Naomi Campbell has given fans a tour of her luxurious villa located in the tranquil seaside town of Malindi, Kenya. Campbell fell in love with Malindi on her first visit to the tropical location in the mid-1990s and eventually bought the property in 1999.
“It’s a very calming place,” the supermodel told Architectural Digest. “You don’t really want to be on the phone. You’re not trying to find a television. You just want to read and be with yourself. It’s nice to just have the silence and the crickets.”
The sprawling villa is beneath a thatched roof made from the sun-dried leaves of the coconut palm, overlooking the Indian Ocean. The thatched roofs are Campbell’s favorite and she decamps at the mansion when she wants to rest.
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“We’ve had this one for at least 12 years, and it’s still in good form,” she said. “Because of the air, wind, and sea salt, things can break down very quickly here, but it’s held up so well, and it’s just like a piece of art in itself.”
The villa has smashing features like a large indoor swimming ball, locally sourced furniture, and a balcony hallway skirting. She uses the space to gather with friends and loved ones before or after dinner. “This is the coldest pool in the house,” the model said, pointing to the focal point of the room. This is because it can get very hot here so this is the cold pool.”
Her indoor-outdoor mansion also features a saltwater pool that extends outdoors from the center of the living room. There are also vaulted ceilings in the living areas and voile-curtained pergolas scattered around the property.
One striking thing about Campbell is her support for local craftsmanship although she can shop far and wide for furniture. “A lot of the wood furniture that we have in the house is made in Malindi,” the British star noted. “In fact, we used to have a workshop at the back of the house.”
Campbell has had a phenomenal model career spanning 35 years. At 50 years, Campbell has shown no sign of slowing down as she is still in demand and enjoys enviable visibility. She was recently at Fendi’s spring 2021 culture show in Paris.
She has also become the face of Nars, appeared in Burberry and Saint Laurent advertisements, Amazon’s fashion-competition series Making the Cut, and Beyoncé’s beloved “Brown Skin Girl” video.
Besides her modeling career and appearance on multiple fashion shows, she is also big on social media and regularly updates her 10 million Instagram followers and videos showing her luxury.
Recently, Campbell was named as Kenya’s official tourism ambassador. Among other things, she is expected to market Kenya. “I love all of the African continent; there isn’t one country I love more than another, and I want that to be clear,” she told AD. “Each place in Africa has something magical about it.”
