Karl Lagerfeld’s former mansion in Germany has hit the market for €10 million, or nearly $12 million.
The fashion mogul, who serves as creative director for both Fendi and Chanel, purchased the property in the Hamburg suburb of Blankenese back in 1989. Around the same time, his longtime partner, Parisian socialite Jacques de Bascher passed away and in a showcase of respect and commitment, Lagerfeld named the home after him – “Villa Jacko.”
Over the years, the designer left his own artistic touches on the Roman-style hilltop estate, which overlooks the Elbe River. Lagerfeld commissioned art conservator Renate Kant to restore the old-time veneer of the residence, which was originally constructed in the 1920s as a single-story home. He also filled the rooms with heavy, ornate brocades in a juxtaposition to the stern stone exterior.
Later, Lagerfeld described the interior as “very Weimar Republic” in a book titled “Ein Deutsches Haus” (A German House). Less than a decade after buying the home, he sold it, for its location was too serene to spur productivity.
“It’s impossible to live on the Elbe,” Lagerfeld said in Engel & Völkers’ proprietary magazine, GG. “You spend all your time looking out at the river. You ended up becoming lazy.”
Engel & Völkers in Hamburg has listed the classical home, which features a Roman water pool in the grant foyer, an atrium and gold-leaf ornaments throughout the living spaces on the first floor. The second story, an after-thought appended to the house in the 1930s, holds several bedrooms in a much more relaxed and cozy ambiance.
