Architectural Digest
One of the greatest tennis players of all time, Serena Williams, recently opened the doors to her Flordia home. See where the most outstanding female athlete of all time lays her head at night…
Inside the House of Serena Williams
Serena Williams recently took the team from Architectural Digest Magazine around her home, showing off the countless hours of work that went into completing it. Believe it or not, she needed to change quite a bit about the house. Now, after five long years, the home, located in Palm Beach, is finally finished. In addition to Serena, her sister Venus Williams and interior design firm V Starr also worked on the project.
“I was moving away from Venus for the first time in my life, so I wanted it to be really meaningful,” Serena told Architectural Digest. “You have to know your lane. I’m really good at playing tennis; I’m not as good at interiors…But I was able to learn through just watching Venus.” Williams says that she wanted a place to live in for decades to come and that it surely is! Her biggest inspiration? Five-star resorts from around the world. However, her husband, Alexis Ohanian, the founder of Reddit, did not have a hand in the home…
A Most Luxurious Mansion
When Williams purchased the home, she had already started dating Reddit founder Alexis Ohanian. Although they married and welcomed a daughter later, the tennis player didn’t want to share the project. “We had just met, and I wasn’t going to be like, ‘Hey, let’s do this together,'” Williams said. “That would have been really weird for him.” Ohanian did, however, work on their daughter Olympia’s bedroom. She has a custom-made castle bed with a slide there! “She goes down the slide every night while we’re thinking, ‘Man, we shouldn’t have done that, because now at bedtime, she just wants to slide,'” Williams said. “But whatever makes her happy makes me happy.”
Meanwhile, the rest of the house is filled to the brim with luxury. Williams’ house has a gym with a sauna, a 620-square-foot closet, a massive wine cellar, a trophy room, and an infinity pool! The tennis star says that they finished the kitchen right before the pandemic started, which was fantastic, as she really picked up cooking during the lockdowns. However, none of these are Williams’ favorite room in her home!
Quirks And Secrets
Williams’ favorite room in her celebrity mansion hs to be the front foyer, which she filled with modern art and her various trophies. “I am not a fan of just having spaces to have them. Maybe some people use their formal living rooms, but we don’t,” the tennis icon said of the foyer-turned-gallery. “So we created a space that she can actually use and enjoy and live with the art, and invite other people to absorb it and have that emotional connection as soon as you walk in. It sets the tone for the rest of the home.” However, the coolest room in the house has to be the karaoke room behind a bookshelf – Williams, Ohanian, and their daughter sing there whenever possible.
Noticeably missing from the property? A tennis court. However, that’s no accident. In fact, Williams purposefully decided against it! “I wanted to separate home from work,” the athlete explained. “I love being home. When you have our job, you never get time to relax. So it’s good for me to be able to sit still and not do anything.”
Sources: Architectural Digest, People Magazine
