Home tour: Inside Bar Leone boss Lorenzo Antinori’s new Hong Kong home

The layout is unusual—“basically a massive living room”, as he describes it—with plenty of space to host friends. “For the first time, I can have a communal dining table [at home] and invite friends over; the space definitely has this very liveable sort of vibe,” he says.

Everywhere you turn, there are treasures to be spotted. Posters of Wong Kar-wai’s seminal 2000 film In the Mood For Love (“my favourite Hong Kong movie”) and the 1968 sci-fi classic 2001: A Space Odyssey (“Stanley Kubrick is one of my favourite directors”) are part of a collection of framed prints in the living area. A shelf acts as a divider between the space and the bedroom. It houses both books—one volume is an Italian translation of The Art of War by Sun Tzu, the Chinese military text dating back to the 5th century BC that Antinori says offers advice applicable for modern-day business—and paintings by family members; several relatives on his mother’s side of the family are artists. By his bed are photos of his parents and a frame depicting a religious icon, a gift from his mother, who’s a devout Catholic. “I’m very close to my family—wherever I have lived, in Hong Kong or South Korea, I always have [these items].”

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Antinori wanted to give the home what he calls a vintage, nostalgic edge. Some of his favourite things—art, film, music—come from the Seventies. His favourite movie, the 1997 indie flick Boogie Nights, is set in the era, and its aesthetics strongly inspired his decorating choices. “I love the Seventies—they were a cool time because pop culture was extremely loud and visually impactful,” he says. “There are a lot of elements from that period that I tried to bring into this space.” That influence is evident in the palette: think burnt orange, forest green and acrylic accents.

A neon sign that reads “Bar Leone” lights up the space with a bright tangerine hue; the sofas are in the same shade; a Tiffany-style stained glass lamp, an emulation of the prized originals produced by the American artist and designer Louis Comfort Tiffany in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with green, orange and yellow glass, glows softly in the corner.

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Antinori has applied the same design philosophy behind his bar to his home. “We wanted Bar Leone to be a nostalgic space, almost like a trip back to a time in the past. We got a lot of references from the Seventies and Eighties. That’s why some people feel like it has been there for a while. When I was thinking about this space, it was the same idea.”

He wanted the home to feel “a little bit chaotic”, he adds, “almost like it’s coming out of a movie by [Boogie Nights’ director] Paul Thomas Anderson or Wes Anderson.” To bring this vision to life, he enlisted Tiffany Kwan, founder of the interior design firm Studio TK, who also worked with him on Bar Leone.

After finally settling in, there are still “a few other pieces that I need to put up”. A home is a place where one never stands still, he says. “It’s almost a dynamic place. I will always think of new elements that I want to introduce.”

Much like the bar, the home has become a reflection of Antinori’s personality. “Bar Leone is a very personal project. I managed to fill it with things that I love, the things that remind me of home, the things that are connected to my roots. It’s the same here; there are certain pieces that I have had in my apartment in Rome with my family, like the religious icon by my bed, the books, frames and prints.

“I think it’s important to preserve this element of heritage that showcases our background and who we are. Otherwise, we just live in an empty box.”

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