Fearlessly Fine

Architectural designer Ferris Rafauli challenges expectations of what home might look like.

Ferris Rafauli Predicts that in the ultra-premium, post-pandemic world, no design demands will ever be considered too crazy. Among his black-card clientele, requests for features such as in-home sports arenas and full-service spas have already ratcheted up.

But the Canadian designer and founder of an eponymous, and increasingly illustrious, boutique design-build firm specialises in turning the dreamt-up into reality. “The demands have gotten a lot more exciting lately because we’re bringing absolutely anything and everything home,” he says. “It used to be home theatres and indoor pools. Now we’re designing houses with nightclubs built into them, and custom soccer stadiums or basketball courts.” Among his current projects, he’s trying to fit a Turkish spa, with a salt cave and series of hot and cold pools, beneath a Los Angeles house, as well as tucking a full-service restaurant, complete with chef’s kitchen and separate dining area for guests, into another private residence.

That big-picture, big-project thinking still comes down to the details, like entryways now needing shoe-washing stations or where the towel should hang in the bathroom according to the client’s height. It’s part math equation, part style instinct – having the dexterity to design and dress an entire estate, from its facade and landscape down to the drawer pulls. And by this time in his career, more than 20 years in, Rafauli has clout and influence. And, well, balls.