From vampires to Victoriana, these six gorgeous homes represent the very best in gothic interior design inspiration. With dramatic architecture, creepy decor and swathes of black and blood-red furnishings, each house is a unique labour of love crafted to suit the tastes of their eccentric owners.
If you have a penchant for the macabre, click or scroll to explore these gloriously gothic houses...
Artist, designer, and photographer, Lady Vamp has accrued an impressive Instagram following for her account @ladyvampmanor, where she showcases her impeccable eye for all things gothic. Elegant yet eerie, Lady Vamp’s spaces are characterised by a combination of Victorian furnishings, antique ornaments, and some Halloween-inspired finishing touches.
This glamorous bedroom would be any witch’s dream place to end the day. The ornately carved dark wood headboard is backed by heavy black drapes, and framed by two candelabras perched on matching gold-painted nightstands.
Soft furnishings are printed in elegant orange and black Victorian-inspired patterns, but a cute bat accent pillow keeps the room playful and cosy. A Tudor-style chair and a fabulous witch’s broom finish off the space.
All of Lady Vamp’s interiors are rich with gothic detail. Just take a peek at this fabulous black curiosity cabinet which looks straight out of an 18th-century apothecary’s shop, and is packed with antique books, prints, and of course the odd skull.
Perched atop the cabinet, two ravens look out over the living room and its collection of carefully collected ornaments, which include an old phonograph and a vintage camera.
In Lady Vamp’s manor, even the holidays get a haunting makeover. We love this Halloween-themed Christmas tree, overflowing with black feather boas, white roses, cobwebs, and leopard-print baubles.
Just behind the tree, the fabulous antique grandfather clock sports a steampunk top hat and goggles, and a rickety shelf hosts a collection of creepy dolls you wouldn’t expect Santa to deliver!
Anyone for a drink? While you may be cautious of tasting this witch’s brew, Lady Vamp’s drink cart complete with cut crystal glasses and decanters is just another opportunity to show off her exquisite taste in gothic furnishings. Just perch your drink on the Ouija board coffee table and put your feet up!
With a Beetlejuice-inspired black and white striped table, matching black chairs, and a coffin-shaped book shelf (no doubt stuffed with spooky recipes!), Lady Vamp’s dining room does not disappoint.
Enjoy a fabulous feast by the light of the ornate candelabra in the centre of the table, which, along with a skull, rests on a coffin-shaped serving platter…and a doily! The aesthetic is simply to die for!
Once a clock tower, and in fact the official timepiece of St Leonards-on-Sea, this gloriously gothic building was converted into a family home in 1976. Originally constructed in 1830, the Grade-II listed property was designed by architect James Burton and his son Decimus, renowned for their design of the Kew Gardens Glass House, the Wellington Arch and numerous terraces around Regent’s Park.
The tower’s four clocks have an even more illustrious origin, constructed by Benjamin Lewis Vulliamy, clockmaker to King George III.
Though the home was converted into its current Gothic revival-style villa form back in the 1970s, 20 years later it was in need of a complete restoration. Fortunately, new buyers Kim Denman, a fashion designer, and her husband Paul, bass guitarist for the band Sade, were up for the challenge.
Purchasing the clock tower had been a dream of Kim’s since she first spotted the property in the early 90s, but it was not until 1997 that the couple were finally able to seal the deal.
However, even with the key in hand, the pair had their work cut out for them to turn the house into a home. "It was a dump," Paul told the Evening Standard. "There was nothing in this house apart from the outside of it."
Not only did the couple painstakingly restore the home’s interiors and repair the clocks, they also took steps to remove any lingering house guests. "It was a bit ghosty," Kim said of the property, explaining that they hired a woman to have the home "spiritually healed".
However, while the home may now be ghost-free, it’s still plenty gothic. Inspired by Jean Cocteau’s 1946 film La Belle et la Bête, the Denmans described their interiors as: "Irish Catholic meets Hammer horror".
The home’s extant gothic architectural features, including its arched windows, stained glass accents, and soaring ceilings with moulded cornices, are accentuated by the couple’s own creative flair for interior design.
The walls in nearly every room are adorned with colourful Shand Kydd wallpapers, or, in the case of Kim’s favourite bathroom, embossed Lincrusta panelling. The windows are hung with richly embroidered drapes, and the entire home bursts with gilded, ornate, and sumptuously upholstered antique furniture.
Perhaps the most eye-catching ornamentation is the ecclesiastical paraphernalia throughout the home, particularly the oversized statues which dominate the master suite and hallways.
However, in spite of their 24-year "labour of love" to restore the house, Kim and Paul are finally parting ways with the property, having listed it in early November 2022 for around $3.1 million (£2.5m) – a veritable bargain for such an intricately appointed and historic home.
"It’s a specialist buy," Paul told the Evening Standard with regard to the recent listing. "But if you took the leap and you lived here, my god would you love it." The original listing is no longer available, suggesting that the home found a buyer.
Katherine Von Drachenberg, known professionally as Kat Von D, rose to fame in 2005 with the release of the TV series Miami Ink, followed by her own spinoff, LA Ink, which covered her career as a tattoo artist in Hollywood.
Quick to capitalise on her acquired celebrity, Kat went on to launch her own vegan cosmetics company, as well as a tertiary career as a recording artist, ultimately accruing a $20 million (£15.8m) fortune.
Famous tattoo artist, model, entrepreneur, and now musician, Kat Von D has long been renowned for her dramatic flair and glamorous goth look. It should come as no great surprise, therefore, that her LA mansion is a gothic masterpiece.
Though Kat has parted ways with the property, having placed it on the market in January of 2022 for $15 million (£11.9m), the home required a very special buyer who could embrace her spooky signature style. More on the sale later...
With her earnings, Kat purchased this historic Victorian mansion in November of 2016 for $6.5 million (£5.2m). The property, which boasts a Queen Anne-style turret, dates back to 1896, and was used as the filming location for the 2003 film, Cheaper by the Dozen.
However, the mansion is no longer recognisable as the wholesome family home featured in the movie, instead boasting a gothic Victoriana-inspired interior that would be any vamp’s dream.
The sprawling 12,565-square-foot home features dark wood panelling, blood-red carpets, and austere Victorian furniture throughout.
The home’s original details, including carved wooden panelling, stained glass windows, and dramatic crown moulding, have been meticulously preserved, and are enhanced by Kat’s own additions in the form of plush furnishings, drapes, and the occasional splash of gold paint.
The master bedroom is particularly sumptuous, featuring an ornate fireplace, red and gold wallpaper, dramatic red velvet drapes, and a gold-painted ceiling.
Next door, the adjoining master bathroom is a celebration of black marble and gold detailing – a gloriously gothic place to unwind. In addition to the master suite, the home boasts 10 more bedrooms and seven baths, each with its own unique style and decadent theme.
Outside, the home’s exterior is no less dramatic than its interior. Though the house’s facade was cream when Kat purchased it, the artist quickly painted it a deep crimson, and even dyed the pool blood-red to match! However, despite all its gothic glamour, the home struggled to find a buyer, finally securing one after a massive price cut down to $7.8 million (£6.2m).
TMZ reported that the buyer was Tyler Cassity, owner of the iconic Hollywood Forever Cemetery on Santa Monica Boulevard. Cassity runs yoga classes among the graves and holds musical concerts in the cemetery, so he won't be freaked out by the gothic house and macabre décor!
Musician, singer, and gothic interior expert, Aurelio Voltaire has been dubbed the ‘Martha Stewart for macabre homemakers’ by the New York Times. Though a full-time professional performer, Voltaire carves out plenty of time for his ‘Gothic Homemaking’ YouTube series, in which he walks viewers through the many ways to make their spaces gloriously ghoulish, whatever the season.
Inside ‘The Lair of Voltaire’, the musician’s East Village studio apartment, it’s Halloween all year round, but always with ‘tasteful’ design elements that can be put to daily use. Bats, skulls and flickering candles are prominent motifs throughout Voltaire’s spaces, as are Victorian-inspired prints, largely in shades of black and purple.
"I want people to walk into my home and think a real vampire lives here, as opposed to a fan of vampire movies lives here," Voltaire told the New York Times.
Looking for a spooky spa day? Voltaire’s gothic bathroom design features a black bathtub, sink and toilet, coffin-shaped bath tray, and a bat motif shower curtain. Other embellishments include a fittingly macabre black candle, a matching skeleton-embellished decanter and goblet, and a matchbox in the shape of – you guessed it – a coffin.
Not one to be left behind in interior trends, Voltaire also includes the dried flowers that are currently so en vogue, but in a fittingly funereal black, of course.
Packed with knick-knacks and ornaments, Voltaire’s living room resembles a Victorian parlour as decorated by a vampire. If you look closely, you can pick out the skulls carved into the ornately embellished black throne, hand carved in Indonesia, from which Voltaire frequently holds court in his YouTube episodes.
Skulls also feature prominently on ornaments throughout the room, including the large silver candelabra, and the oversized lanterns which give the room a ghoulish glow.
While it is hard for the eye to find any place to rest in this intensely ornamented space, the room’s focal point is the large gallery wall behind the Victorian settee.
Gothic decals, floating silver shelves bearing candles and still more skulls, a large Victorian-style portrait of a woman and an entire flock of taxidermied ravens adorn the wall, giving the impression that the room is full of watchful eyes.
With all of Voltaire’s designs, the devil is in the details, so to speak. While his overarching style is certainly spooky in the extreme, small accents, like this femur towel wrack, keep his designs creative, original, and distinctly gothic.
"People think it costs a lot of money to be goth," Voltaire told New York The Times. "As long as you’re wearing all black, you’re already three-quarters of the way there."
A self-professed lover of all things pagan and gothic, Sam has turned her home into a haunted haven, full of homages to her favourite spooky films.
She shares her interior designs on Instagram, and has acquired a large following of fans who share her love of all things Nightmare Before Christmas!
A black velvet tufted bed frame and a Ouija board bedspread? Yes please! Sam's spooky bedroom also features an assortment of adorably macabre throw pillows, a crescent moon-shaped curio case, and some wonderfully witchy art.
Every detail is perfectly coordinated, right down to the custom silver skull drawer pulls on the dresser!
Gothic meets glam in this stylish dressing table, which brings a splash of colour into the otherwise monochromatic space with a pop of fuchsia pink.
An assortment of coffin-shaped trinket boxes, crystals, and dripping candles adorn the table, and a clawed ring stand makes the perfect place to discard your occult jewellery at the end of the day. We especially love the pink tentacled skull plant pot!
Sam keeps things modern in the dining room with this stylish glass-topped table, but the cobweb lace runner and black candelabra will leave guests with little doubt that they are in a goth home.
More candelabras adorn the side table along with an obligatory skull or two, and an ornate black crystal chandelier hangs over the table.
Sam's kitchen is the perfect place to cook up a witch's brew. Complete with Jack Skellington dish towels, cobweb floor mats, ghost-shaped coffee canisters, and storage jars with bat motifs, this kitchen is has it all.
We particularly love the kettle cosy in the shape of the mayor's head from Nightmare Before Christmas!
Like most of our gothic interior experts, Sam has kitted out her living spaces with plenty of gothic ornaments. From crystals to skull-shaped diffusers and mysterious occult symbols, this side table is a pagan's paradise.
Self-professed lovers of all things Harry Potter and Game of Thrones, The Rivanis filled their home with pieces inspired by their favourite fantasy worlds.
Though neither one is a designer by trade, the couple nevertheless executed their joint vision with breath-taking attention to detail, reportedly having spent much of the Covid-19 pandemic experimenting with interior design, and online shopping for furniture, fittings, and fixtures.
While Beverly Hills may not strike you as a hotspot for gothic design, this spectacular 15,000-square-foot estate in the Mulholland Corridor begs to differ. Originally constructed by entrepreneur David Gebbia and his now ex-wife Carlton, of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills fame, the house’s architecture blends Italian romanticism with gothic grandeur.
However, when Robert and Krystal Rivani purchased the property in 2019 for just under $14 million (£11.1m), the fantasy-fixated couple set out to put their own dramatic spin on the home’s interior design as well.
Among the home’s many highlights are the GOT-inspired chandeliers, ornately carved stone sconces and medieval fireplace, and of course, the custom $50,000 (£39.6k) replica of the GOT iron throne.
The 500-pound metal masterpiece cost the couple an additional $15,000 (£11.9k) to ship from Siberia to their home in the US, where here it sits imposingly in the great room, framed by two Juliet balconies. Directly above this fantastical centrepiece, the couple, attired in medieval clothing, stare austerely down from a custom oil painting.
The dining room or ‘great hall’ took the couple the longest to decorate, as they painstakingly sourced each individual piece to complete the space. One wall is covered in 200-year-old Chinese-inspired painted panelling, while another is lined with mullioned windows draped in rich crimson and gold curtains.
At the centre of the room, a 15-foot banqueting table looks fit for any medieval feast, as do the ornately carved, oversized dining chairs, and the dramatic golden chandeliers.
Another particular highlight of the home is the couple’s take on a 19th-century English tavern. The room features a stunningly Victorian golden tin ceiling, as well as a scaly, leathery wallpaper which functions as yet another homage to Game of Thrones.
However, Harry Potter fans will be excited to explore behind the counter, where the cabinets are stocked with potion bottles including Polyjuice and Gillyweed – not your typical fare!
The property boasts seven bedrooms and seven bathrooms, but the master suite, accessible via a security vault door made of 12 inches of steel, is particularly eye-catching. With its exposed beam cathedral ceiling, gold chandeliers, enormous antique fireplace, and custom drapes, the room is grandiose in the extreme.
However, the true centrepiece is the bed headboard, which consists of a 250-year-old Austrian church altar the couple purchased for $45,000 (£35.6k). Despite this grandeur, the Rivanis decided to part with the unique home in January 2023. While it was initially listed at just under $22 million (£17.4m) before undergoing a couple of price drops, according to the listing it finally sold for $16.8 million (£13.3m). That's a hefty $5 million (£4m) reduction from the original sale price.
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