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Designer Lynn Henchman has worked on luxury buildings from around the world. She has just finished work on a 27-story house in Asia. The house contains a full sized ballroom,
rooms furnished with custom fabrics, an outdoor pool, a temple, dance studio and 20,000 square feet of wardrobe space set over two entire floors. Henchman credits her success to
her taste and style.
Taking design to new heights
Lynn Henchman
designs some of the world’s
most lavish buildings from
Hong Kong’s Mandarin
Oriental Hotel to a new
27-story building in Asia.
By Meghan Gilmore
Staff Writer
When I was in sixth grade, I made
a birdhouse in my wood shop class
and brought it home to show off to
my parents. I was so proud of mak-
ing something all by myself and then
relished in the opportunity to get
praised by my parents for my hard
work. If I felt that accomplished af-
ter building a birdhouse I can only
imagine the feeling that designer
Lynn Henchman felt after designing
a 27-story house in Asia worth an es-
timated $1 billion.
Henchman has been designing for
40 years. Her posh design of luxury
residential and business properties
around the world has garnered her
the title of one of the globe’s most
sought after designers. Henchman
credits her success to her taste and
style. Her styling splendor is revered
throughout Europe, Asia, and the
United States, just to name a few.
When Henchman was 19, she
was going to study architecture but
switched to design because it re-
quired two instead of five years of
study. A decision that a teacher de-
scribed as lazy at the time ended up
being on of the best decisions Hench-
man ever made. Henchman was
quickly thrown into the fire though;
the first thing she designed was a
2,000 square feet Bachelor pad in
Hong Kong.
Then, she was asked to refurbish
the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Hong
Kong, which is Henchman’s favorite
project she has done thus far. “The
management was completely trusting
in my abilities and always approved
my presentations. I had total creative
control. One of the suites I designed
became Princess Diana’s favorite and
another was a favorite of Luciano Pa-
varotti,” Henchman says. “The man-
agement always let me know these
The Beacon Monday, April 4, 2011
Photos Courtesy of Lynn Henchman
things, I was her designs had to meet these prin-
very flattered.” ciples.
The house in “We worked on the palace for over
Asia included three years,” says Henchman about
designing for the Asian home. “They gave us an
two levels of a open budget for the project… the
spa and health only requirement was that it had to
club, a private be ‘out of this world.’”
hairdressing Contrary to her exquisite, over-
salon, snow the-top designs for prominent and
room, steam Henchman famous clients all over the world,
room, a total Henchman herself is very down to
of 70 bathrooms, three commercial earth and prefers her own house to
sized kitchens, a temple, dance stu- be so to. “I designed my own house
dio and 20,000 square feet of ward- and my preference is for simple, chic
robe space set over two entire floors. and understated,” says Henchman.
According to Henchman, 70 percent Just recently, Henchmen located
of everything specified for the project her lofty namesake interior design
was custom made, from the fabrics firm to Boca Raton, where she also
to the lighting, and it all came from currently lives. “I have family in Flor-
overseas. ida, so I moved down here primarily
“The project in Asia was to all in- to spend time with my mother,” she
tents and purposes a dream job,” says. “Living in Florida is of course
Henchman says. vastly different from Los Angeles.
Although a dream job, the design- The culture is very different, particu-
ing of the house posed some chal- larly in Miami. Design is a very big
lenges for Henchman. These chal- industry in South Florida, I am in-
lenges were related to Vashtu, the spired and look forward very much
traditional Hindu system of design to designing here,” says Henchman.
based on directional alignments. All