Moby and his globe collection find a home in the Hollywood Hills

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Moby holds his first globe, which he purchased as a child shopping with his mother at a thrift store. He collects vintage globes that show country place names that have disappeared into history, such as Rhodesia and Indochina. “It’s an object lesson in impermanence,” he says. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)

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Most of the Midcentury furniture seen in this photograph of Moby’s living room was purchased in Los Angeles’ Echo Park neighborhood. Some of his favorite artworks displayed on the walls are monoprints by Inka Essenhigh, a Gretchen Ryan drawing and a Gary Baseman print. The black-and-white work on the far wall, top, is by friend David Lynch, another favorite artist, and was a gift from the filmmaker after Moby DJed at his wedding. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)

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Above and in front of the fireplace on the far wall are two photographs from Moby’s “Destroyed” series, taken while he was touring. The photographs were exhibited in Los Angeles and collected in a book released in 2011 along with his “Destroyed” album. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)

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Moby sits next to a large photograph by artist and friend JR that pictures the two in JR’s basement in the Lower East Side of New York City. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)

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Art on this living room wall includes a work, bottom right, by Scott Musgrove, whose prints, drawings and paintings can be found around Moby’s house. Directly above that is a monoprint by Inka Essenheigh and at far left bottom, is a drawing by Matt Groening with a personal inscription to Moby. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)

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Moby poses with a test print from his current show, titled “Innocents,” on display at the Project Gallery in Hollywood. The picture was shot at a Gelson’s supermarket. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)

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An uncle of Moby’s, Joseph Kugielsky, a photographer for the New York Times, gave him his first camera, a Nikon F, when he was 10 or 11 years old. Moby describes his collection of vintage cameras, which is displayed on shelves around the house, as “just weird/odd film cameras I’ve acquired over the years.” (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)

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The coffered ceiling in the dining room is original, as is the flooring, which had been painted black when he bought the house. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)

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The fountain came with the house and is framed by landscaping Moby had designed to look like a garden out of an Edward Gorey book. He worked with landscape designer Patricia Benner. Lake Hollywood is seen in the background. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)

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Art is stacked in the corner of the dining room, including a photograph of a concert crowd taken from the stage, part of Moby’s 2011 “Destroyed” series. Lush vegetation is seen through picture windows. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)

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Moby received the Shepard Fairey print at right when they participated in a Young Literati event in 2013. Moby was among the readers of the classic novel “Moby-Dick” at the party for supporters of the Library Foundation of Los Angeles. He has several prints and drawings from Fairey displayed in his home. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)

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Some of Moby’s globe collection is displayed on shelving he added in the dining room. He owns about 50 or 60 globes, he says, with the oldest dating back to 1910. “You can date a globe based on its geography,” he says. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)

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A Mark Ryden work is displayed prominently in the dining room. “I just love his work,” Moby says, adding that his purchase benefited the Humane Society. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)

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A cow mask from a Bolivian mask maker is displayed in the dining room. Moby chose the fabrics used on cushions throughout the room. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)

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A Stanley Donwood print of a Los Angeles scene is displayed in the dining room and is one of several Donwood artworks Moby owns. The lamp is from a French dentist’s office. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)

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Moby’s friend Dean DeBlois, who co-wrote and co-directed the movie “Lilo and Stitch,” added a personal birthday greeting to his drawing seen here on a wall. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)

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Black-and-white prints on the wall at right are by U2’s Bono, who gave them to Moby for his birthday. The work on the floor is by Damian Loeb. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)

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A test print from Moby’s current “Innocents” photography exhibition is seen on the daybed in his home office. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)

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Advertising art at the top of the stairs came from a friend in New York City who is a poster dealer. The stair rail woodwork is original to the house. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)

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An original architectural drawing from the 1927 house, one of about 30 he owns, hangs on a wall upstairs. Beneath it is a photograph of Moby with artist Shepard Fairey and Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)

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A sculptural chessboard sits on a table upstairs. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)

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Moby says most of the prints in this bathroom were bought in secondhand stores in New York City’s East Village. “Then my friend Lee framed everything to make it look even older than it all actually is.” (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)

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Moby’s 2011 book of photographs, “Destroyed,” is displayed on the living room coffee table in the foreground, along with other books. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)

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Moby spent about $2 million renovating his 1927 Hollywood Hills house -- including replacing the turreted and steeply pitched roof and re-landscaping -- after purchasing the property for about $4 million in 2010. The landscaping around the pool area was designed to be reminiscent of old Hollywood. He added a steam room and sauna in the pool house. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)

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Photos for “Innocents” and the music video for his song “A Case of Shame” were shot in the pool area. “I do a lot of shooting in and around the pool,” Moby says. “It’s one way I can justify turning on the pool heater.” (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)

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Moby is seen on a staircase outside his house. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)

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Moby walks down a trail from a hilltop on his property that offers a 360-degree view of downtown Los Angeles, seen in the distance, Lake Hollywood, Griffith Park and the Hollywood sign. This area of his 3.3-acre estate is landscaped with native plantings that the deer won’t eat, he says. He worked with landscape designer Patricia Benner. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)

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Moby says that this patio, which overlooks Lake Hollywood, is used for “eating breakfast and reading books about hair loss.” (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)

By Scarlet Cheng

Feb. 22, 2014 5 AM PT

For a decade, while traveling to perform in concerts, Moby was looking for a new place to call home. His longtime city of choice, New York, had become so gentrified and expensive that artists — his spiritual kin — were being driven out.

“I was looking for a city that was warm in the winter, had access to nature and was primarily filled with weird artists,” Moby says, seated in the guest house of his Beachwood Canyon estate. “Honestly, this is the only place that satisfied all the criteria.”

Four years ago, he saw what he wanted: a Norman-style castle with turrets and pointed roofs behind a high wall. It was built in 1927 for L. Milton Wolf, one of the developers of Hollywoodland, with a guest house designed by John Lautner added in the 1950s. Perched on a promontory, the 3.3-acre site, known as Wolf’s Lair, has spectacular views, including of the Hollywood sign on one side and Lake Hollywood on the other. He bought it for just under $4 million, then spent about $2 million renovating it.

“My original thought was I’d do small renovations while I lived here,” Moby says. However, there were major structural problems: the roof had to be replaced, and new walls, plumbing and windows had to be put in. Los Angeles architect Tim Barber was hired for the project. They met face to face only a few times, and since Moby was often touring, they communicated mainly via email.

“It was very collaborative,” Barber says. “He had strong opinions but a high level of trust.” Fortunately, the musician was a practiced renovator, having already converted storefronts, restaurants, apartments and two upstate New York houses.

Photos: Moby at home in Los Angeles

Moby, born Richard Melville Hall, has sold more than 20 million albums since releasing his first album, “Moby,” in 1992. He’s known for his infectiously danceable electronic music. A new album, “Innocents,” came out last fall, and includes songs evoking spirituals and blues.

The 48-year-old singer-songwriter, DJ and producer also is a longtime photographer, having shot photos since age 10, when an uncle, Joseph Kugielsky, a photographer for the New York Times, gave him his first camera. Today he collects vintage film cameras, which he displays in the house.

Another childhood acquisition, a globe purchased in a thrift shop when he was a boy, became the basis for a collection that now numbers 50 or 60. “When I was 8 years old, my mom and I spent a lot of time going to thrift shops because we were very poor,” he recalls. “I think we found this globe for $5.”

He takes the black globe off a dining room shelf and points out place names that have disappeared into history — Indochina, Yugoslavia, Rhodesia. “I spent a lot of time looking at it, and I thought how interesting that it represented the countries that no longer exist. I also like the way they look.” He said he’s never paid more than $50 for one.

The furnishings in his home — mostly Danish Modern — are a mix of pieces he brought with him from New York and others purchased in L.A. at Echo Park and Silver Lake shops such as Living Room, Danish Modern L.A. and Lawson-Fenning. With his penchant for clean, simple lines, the midcentury style suits him.

His walls have quickly filled up with artworks he loves and to which he feels a personal connection. Some are gifts from friends; others are pieces he found at galleries and studios of friends and friends of friends.

Propped against a wall in the living room is a black-and-white photograph by artist and friend JR — a huge selfie with JR’s profile emerging from the left, with the top of Moby’s head rising from the lower right. Also in the living room are prints by another friend, film director David Lynch.

He also has on display in his home prints from Mark Ryden and Shepard Fairey, including one featuring Moby-Dick, the whale made famous by Herman Melville, an ancestor of Moby’s. There is a drawing by “The Simpsons” creator Matt Groening and one by Dean DeBlois, co-writer and co-director of “Lilo & Stitch.”

This year Moby has been busy putting together a show of recent photographs, “Innocents,” which just opened at Project Gallery and runs through March 30. His second gallery show in Los Angeles features a dozen or so large-format photographs — moody clouds looming over the landscape, a circle of cult members — the latter gracing the cover of the “Innocents” album.

The pictures were all taken in Los Angeles — some in and around his swimming pool, where he shot the music video for the song “A Case for Shame” — and were inspired by the city.

Does he feel at home in L.A. yet? “Relatively, yes …” he begins. “Compared to New York, it’s a very settled place — people have homes, they have dogs, they go hiking.” Then he turns philosophical. “My limited understanding of Sufism is that being unsettled is actually a beautiful thing and should be appreciated and accepted.”

‘Innocents’

What: An exhibition of photographs by Moby

Where: Project Gallery, 1553 N. Cahuenga Blvd., Los Angeles

When: Noon to 6 p.m. Wednesdays to Fridays, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays.

Ends March 30.

Info: (323) 462-1100, projectla.net

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