Janis Joplin Slept Here

Janis Joplin Slept Here In facing studios, a pack rat and fountain-show choreographer lives amid memories of his divas. By , Curbed and New York Magazine’s design editor who covers the city’s most spectacular interiors. The Volcano Room Steve Willis painted the mural on the wall behind his Murphy bed for his Off Broadway show about Yma Sumac. He designed the bedspread. The café chair was a gift from the actress Rebecca Romijn. “She finds embroideries on eBay and makes these chairs,” he says. The inlaid desk is from the City Opera Thrift Shop. Photo: Annie Schlechter The Volcano Room Steve Willis painted the mural on the wall behind his Murphy bed for his Off Broadway show about Yma Sumac. He designed the bedspread. The café chair was a gift from the actress Rebecca Romijn. “She finds embroideries on eBay and makes these chairs,” he says. The inlaid desk is from the City Opera Thrift Shop. Photo: Annie Schlechter The filmmaker and producer Steve Willis has lived at the Hotel Chelsea since 1994, when he moved into a one-bedroom apartment with a balcony and a fireplace where Janis Joplin had once lived. He still owns her soap dish and toothbrush holder. “Patti Smith told me she was in this room when Kris Kristofferson sang ‘Me and Bobby McGee’ to Janis for the first time,” says Willis, who has directed music videos for Patti LaBelle and Mary J. Blige. Today he choreographs elaborate fountain shows for hotels such as the Bellagio in Las Vegas; he made a documentary about the project with the actress Rebecca Romijn titled Wet Dreams. Over three decades ago, the building was in rough shape and the area nearby wasn’t any better. “Chelsea was sort of a no-man’s-land. It wasn’t the gay neighborhood yet. There was almost nothing. It had Rawhide,” he says, referring to the since-shuttered dive bar. “When I moved in, there was bulletproof glass at the front desk and you had to get buzzed in.” Willis, who had been living in Los Angeles, first came to the Chelsea as the producer of Mariah Carey’s “Anytime You Need a Friend” music video. Stanley Bard, the owner and manager of the property back then, suggested he take a room instead of paying for hotels. “He was sort of the casting director for the building,” Willis says. “We were all invited to live here.” The apartment was run down with bad carpeting and layer upon layer of white paint on the original dark woodwork. Willis stripped it down and packed the space with street finds, antiques from the Chelsea Flea Market, and set pieces from his professional work. “The basement here also had furniture, and I could pilfer that. Stanley was really easygoing about stuff,” Willis says. Then, in 1996, the studio across the hall became available and he rented it too. He first covered the walls with a metallic patterned wallpaper that seemed to be from the 1960s. Willis later replaced it with a 19th-century French wallpaper he found on eBay. As with the first apartment, which was eventually downgraded to a studio, he filled it with foraged goods. “I keep everything. I’m a pack rat. I have become my family’s archivist,” he says. Except for his painting of Dolly Parton, there’s not a single stitch of new furniture or décor in either of Willis’s apartments. “Well, the mattress, the sheets, and the towels,” he says. The Fireplace The lacquer chest is from Japan, where Willis’s family lived for a few years in the 1970s. The portraits are from flea markets and antique shops; Willis gave them a drag makeover. He added the colored lightbulbs to the vintage chandelier. The 1960s elephant statue belonged to his mom. The mirror is original. Photo: Annie Schlechter The Bathroom The door frame is a Victorian wall unit. The artwork above is from the Chelsea Flea. The bedspread trim and oversize tassels are from Hai Trim & Feathers in the Garment District. “It’s a fantasyland inside,” says Willis. Photo: Annie Schlechter The Lounging Area “This sofa was covered in plastic. When I took it off, I knew some old lady in heaven was having a fit. It felt almost sacrilegious to remove it,” Willis says. The marble-top coffee table is from Goodwill. The lamps and the chaise are from eBay. “Someone said, ‘You know your apartment looks like Freud’s study?’ And I thought, Is that bad?” Photo: Annie Schlechter The Shrine “This is my newest painting,” Willis says of the portrait, which he finished in September. He adds that he’s pitching Dollywood on a fountain project. The trompe-l’oeil-painted mantel is from a thrift store. The porcelain faces on the surround are from the Chelsea Flea. The screen is from eBay. The side chair is from Facebook Marketplace. Photo: Annie Schlechter The Bed The lampshade and wall are covered with fabric Willis found in the Garment District. The original radiator has been repurposed as a bedside table. The nude thrift-store painting is a gift from a friend. Photo: Annie Schlechter The Balcony Steve Willis on the balcony outside the Janis Joplin apartment. Photo: Annie Schlechter A Moon Over the Bowery The Cactus Apartment Above Midtown Don’t Mind the Rug, Kids See All Janis Joplin Slept Here Your product is saved! You’ll receive emails when your saved products go on sale. Manage preferences.