Never one to shy away from hard-hitting journalism, The New York Times has published a tour-de-force profile of Arianna Huffington, the Internet magnate and sleep evangelist, in its ever egalitarian real estate section. It begins:
Arianna Huffington was sitting like a very relaxed queen in her SoHo bedroom on a thronelike bergère chair covered in brocade Fortuny fabric. It was time to wind down, 8 p.m. Behind her, an embroidered throw pillow announced: “Sleep your way to the top.” …
Her new book, “The Sleep Revolution: Transforming Your Life, One Night at a Time” (Harmony), is a call to bed. It is also inspiring a turbocharged national tour that involves “sleep fairs” at colleges and an educational “takeover” of a JetBlue flight during which she gave out books and answered questions.
“I want to rekindle our romance with sleep,” said Ms. Huffington, 65, in a lullaby voice as soothing as her floral perfume. “It’s a central part of life and a gateway to our dreams.”
You can decide for yourself whether reading the rest is a good use of your time. Or you can just click through the Times’ reverential slide show of Huffington’s ornately rustic SoHo sleep nest (for which she paid $8.15 million), if you want to feel envious and repulsed at the same time.
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But wait! We’ve learned that the harried Times real estate editors neglected to include some of the more compelling images from their photoshoot chez Huffington.
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In the interest of transparency and freedom, Heat Street has to decided to publish them here for your consideration:
Waking up from naps is easy with HuffPost unpaid “skinterns” Chad and Flavio, inspired by dear friend and Emmy winner Holly Peterson’s vanity novel, “The Manny”. Don’t worry. They get college credit.
Huffington’s French factotum, Leonard (on loan from dear friend the Emir of Qatar), delivers treats before bed. “I don’t know who’s more spoiled,” Huffington says. “Me or the dogs” (Aspen and Davos).
Huffington’s voice coach, a former refugee and unpaid columnist for the Huffington Post, torches an incense doll to set the mood before nap time. Incense dolls can be purchased at Goop.com for $500.
A personalized reproduction of “Las Meninas” hangs in what Huffington airily describes as her “château duvet,” a 750-square-foot walk-in closet full of pillows and other bedding essentials. “It’s amazing how people used to have dwarves in their court for amusement,” she says. “We’re far more progressive today.”
Huffington’s spacious storage unit is filled with vintage porcelain toilets she discovered at Olde Good Things for an upcoming project titled, “Commode to Joy: Reclaiming the Throne AND Your Youth, One Flush at a Time.” The recycled toilets will then be donated to 2017’s “Women in the World” conference.
The bathroom off Huffington’s boudoir contains her “commode d’or” whose companion piece is now at the Guggenheim. “Ken Lerer gave this to me when we hit our first million uniques without paying any of our columnists,” she says. Bathroom reading? Good friend Samantha Power’s “A Problem from Hell.”
Huffington’s rooftop archery range. Woe to the sleep-deprived Huffington Post writers who don’t meet their traffic targets for “What’s Working”. Remains are ethically disposed in a discrete basement facility that uses alkaline hydrolysis or “green cremation”.
Also in the basement next to the organic wine cellar: Huffington’s sleep shrine, designed by her dear friends Deepak Chopra and John-Roger. Black Peter, the breakout goat star of “The Witch”, can often be found lolling here.
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Photo illustrations: Heat Street
