Elton John at Home: 27 Photos of the Rocket Man’s Maximalist Domestic Life
In the ’70s, the “Tiny Dancer” singer decorated his houses with outsized collections of art, Tiffany lamps, and stuffed animals—these days, he maintains a grand English estate on 37 acres
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It’s hard to think of a star with more maximalist tastes than Elton John. The iconic musician and EGOT winner, who is the subject of the 2019 biopic Rocketman and the 2024 documentary Elton John: Never Too Late, has long been known for his over-the-top fashion sensibilities—sky-high platform shoes, oversized eyeglasses in every hue, feathers, and glitter are among his signature staples. (And, we should mention, that’s Sir Elton John to you—he received his knighthood in 1998 from Queen Elizabeth, in recognition of both his musical talent and philanthropic work.)
The knight's more-is-more philosophy is not limited to his wardrobe; John has long been a collector, particularly when it comes to art and home decor. And when Elton John collects, he collects. Case in point: John owns one of the largest private collections of photography in the world, according to Christie’s. While his interior design style is still bold and eclectic, it has evolved into a considerably refined version over the course of his six-decade career. However, there was a time when the fledgling star quite literally filled his home with everything that caught his fancy. Below, we explore photos of John at home, during his everything-goes design era and beyond.
Photo: Kent Gavin/Mirrorpix/Getty Images1/27A new era
John poses with his car collection in front of his newly purchased home in Virginia Water, Surrey, in 1972. It was a meaningful year for the hitmaker. Not only did he buy his first house, but he had his name legally changed from Reginald Kenneth Dwight to Elton Hercules John. In honor of his new middle name, the songwriter named the abode Hercules. Later that year, he released a song by the same name on his album Honky Château.
Photo: M. Stroud/Daily Express/Hulton Archive/Getty Images2/2714 Abbots Drive
According to John’s 2019 autobiography, Me, the brick bungalow pictured in this 1973 snapshot came with three bedrooms, a swimming pool, and a game room loft. The split-level dwelling cost the musician £50,000, or about $62,000 (an estimated $468,000, adjusted for inflation), per biographer Philip Norman.
Photo: M. Stroud/Daily Express/Hulton Archive/Getty Images3/27Making a menagerie
John quickly filled the home with his various collections: art, lamps, onyx eggs, records, eyeglasses, platform shoes, and stuffed animals among them. An interviewer for a 1973 issue of Sounds magazine noted that “aside from being eminent focal points,” the huge plush toys that he collected were “highly functional” in helping guests find their way around the jam-packed abode. As the journalist Jerry Gilbert wrote, “The lavatory is situated in the pink fluorescent bathroom and to locate the above you make a left turn at the bison and it’s first on the right after the warthog.” The latter features in this photo, which was taken around the same time that the Sounds article was published.
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Big shoes to fill
In this 1973 photo shot at Virginia Water, John showed off an element of his signature style at the time: platform boots. This particular pair had platforms that were eight inches high. The custom-made shoes by Ken Todd of Kensington Market were red and silver and featured the Rocket Man’s initials.
Photo: Michael Putland/Getty Images5/27A ’70s spectacle
In this early ’70s picture, the “Bennie and the Jets” performer is shown lounging on the sofa where—even at home—his signature sunglasses exude a healthy dose of drama. “I started to wear [the dark glasses ] when I was 13, trying to copy Buddy Holly,” he explained in a 1972 interview excerpted in Elton John. “Now my eyes are weak, with or without them, so if the fans are thinking about copying me, I advise them to forget it.”
Photo: Michael John Stroud/Mirrorpix via Getty Images6/27Collector of all kinds
The pop star poses in his living room in 1973, showing off glimpses of his expansive collections of books and Art Nouveau works in the background. “His mind was that of an archivist or librarian, cataloging and cross-referencing all that he acquired, down to the smallest Pinocchio badge from Disneyland,” Norman wrote in the biography Elton John.
Photo: Carl Bruin/Mirrorpix via Getty Images7/27Music man
The pianist poses at his Hercules home in a photo from 1974, surrounded by his massive record collection. According to Norman, John kept his vinyls “organised meticulously into categories and subsections, with neatly written index cards, even now when trips through Tower Records with a shopping trolley might increase it by 300 albums at a time.” A child prodigy, John began playing piano by ear at age three, started lessons at seven, and earned a scholarship to the vaunted Royal Academy of Music at 11.
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Photo: Carl Bruin/Mirrorpix via Getty Images8/27Budding art collector
Shortly after moving to Virginia Water, the “Rocket Man” singer wandered into a local bookstore owned by filmmaker Bryan Forbes, and the two became fast friends. “He taught me about art, and I started collecting under his influence,” John wrote of the Stepford Wives director. “First it was Art Nouveau and Art Deco posters, which were very fashionable in the early ’70s—Rod Stewart collected them too—then surrealist painters like Paul Wunderlich. I began buying Tiffany lamps and Bugatti furniture.” This 1974 photo of the artist posing between a pair of stuffed leopards showcases the gallery walls that displayed his home’s ever-growing art collection.
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Photo: Carl Bruin/Mirrorpix via Getty Images9/27Elton the art patron
Forbes introduced John to the work of artist Bryan Organ, and the “I’m Still Standing” singer wasted no time in commissioning the painter to make a portrait of him. In the finished work, pictured above the musician here in 1974, John gazes through an open window and wears a shirt printed with a picture of Marilyn Monroe in the style of Andy Warhol. Another painting by Organ hangs to the left, while a suit of armor guards the entrance to the next room.
Photo: Carl Bruin/Mirrorpix via Getty Images10/27A well-appointed library
In addition to his hefty record collection, John kept an extensive library of books, a glimpse of which can be seen in the background of this 1974 photo. According to Norman’s 1993 biography of the artist, John continued to return to Forbes’s bookstore, often buying out the entire window display. “He loved books,” Forbes’s wife, actor Nanette Newman, recalled to Norman. “He wanted to have them, like we did, all through the house. But not just for show. When you talked to him, you realized how amazingly well-read he was.”
Photo: Carl Bruin/Mirrorpix via Getty Images11/27Hanging out in the game room
The iconic musician’s game room, where he stands in this 1974 shot, was lined wall-to-wall with his RIAA certifications. He also decked it out with a pinball machine, a foosball table, a jukebox, a ping-pong table, a golf putter, and a neon “Hercules” sign.
Mirrorpix/Getty Images12/27A magpie’s bedroom
John’s display of his wide-ranging collections continued in his bedroom, which housed posters, paintings, Tiffany lamps, stuffed animals, and an intricately carved bed frame—all of which can be seen in this 1974 photo. “I’m a magpie,” the performer told AD in 1993 of his collecting nature. “If I see something beautiful, I have to have it.”
Photo: Carl Bruin/Mirrorpix via Getty Images13/27An entertainer onstage and at home
Apparently, you’d be unlikely to find any dust atop the piano that John plays in this 1974 photo. “[His] house was immaculate,” Newman said, per Norman’s biography of the star. “Elton did the housework himself, and was incredibly house-proud. I remember one day [he and his manager and then boyfriend, John Reid, had] been over to us for lunch, and we were going back to the bungalow for tea. Elton rushed off in the car ahead of us. When we got there, he was frantically Hoovering the living room.”
Photo: Carl Bruin/Mirrorpix via Getty Images14/27Glassware connoisseur
In this 1974 photo, John poses with the cabinet that housed his glassware—another collection of the musician’s that continued to grow and evolve. “I’m a huge collector of glass,” the musician told The Guardian in 2016. “I love it, and feel it’s the last great underrated area of creativity.”
Photo: Carl Bruin/Mirrorpix via Getty Images15/27Comforting collections
Art Nouveau posters, paintings, and other works line the walls under the guard of John’s suit of armor in this 1974 photograph. “For as long as I can remember, I’ve always found collecting things oddly comforting, and I’ve always enjoyed learning about things by collecting them, whether that’s records or photographs or clothes or art,” the musician wrote of his maximalist tendencies.
Photo:Carl Bruin/Mirrorpix via Getty Images16/27Saying goodbye to Hercules…
John poses with his stuffed bear, Art Nouveau posters, and a neon “Elton” sign at Hercules in 1974. Within two years, the “Your Song” musician’s bungalow “could barely contain the myriad possessions stuffed into it and, in addition, had to be protected from marauding fans by an electronic security fence,” Norman wrote. In early 1976, John listed the home for £125,000 ($1.17 million, adjusted for inflation), ultimately selling it for £80,000 later that year, according to Norman.
Photo: Brian Cooke/Redferns/Getty Images17/27…and hello to Woodside
John traded his Virginia Water dwelling for an estate called Woodside in nearby Old Windsor, which he bought in 1974 for £400,000 (the equivalent of $5.4 million today). In this 1981 photo, the musician performs a song inside the eight-bedroom home, which he still maintains. The 37-acre estate was originally built for King Henry VIII’s surgeon in the 1500s and is just a few miles from Windsor Castle. If an emergency flag was lifted at Windsor, the doctor could be quickly summoned from Woodside, which was most recently rebuilt in 1947.
Photo: Brian Cooke/Redferns/Getty Images18/27The Elton John aesthetic, in his own words
“It was built in a mock-Georgian style, but when doing it up, I decided to eschew Regency or Palladian decoration in favour of a style known among interior design specialists as Mid-’70s Pop Star On Drugs Goes Berserk,” John wrote of the home—pictured here in 1981—in his autobiography. “There were pinball machines, jukeboxes, brass palm trees, memorabilia everywhere. There were Tiffany lamps next to the pair of four-foot-high Doc Marten boots I’d worn while singing ‘Pinball Wizard’ in The Who’s film Tommy.”
19/27A furry friend
In this 1976 portrait, John relaxes at home at Woodside with his pet rabbit, Clarence. This may be the inspiration for the viral dad joke inspired by John’s “Your Song,” which starts, “It’s a little bit funny, this feeling inside.” The funny line goes: Elton John bought his pet a treadmill. When asked why, he said, “It’s a little fit bunny.”
Photo: Brian Cooke/Redferns/Getty Images20/27A grand entrance
The musician often liked to make a grand entrance, even at home, where he is pictured in this 1981 portrait. “I had speakers rigged up outside the house, linked to the stereo in my bedroom,” John explained in his autobiography. “When I woke up, I’d play a fanfare through the speakers, to let everyone in the house know I was coming. I thought this was hilarious, a camp joke, but for some reason, visitors who weren’t prepared for the fanfare tended to react to it with a thoughtful expression, as if considering the possibility that success might have gone to my head.”
Photo: Brian Cooke/Redferns/Getty Images21/27Paring down the collections
John poses at the same 1981 shoot in a slightly more subdued—but equally well-accessorized—ensemble. His taste in interior decorating soon would receive a similar treatment. Ready for a fresh start, the “Crocodile Rock” singer auctioned off $8.2 million worth of his belongings in 1988 and then tapped designers Andrew Protheroe and Adrian Cooper-Grigg to completely rebuild the manse—a three-year renovation that was featured in AD in 1993.
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Decluttering master
Some of us hold yard sales; Elton John throws auctions. Here, John is shown in 1988, surrounded by possessions from his home which were auctioned off by Sotheby’s. The event netted $2.8 million dollars, with the Hard Rock Cafe in Los Angeles paying close to $17,000 for a single pair of sunglasses (albeit, one that lit up, spelling his name).
Nevertheless, John managed to amass more belongings after that clear-out. In 2024, Christie’s held an auction of items John once displayed in his Atlanta condo, earning $20.5 million for art including a Banksy triptych and memorabilia such as John’s famed platform shoes.
- Dave Hogan/Getty Images23/27
Birthday boy
In this photo from April 1997, John and then boyfriend David Furnish left home dressed up for John’s 50th birthday party; the event itself was held at the Hammersmith Palais. Designed by Sandy Powell, John’s Louis XIV costume was accessorized with a powdered wig. The ensemble was later displayed at the Victoria and Albert Museum in an exhibit entitled “DIVA.” How did he celebrate his 60th birthday? With a sold-out concert at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
Photo: Kevin Mazur/WireImage/Getty Images24/27Woodside’s gardens
The musician poses in Woodside’s gardens during an Elton John AIDS Foundation fundraiser event in 2001. The estate’s manicured grounds are dotted with fountains, gardens, statues, topiaries, and even a small castle for John’s donkeys. The folly’s design nods to the real Windsor Castle, which is visible three miles from the performer’s property.
Photo: KMazur/WireImage/Getty Images25/27Happily ever after
John and his husband, David Furnish, are pictured here at Woodside in 2012, two years before they were legally wed. The couple started dating in 1993 after meeting at a dinner party at John’s home. They entered into a civil partnership in 2005 and were officially married on the grounds of Woodside in 2014. The longtime pair still reside at the palatial residence, along with their two children.
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Art aficionados
Now Sir Elton John—he was knighted in 1998 for his musical contributions and his philanthropy through the Elton John AIDS Foundation—the musician and his husband were photographed in their at-home art gallery in 2019. The portrait was taken to commemorate their donation to the Victoria and Albert museum’s Photography Centre, where gallery 101 became the Sir Elton John and David Furnish Gallery. Always a groundbreaker, John was one of the first out gay man to receive knighthood.
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At home on a global stage
Sir Elton John’s humanitarian work isn’t limited to his eponymous AIDS foundation and his support for the arts. At the height of the global COVID pandemic in April 2020, the philanthropic musician turned his garden into a (remote) concert venue, performing for the One World: Together at Home concert hosted by Global Citizen, at a piano on the grounds of his home. The internationally broadcast concert raised funds to support health care workers and the COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund for the World Health Organization, powered by the UN Foundation.
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