Go Inside the Fabulous Homes of Designers Christian Louboutin, Tracy Reese, Valentino, and More

Christian Louboutin’s 13th-century French chateau contained a treasure trove of riches, including an 18th-century mahogany stairway with Venetian crystal globes, a Charles X chair and a stuffed boar. What did Louboutin love most? “… being able to feel the imprint of different centuries.”

Of his many homes around the globe, Giorgio Armani’s Milan fortress (which also encompasses his offices) was where the designer collected “many of the treasures from my lifetime of travel.” The beloved manse was filled with art, antique rugs, elephant tusks, ceremonial costumes, books, lacquer boxes, and family portraits-each with its own backstory.

Tracy Reese’s Manhattan apartment was filled with treasures-either scavenged from flea markets and secondhand stores, then reinvented, or created from scratch. To that end, her living room's crayon-red walls were stenciled with a fleur-de-lis pattern in a shimmery metallic gold. Large gold tassels hung on nearly every other doorknob.

At Nicole Miller’s gray-shingled Long Island getaway, she infused minimalist interiors with funny, eye-popping touches, like a pink flamingo, a glass-poinsettia lamp, an avocado-shaped bowl from Juarez, Mexico, and a carved-foam parrot from Rio de Janeiro. "The kitschy stuff is all mine," she said.

Valentino’s beloved stucco and stone villa on the Appia Antica in Rome was decorated with an eclectic mix of styles. Rooms were filled with antiques, including, as he explained it, "a little Napoleon III, some Louis XIV... a lot of Chinese." Not to mention paintings by Dufy and Chagall, Botero, yards of brocade and toile, and a lot of plaid.

This seven-bedroom, white-shingled Stanford White-designed, antiques-filled home outside New York City-set amid acres of rolling fields with a swimming pool and a pond-is where Kenneth Cole retreats from his hectic life. "We didn't set out to 'decorate' the rooms," said his wife. “We just filled them over time with interesting pieces that are meaningful to us.”

InStyle

photographed Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana’s charming Portofino home on a peninsula, which offered up small balconies overlooking breathtaking vistas. “The gold bedroom on the top floor is like arriving in heaven," said Gabbana. "amp#91;It'samp#93; where all of our guests want to sleep.” The “guests” he speaks of? Think Jennifer Lopez, Eva Mendes, and Madonna.

Across a field from Todd Oldham’s country Pennsylvania home, up two flights of split-oak stairs, was his tree house-sixty feet in the air. With sleeping room for four, the heated interior contained a refrigerator, TV, stereo, custom-made cabinets, and sundeck. “Lie down at twilight and it really is magic carpet time,” said Oldham. “You’re floating.”