Is Logan Roy the fictional Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen? 'Succession' character properties become trendsetter for home makeovers
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Logan Roy, the power-hungry and ruthless billionaire media mogul from ‘Succession,’ played by veteran actor Brian Cox, has reportedly become the face of swanky homes across the US. While Roy was known as one of the most hated characters on TV prior to being killed off in the third episode of ‘Succession’ season four, his choice of interior design, seen in the fictitious properties across the show, is now serving as templates for thousands of home revamps.
Design experts are saying that the sumptuous style of Roy’s residences, including the luxurious properties in New York and the Hamptons, is inspiring home makeovers all across the country, as per the Daily Mail. Google searches for home decor styles using the term ‘Succession’ reportedly increased by 5,000 percent after the episode showing Roy’s death, fashion and homeware brand La Redoute noted in a report. Roy’s popularity in the interior design industry has also sparked comparisons between the character and interior designer Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen, the millionaire media personality known for his appearance on ‘Changing Rooms’ and considered to be one of the world's most recognized home designers.
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‘Striving for Roy family-esque interiors is a trend’
Since ‘Succession’ first aired in 2018, Google searches for wallpaper patterns inspired by the show have increased by 120 percent, data analyzed by La Redoute revealed, as per the Daily Mail. Searches for wall paneling similar to the ones seen in Logan Roy’s study in the series have also increased by 130 percent over the course of the series, the data showed.
“We've seen more and more of our customers opt for Hamptons-worthy neutrals, paneling, natural fabrics, and white bookcases since the latest season of Succession began to air,” Sarah Link, head of marketing at La Redoute, told the outlet.
“Looking at the accompanying Google data it seems as though striving for Roy family-esque interiors is a trend that looks set to continue,” she added. “It's fascinating to see how much our viewing habits can inspire our decorating decisions – and how quickly consumers will make a switch once home decor catches their imagination,” Link continued.
Similar to the popularity of wallpapers inspired by Roy’s interior styles, Llewelyn-Bowen also designed a line of wallpaper in collaboration with the British home decor company, Graham & Brown, shortly before earning mass success and fame. While Logan Roy does not seem to have anything in common with Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen’s personal life, the ‘Succession’ character’s growing popularity in the designing industry is seemingly making him a fictional counterpart of the real-life interior designer.
Speaking on the final season of ‘Succession’ and the end of Roy’s character, Elizabeth Fazzare, from the magazine, Architectural Digest, said, “Fans of interior design are certainly not rejoicing the end of the show. Succession's jargon-heavy dialogue and fast-paced drama makes it hard to tear [ourselves] away from the cast of characters, but we've always got our eye on the sets.” She added, “To play like the one percent, you've got to live like them, too.”
‘A bleached monotone of wealth’
Emmy-winning production designer Stephen Carter and Emmy-nominated set decorator George DeTitta Jr., were the men who created Roy’s luxurious world against a backdrop of Manhattan towers, swanky Upper East Side apartments, and country houses, Architectural Digest reported in 2018. The soundstages of Long Island City’s Silvercup Studios East double as the Roy patriarch’s two-story Fifth Avenue home.
Carter told the publication that he initially researched the homes of Rupert Murdoch and Sumner Redstone to create the properties for the glamorous world of ‘Succession.’ “I was influenced by the Fifth Avenue apartments of Edgar Bronfman and Charles Bronfman as they were on the same stretch of street where Logan’s apartment would be, particularly the simple muted color scheme from Charles’s apartment,” he said.
“Edgar Senior’s apartment has the scale, views, and layout, but the color palette was pretty shocking to the eye,” Carter continued. He mentioned that a residential tower on Billionaires Row was chosen for the exterior as it was important for the building on the show to have views of the Metropolitan Museum and Central Park. Carter said, “the look would be very clean and not a lot of knickknacks,” as Roy was set to share the apartment with his third wife, Marcia (Hiam Abbass), “she was, after all, the third wife,” he detailed.
Carter decided to use creams, golds, and beiges for the color scheme. “The color palette was very clean and almost a bleached monotone of wealth,” he said. “I didn’t feel these were very tactile people, comfortwise, and they wanted everything around them to be visually elegant,” Carter added. For the sets that had a black and white marble floor in the hallway, living and dining room, balcony, and study, where most of the Roy family battles take place, DeTitta shopped a variety of high-end sources for the furnishings, the publication noted. Newel Props was used for establishment pieces alongside John Street Antiques, 1stdibs, and The Antique and Artisan Gallery in Stamford, Connecticut, as well as antique shops in Westport, Connecticut, the outlet reported.