Money and taste don’t always go hand-in-hand, as some of the world’s richest people have highlighted many times over the decades.
When it comes to interiors, the wealthy can rarely resist an opportunity to showcase their riches in the decor of their homes, whether it’s a sprawling country estate, gated beach villa or city penthouse.
At opposite ends of the home style spectrum, both Donald Trump and Elon Musk have been heavily critiqued by interior designers – the US president for his ‘gaudy gold’ apartment in New York’s Trump Tower and the Tesla entrepreneur for taking minimalism to a new level at his two-bed Texan abode.
Recently released photos showing the interiors of two of Jeffrey Epstein’s homes – a Manhattan townhouse and his private island – revealed the late convicted sex trafficker’s horrific crimes played out in truly garish surroundings.
Interior designer Nichole Smith told the Daily Mail that a limitless interiors budget tends to go one of two ways.
She says: ‘The super wealthy either stay wealthy by making choices that prioritise practicality over pretentiousness.
‘Or, on the other side of the spectrum, we see people like Trump who are consistently “poster-children” for old sayings such as “more money than sense” or “you can’t buy good taste.”‘
Jeffrey Epstein
The US Justice Department recently released documents, images and videos related to Jeffrey Epstein, who died in 2019 aged 66.
These include images from the inside of his New York townhouse, including the inside of his bedroom, which was decorated with cream wallpaper adorned with blue flowers, along with a sapphire coloured chandelier and a mahogany bed with two side tables.
One of the living room and offices located on Jeffrey Epstein’s private island is decorated with gaudy armchairs and wooden bookshelves
One of the bedrooms in Epstein’s Manhattan townhouse follows a bizarre blue and cream theme
Another bedroom in Epstein’s Manhattan townhouse had pink walls (pictured) and featured a giant oil painting depicting an aroused young boy (not pictured)
The carpet was ivory, painted with bright blue colour grids, and the curtains were the same colour theme, but a zig-zag pattern. The room is also thought to have two cameras inside it.
Lisa Marconi, interior designer and founder of Design Led, said: ‘This is the classic case of money doesn’t buy taste. Everything in these rooms is undoubtedly the most expensive of everything and yet, it does not look beautiful.’
The bathroom had a black marble theme along with a light-up mirror and speakers, which contrasted highly with the light wooden door frame.
She added: ‘[The super rich] take everything they can think of that could be considered tasteful but then ruin it by just chucking it all into a space together. Like the wall-to-wall marble bathroom with the paisley wallpaper framing it and the carved stone statue on the pillar thrown in for good measure.
‘There’s often a sense amongst the uber-rich in America that evoking an old English manor will magically make it look the epitome of taste. But everything is always just a little too much.’
Another mismatched bedroom in his townhouse had bright pink walls and a green velvet headboard, along with two footstools and stripy curtains.
It also featured a giant oil painting depicting an aroused young boy in a twisted ‘coming-of-age ceremony’.
‘The Epstein rooms [are an] overload of vulgar and bad taste,’ said interior designer Benji Lewis.
He added: ‘In places like the blue and cream bedroom, there’s seemingly not enough furniture to fill the cavernous space.
The bathroom in his New York property had a black marble theme along with a light-up mirror and speakers, which contrasted highly with the light wooden door frame
The outdated living room in his New York house had a large diamond candlelight chandelier with a patterned rug and taxidermy tiger
‘I don’t know where to begin with the art, [it being] ghastly and sinister is perhaps a good place to start. An accurate reflection of the owner.’
The outdated living room had a large diamond candlelight chandelier with a patterned rug, a taxidermy tiger and mahogany walls.
Lisa said: ‘The chandelier is too glitzy and too big, there is an oversized gold leaf table sitting amongst the panelled walls, and a taxidermy tiger sits on the floor – they can’t seem to help themselves! They have to bring some tackiness into their rooms.’
Another picture was released of inside a property on Epstein’s private island, showing an office with four gaudy-patterned armchairs with red velvet cushions, a plain white carpet and a dark wooden bookcase wall, complete with a desk.
Lisa added: ‘The wall-to-wall ornate panelling and the damask-type patterns on the four chairs are an attempt to create a “library in a big old English house” feel, but don’t come close.
‘A theme with the super-rich is often that they don’t know when to hold back in decorating their homes, which is the key to making a space look classy.’
Speaking of the questionable sitting room, Benji said: ‘That room with four armchairs plonked in the middle of it is particularly horrid; the embossed velvet fabric on the armchairs is so overpowering.
‘In spite of the fact that the interiors are meant to look expensively done, the curation is so bad that the end impression is cheap.’
Elon Musk
Despite having a net worth of $749billion, according to Forbes, it seems Elon Musk, 54, has opted for a humble home, without all of the pzazz one might expect from the world’s richest man.
American author Walter Isaacson, who is writing Musk’s biography, shared a glimpse inside his home in Boca Chica, Texas, calling it a ‘spartan two-bedroom house’.
The minimalist property featured a dark wooden table with matching floors in a white kitchen, perhaps big enough for a couple or a small family to live in.
And it wouldn’t be complete without a spaceship sculpture placed on the side of his table, honouring his interest in space.
Lisa said that this plain house is ‘really fitting’ when you find out it belongs to Musk.
She added: ‘It says “I am too concerned with the important things in life to care about where I live.” It also looks like the home of a twenty-something man who’s just left his parents’ home for the first time and bought his first house but doesn’t really have any idea how to decorate it so it feels and looks like a home.’
She added that the billionaire owner of X, Tesla and SpaceX has ‘kept the kitchen the home came with’ and only bought the bare minimum amount of functional furniture needed, adding: ‘It’s not the home of a fully grown, mature man.
‘The Katana sword, the rocket model, the spartan décor with no personality – it all screams single man in his first starter home. Which is an interesting choice for the world’s richest man.’
Lauren Sanchez
Many will remember when the former journalist, 56, married Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, 61, in a lavish three-day wedding held in Venice in the summer, reportedly costing around $20million.
But it seems money cannot buy taste, as Lauren Sanchez was mocked for her interior design after giving her Instagram followers an insight into her home.
Lauren Sanchez was mocked for her interior design after showing her Instagram followers the inside of her office
Interior design experts said the decor looked ‘cheap’, including the curtains with various coloured lip motifs
Lauren showed off her luxurious writing nook, which revealed a white bevelled writing desk with a bright pink surface situated in front of a huge patio door.
The walls of the room were painted a shade of blue, and the surface of the mirrored chest of drawers was finished in a similar colour, with the ceiling decorated in a sky-effect.
The storage unit was covered in framed photos and an old typewriter, while her desk featured fresh flowers in a vase, her laptop and a pile of books. But she was told her house looked like it belonged to ‘Barbie’ and gave ‘elementary school vibes’.
Benji said the space looks ‘cold and unfriendly,’ adding that the curtains with various coloured lip motifs were ‘cheap’.
He added: ‘The ribbed detail on the dressing table is an attempt to be on trend, but the table’s undersized, the only thing that is right about it is having it positioned in front of the window to provide natural light.
‘The cobalt blue accents and a flash of neon pink against white walls look pretty stark in this space. Cold and unfriendly are the impressions that the room gives. A rug on the floor would help, but given how poorly the space has been considered, this would just be a starting point.’
Rishi Sunak
The former Prime Minister has several homes with his wife, Akshata Murthy, who is reportedly worth £200million, including a five-bedroom townhouse in London, along with a flat in the capital, a manor in North Yorkshire and a property in Santa Monica, California.
Rishi Sunak was seen sitting on a light blue sofa which clashed with the royal blue cabinets behind him
Sunak, 45, does not often use social media. However, he posted a picture of himself sitting on a light blue sofa in an official pre-budget photo taken in 2021.
Behind him is a darker, royal blue cabinet and an array of blue pillows, but interior designer Lisa believes the different hues clash.
She said: ‘A monochromatic colour scheme is when you use different shades of the same colour in a room. It’s a great way to create impact and make a room feel cosy.
‘It looks like Rishi is going for that in this room; however, he’s committed the cardinal sin of putting shades together that clash. This creates a jarring effect, which is the opposite of what it is meant to achieve.’
Mark Zuckerberg
Last year, the CEO of Meta, 41, revealed that he had a 7ft tall statue of his wife, Priscilla Chan, made for their garden.
It was commissioned by New York-based artist Daniel Arsham and the sculpture appears to be made of oxidised green copper and steel.
Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Meta, posted a picture of a statue that he had commissioned of his wife looking like a Greek goddess last year
Zuckerberg wrote: ‘Bringing back the Roman tradition of making sculptures of your wife.’ The statue featured Priscilla with her flowing hair down, wrapped in what appeared to be a silver toga-style dress.
Lisa said she would be ‘hiding her head in shame’ if her husband had unveiled a similar statue of her.
‘Aside from the fact that this statue is reminiscent of something from Greek mythology, which seems to indicate a slightly over-inflated sense of themselves, it is absolutely hideous and incongruous with the garden around it.
‘It looks like they’ve just plonked it randomly in their garden with no regard to whether it makes sense with anything around it.’
Donald Trump
The US President and businessman, 79, definitely has a ‘more is more’ attitude when it comes to his interiors, according to Lisa.
When he was showing the then Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe around his residence in Trump Tower in 2018, his love for opulent decor became apparent.
Donald Trump is pictured in his apartment in Trump Tower in New York with the then Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in 2018
From angelic painted ceilings to numerous diamond chandeliers, lavish candlesticks and glass tables, the amount of detail in the room is almost headache-inducing.
Lisa said: ‘[With Trump] everything must be the best, the biggest, the most glitzy and that never means good taste.
‘There is gilt everywhere it possibly can be and a misguided attempt to inject some class by using a classic English damask pattern on every surface. The main aim of this room seems to be about a display of wealth, like a peacock frantically fanning its tail.’
Nichole said the apartment was covered head-to-toe in ‘gaudy gold’, adding: ‘Trump is perhaps the definition of that “you can’t buy good taste” side of the spectrum.’
Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson, who died aged 50 in 2009, had his Neverland Ranch put up for sale in 2015 for a whopping $100million.
The 2,700-acre property features 22 structures, including a 12,000 square feet main home with six bedrooms and attached staff quarters.
Michael Jackson’s cinema room inside his Neverland Ranch was compared to a ‘school auditorium’
But perhaps one of the more questionable areas is the old-fashioned cinema room, which boasts rows of cushy red velvet chairs and bright blue walls.
Nichole described the area as having ‘strong school auditorium vibes’ due to the wooden stage and silver tinsel curtain.
Lisa said: ‘There is something quite twee about this cinema room in Michael Jackson’s house. If you were to take the cinema seats away, it could be a stage in a primary school for Christmas plays.
‘The wooden frame and the tinsel-like curtain in front of the screen don’t really feel cinema-like. The size and scope of the room are unnecessarily huge.’
Vijay Mallya
Vijay Mallya, the son of United Breweries Group founder Vittal Malla, is the owner of a bizarre mansion which sits on the top of a skyscraper in the Indian city of Bangalore.
The two-storey replica of the White House, located at 400 feet, is built on the top of Kingfisher Towers and covers an area of 40,000 square metres.
Vijay Mallya is the owner of a bizarre mansion which sits on the top of a skyscraper in the Indian city of Bangalore
The two-storey replica of the White House, located at 400 feet, is built on the top of Kingfisher Towers
The $20million mansion sits upon a giant cantilever slab on the top of the skyscraper in the luxury retail and office space UB City and is built on a 4.5-acre land parcel that once held the owner’s ancestral home.
Mallya left India in March 2016 as lenders and investigating agencies came after him, after he allegedly borrowed huge sums of money and never returned any of it. The 70-year-old tycoon has been fighting against the charges ever since, and India has been attempting to get him extradited from the UK.
The mansion was supposed to feature a wine cellar, an indoor heated pool and an outdoor infinity pool, as well as a rooftop helipad, among other amenities, but the finished product has remained shrouded in mystery since Mallya announced plans to have the dream home constructed in 2010.
But Lisa called it an ‘absolutely hilarious show of wealth,’ adding: ‘What this says is that he is so desperate to tell everyone that he is rich, he has had to stick this ridiculous house on top of this building so that anyone flying by can see how incredibly wealthy he is.
‘He might as well have stuck a big banner on the front of his penthouse saying “I’M RICH!”‘
Interior designer Nichole added that it was a perfect example of ‘how not to be subtle’ with showing off your wealth.
