If the walls of Martyn Lawrence Bullard’s home in the West Hollywood Hills could talk, they'd have plenty of fascinating stories to tell.
The stylish hideaway owned by the interior designer to the stars has been home to music legend Tina Turner, pop artist Andy Warhol, and Hollywood hellraiser Dennis Hopper, and has also seen its fair share of parties and famous visitors – including Martyn's own celebrity friends and clients.
''So many people have been in this house,'' British-born Martyn tells HELLO! as he opens his doors for this exclusive interview. ''When Dennis Hopper lived here, there was everyone from the Rolling Stones and The Beatles to Jane Fonda and even a bunch of Hell's Angels.
''I love to entertain, too. Sharon, Ozzy Osbourne, and Gwen Stefani love coming here. Last week, Melanie Griffith came for dinner, and RuPaul is a regular visitor. We have fun game nights and he loves to play charades.''
Central to Martyn’s gatherings is the bar he created out of Andy's old breakfast room. On the wall is Steve Schapiro's 1965 photo of the artist with muse Edie Sedgwick in New York's Studio 54 nightclub. ''This room used to be papered in soup-can labels,'' Martyn says.
''But I turned it into my little bar and used my own wallpaper, which I designed for Cole & Son – and which I hear is also in the Prince and Princess of Wales's apartment at Kensington Palace. I have a bunch of Warhol's work in the house, which is a nod to his tenure here.''
As well as creating stunning interiors for his own property, Martyn, 57, has transformed the homes of film stars, music legends, supermodels, and royalty, winning a slew of industry awards and being hailed as one of the world's top designers. He has worked on Cher’s palatial oceanside mansion in Malibu, Sir Elton John and David Furnish’s colourful house in Los Angeles, and the homes of Kris and Kylie Jenner, as well as Kylie’s sister Kourtney Kardashian.
Also among his A-list clients are models Cindy Crawford, Alessandra Ambrosio and Winnie Harlow, fashion designer Tommy Hilfiger and actress Ellen Pompeo, plus British, Middle Eastern and European royalty.
''Cher is an amazing force of nature,'' Martin says. ''We’ve worked together on and off for almost 20 years and she’s a special part of my life. She loves exoticism and Moorish décor. She's great fun, wildly intelligent, and a very cool lady.
'I always love to ''sex'' up these types of houses by adding a little Moroccan into the mix'
''Ozzy and Sharon are a riot. They're like family – I love them dearly. Sharon loves design; she loves decorating and interiors.
''I worked on a couple of their houses and there's always a little bit of a gothic thing and a little bit of English country house. They love comfort, they love a little fantasy, and Sharon has great taste, so she's always wonderful to work with.''
Phenomenal talent
He continues: ''Elton and David are the most wonderful people, and they have the most beautiful taste and incredible collections.
''Kris has been a great role model for her kids and inspired all of them to want to have beautiful interiors, but also to want to create their own style.
''Kylie’s home is emblematic of her and her beauty brand, with colour and pop art and fun shapes. Kourtney is the biggest of all the design fans. She should have been an interior designer at some point; she has a passion for it.''
Despite his impressive client list, Martyn has never had any formal training as an interior designer. Instead, his talent was discovered by accident when he moved to Los Angeles aged 21 in the hope of becoming an actor, having developed a knack for interiors while selling second-hand furniture in Greenwich Market in south-east London.
''My dad had been a singer and an actor, and my eldest sister was a fashion designer, so there was a lot of that creative energy around the house,'' says Martyn, who grew up in south-east London.
''From the age of seven or eight, I was fascinated by antiques. When I was 12, my dad rented me a stall and I would run around the other stalls at 6am, buying whatever I could afford that looked pretty, and putting it together and making it even prettier, waiting for unsuspecting American tourists to come along. I soon realised I could turn my £10 of pocket money into £20 or £30 every weekend.
'It took me a year to get the house where I wanted it to be before I moved in'
''I learned if a piece was Regency or Georgian, if it was Indian or African, and what a hallmark was. That has really and truly been my springboard to where I am today.''
Model citizen
After enrolling in the prestigious Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute, Martyn landed some modelling and theatre work before heading to Los Angeles.
''I eventually got cast in a movie where I played Eartha Kitt's toyboy,'' he recalls. ''The producer came to my tiny little rental house and was like: 'Oh my God, you’ve got a real talent. Will you come to decorate our offices?'
''Then I was hired to do the Capitol Records offices, and went to the vice-president Liz Heller's wedding, where I sat next to Cheryl Tiegs, the world's first supermodel. By the end of that wedding, she had hired me to do her house – and within nine months, I was on the cover of six magazines around the world and my career was born. I was 23.''
Martyn bought his four-bedroom, five bathroom home five years ago – two decades after he first set foot in it while doing interiors for The Late Late Show host Craig Kilborn.
''I always loved the house but I couldn't have afforded it back then,'' he says. ''Years later, I woke up one morning and turned my phone on, and the first thing that popped up was a real-estate notice that this house was coming up for sale. So, I literally ran over here before anyone else saw it and bought it before it went on the market.''
The decor of the house, which was built in 1923 and sits in an acre of land with views of the city, was exactly how Martyn had left it. But his tastes had changed in the intervening years, so he set about renovating all over again.
''I did a massive amount of work, and it took a year to get it to where I wanted it to be before I moved in,'' he says. ''I took down walls, added a new kitchen and dressing room, changed the flooring and put in the black-and-white entrance hall.''
Global inspiration
The eclectic interiors feature furniture, fittings and works of art that Martyn has collected from around the world, including ancient Greek and Roman fragments, items from China and Bali and Italian 18th-century and mid-century pieces.
An artist spent three weeks hand-painting the geometric patterned ceiling in the living room, where Moroccan antique stools sit in front of an open fireplace and miniature palm trees, a brass-and-horsehair light shade and a snake rug – from his own range with Ruggable – add to the decadent feel.
''I went to Egypt for my 50th birthday and saw these amazing entwined snakes carved in stone, and thought: 'I must try to use that somewhere,''' he says. ''I don’t like snakes, to be honest, but I love the look and form of a snake in decoration.''
Throughout the house, light pours in through floor-to-ceiling windows – recent replacements that look original. ''Light is really important; as a designer, I feel as though it’s the most important element of everything I have in my life,'' says Martyn, whose bedroom is decorated with bold, tree-patterned wallpaper to match the view from the window. ''I feel as though I’m sleeping in a tree house.''
Meanwhile, his brass rolltop bath, from UK firm Catchpole & Rye, is a nod to his British heritage.
Luckily, the recent wildfires in the city bypassed the house, which Martyn shares with his 12-year-old wheaten terrier Daisy.
''It came pretty close to us – it was insane looking out my bedroom window,'' he says. ''The whole street had to abandon. But we all came back within four or five hours when it was under control, thank God. I know 32 people who lost their homes.''
As spring approaches, Martyn is looking forward to entertaining friends in his lush garden, where he has created a Moroccan themed seating area arranged around a firepit, just outside his bar.
''The house is like a Spanish or Italian villa, and I always love to 'sex up' these types of houses by adding a little Moroccan into the mix, which gives it a more playful flavour,'' he says. ''I'm constantly using my house as an experiment pad, trying new things, like ways of upholstering or looking at a drapery. If it goes wrong in my house, it’s not a problem.''
Star Style, by Martyn Lawrence Bullard, is published by Vendome. For more, visit martynlawrencebullard.com. Follow Martyn Lawrence Bullard on Instagram @martynbullard