
Art on this living room wall includes a work, bottom right, by Scott Musgrove, whose prints, drawings and paintings can be found around Moby’s house. Directly above that is a monoprint by Inka Essenheigh and at far left bottom, is a drawing by Matt Groening with a personal inscription to Moby. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)
Moby poses with a test print from his current show, titled “Innocents,” on display at the Project Gallery in Hollywood. The picture was shot at a Gelson’s supermarket. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)
An uncle of Moby’s, Joseph Kugielsky, a photographer for the New York Times, gave him his first camera, a Nikon F, when he was 10 or 11 years old. Moby describes his collection of vintage cameras, which is displayed on shelves around the house, as “just weird/odd film cameras I’ve acquired over the years.” (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)
The coffered ceiling in the dining room is original, as is the flooring, which had been painted black when he bought the house. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)
Advertisement
The fountain came with the house and is framed by landscaping Moby had designed to look like a garden out of an Edward Gorey book. He worked with landscape designer Patricia Benner. Lake Hollywood is seen in the background. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)
Art is stacked in the corner of the dining room, including a photograph of a concert crowd taken from the stage, part of Moby’s 2011 “Destroyed” series. Lush vegetation is seen through picture windows. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)
Moby received the Shepard Fairey print at right when they participated in a Young Literati event in 2013. Moby was among the readers of the classic novel “Moby-Dick” at the party for supporters of the Library Foundation of Los Angeles. He has several prints and drawings from Fairey displayed in his home. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)
Some of Moby’s globe collection is displayed on shelving he added in the dining room. He owns about 50 or 60 globes, he says, with the oldest dating back to 1910. “You can date a globe based on its geography,” he says. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)
Advertisement
A Mark Ryden work is displayed prominently in the dining room. “I just love his work,” Moby says, adding that his purchase benefited the Humane Society. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)
A cow mask from a Bolivian mask maker is displayed in the dining room. Moby chose the fabrics used on cushions throughout the room. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)
A Stanley Donwood print of a Los Angeles scene is displayed in the dining room and is one of several Donwood artworks Moby owns. The lamp is from a French dentist’s office. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)
Moby’s friend Dean DeBlois, who co-wrote and co-directed the movie “Lilo and Stitch,” added a personal birthday greeting to his drawing seen here on a wall. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)
Advertisement
Black-and-white prints on the wall at right are by U2’s Bono, who gave them to Moby for his birthday. The work on the floor is by Damian Loeb. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)
A test print from Moby’s current “Innocents” photography exhibition is seen on the daybed in his home office. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)
Advertising art at the top of the stairs came from a friend in New York City who is a poster dealer. The stair rail woodwork is original to the house. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)
An original architectural drawing from the 1927 house, one of about 30 he owns, hangs on a wall upstairs. Beneath it is a photograph of Moby with artist Shepard Fairey and Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)
Advertisement
A sculptural chessboard sits on a table upstairs. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)
Moby says most of the prints in this bathroom were bought in secondhand stores in New York City’s East Village. “Then my friend Lee framed everything to make it look even older than it all actually is.” (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)
Moby’s 2011 book of photographs, “Destroyed,” is displayed on the living room coffee table in the foreground, along with other books. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)
Moby spent about $2 million renovating his 1927 Hollywood Hills house -- including replacing the turreted and steeply pitched roof and re-landscaping -- after purchasing the property for about $4 million in 2010. The landscaping around the pool area was designed to be reminiscent of old Hollywood. He added a steam room and sauna in the pool house. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)
Advertisement
Photos for “Innocents” and the music video for his song “A Case of Shame” were shot in the pool area. “I do a lot of shooting in and around the pool,” Moby says. “It’s one way I can justify turning on the pool heater.” (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)
Moby is seen on a staircase outside his house. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)
Moby walks down a trail from a hilltop on his property that offers a 360-degree view of downtown Los Angeles, seen in the distance, Lake Hollywood, Griffith Park and the Hollywood sign. This area of his 3.3-acre estate is landscaped with native plantings that the deer won’t eat, he says. He worked with landscape designer Patricia Benner. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)
Moby says that this patio, which overlooks Lake Hollywood, is used for “eating breakfast and reading books about hair loss.” (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)