7 Luxury Design Features Loved by the Rich and Famous

When you’re in the public eye, being able to retreat from prying eyes (and paparazzi cameras) is crucial. Substantial perimeter fencing, a code-locked front gate and perhaps a location in a gated community with private security are all luxury design features that make the list.

While we’re now all familiar with luxury design features such as spa-like bathrooms, the wealthiest are taking this design concept a step further. Having a private wellness spa — complete with treatment rooms and the latest spa technologies — is what’s drawing the billionaires. These serene spaces aren’t for making your homemade avocado facemasks, but rather receiving the therapeutic benefits of custom-designed water features and Zen teachings.

Having a home with million-dollar view — be it waterfront or cityscape — is paramount to the one-per-cent. They will build a house around it, change the design concept to enhance it, and buy up surrounding properties to protect it. Not only is it about enjoying the vistas from the comfort of your own home, but there’s also an element of showmanship.

Having a wine fridge or built-in rack isn’t going to cut it for the cognoscenti of this world — they want a full-blown cellar. A subterranean tasting room is a popular luxury design feature to store those priceless Bordeaux vintages and Porto ports. This won’t be a musty basement with a few bottles, but a high-tech, temperature-controlled homage to the art of wine-making… and collecting.

Not surprisingly, in a world where bigger is better, most moneyed individuals are sure to ask for one thing — mega square footage. With a minimum of 20,000 sq. ft., luxury homebuyers want rooms for guests, rooms for staff and rooms for 1,500 pairs of Christian Louboutin shoes. Expansive kitchens, a mammoth primary bedroom suite and a home theatre – all that space is used to create a contained, bespoke world.

Jodie Foster gave an incredible acting performance in Panic Room, but the fear is real for some of the world’s wealthiest families. A panic room is a must-have for many A-listers, but these may not be your run-of-the-mill metal boxes. Kitted out with Kevlar lining, air-filtration systems, entertainment centres and bathroom facilities, panic rooms have become a luxury design feature in their own rite.

Blame it on Instagram’s #instafood photo-posting trend, but the demand for high-end kitchens among the highest earners is hashtag high. Commercial-grade appliances are among the most sought-out luxury design features, even when the owners are not professional (celebrity) chefs themselves. It’s all about maximizing the potential of cooking prowess in the kitchen — or maybe it’s at the request of a personal chef.