Great Spaces: a look inside the lodgings of Drake Hotel owner Jeff Stober

Great Spaces: a look inside the lodgings of Drake Hotel owner Jeff Stober

Great Spaces: the house that Drake built

Jeff Stober is known for his exacting taste. In fact, as the owner of the Drake Hotel and the new Financial District restaurant Drake One Fifty, he’s staked his career on it. It’s no surprise, then, that his home of more than 20 years is an extension of his public spaces. He calls it an “aesthetic laboratory” that morphs every few years with changing seasons, trends and tastes. The current iteration, which he worked on closely with his longtime design collaborator, John Tong, and the Drake’s curator, Mia Nielson, perfectly sums up Stober’s aesthetic: a playful mix of classic and contemporary styles, modern and vintage furnishings, and high and low culture. He’s filled the house with art—much of it Canadian—and furniture that, while expertly crafted, still retains a sense of whimsy. He’s also a lover of the outdoors, which is why he made sure there were plenty of huge windows and natural wood details—not to mention a fully loaded gym in his backyard.