Jaylen Brown Is Keeping His Boston Skyrise Apartment—and Its 18th-Century Harp Too

The apartment “felt the most like home,” the NBA star saysJaylen Brown has an 18th-century harp sitting in his living room, and that harp rules. Having a harp in your home as a newly 30-year-old man, with a professional harpist who appears when the mood strikes said 30-year-old man, is an outstanding use of free will.“Most of the time I use my harp, it’s just me and my chef,” Brown says. A memory raced through my head: me at the end of my twenties, with a harp (broken) in my unit. And how central it would be to the social hours of 10 p.m. to 4 a.m.Brown’s harp is not that. “It’s almost like therapy sessions,” he says.Jaylen Brown with his cat Forky in the speakeasy of his Boston apartment design by Linda Zarifi of Zarifi Design. The project construction is by Core Group Boston, and the art advisory is by Miranda Girard. The sofa is by Charles Zana from The Invisible Collection and the ottoman is also from The Invisible Collection. The artwork in the speakeasy is by Francisco Valverde and flanked with sconces by Apparatus. The curtain fabric is by Dedar, and the star ceiling lights are by UFO Lighting. He’s a different dude in a way that makes him singular, both as a member of the National Basketball Association and as a young and famous Black man in the United States of America.On July 1, 2026, hundreds of television talkers said “the basketball world has been turned upside down,” because Brown’s years as a Celtic were over. After nine years as half of Boston’s dynamic duo with Jayson Tatum, he was traded to Philadelphia. “It’s no beef,” Jaylen politely told reporters after a victory, beard absolutely glistening. “Might be a little lamb chops and gravy. He should stay ready at all times.” 23 days later, Brown’s new teammate became LeBron James, creating one of the strongest starting fives in NBA history. You love to see someone find a nice new gig. But as for where he rests his head, Brown held on to his place in Boston.In the living area, the Hamilton sofa by Minotti surrounds coffee tables by Carlyle Collective. The floor lamp is by Tom Dixon and the harp is antique. “I grew up here, age 19 to 29,” he says. “I developed here in Boston as a young man.” The feeling is mutual; October 24, his birthday, was named Jaylen Brown Day by the city. But the crib itself is doing a lot of the pulling. “There’s been other places, but this one–I created it, it was crafted by my vision,” he says. “This one felt the most like home.”He hired a team to bring his dreams to life. Linda Zarifi, of Zarifi Design, was his interior designer and collaborator. “The first thing he said was ‘I don’t want a dining table,’” Zarifi says. “And I’m like, ‘Where are you going to…eat?’”The answer was a 22-foot banquette, built for most home activities. “I wanted to open the space up. I wanted gold. I wanted a see-through wine cellar. She went and found it all,” Brown says.The custom dining banquette is upholstered in Crescendo Suede by Kravet and the glass and metal tables are also custom by Jamie Cumming. The TG-10 Sling dining chairs are by Gratz Industries and the wall sconces are by Gubi. Inside the frame on the wall is a proclamation from the city of Boston for Jaylen Brown Day. Brown in the dining 22-foot banquette playing chess. The result is a 4,000 square-foot apartment overlooking Boston’s Financial District. Brown purchased the downtown space at the end of 2023 and reworked it over the last two years. Outside, the apartment is a brief 15 minute walk from the TD Garden, home to Brown’s former team, the Boston Celtics. Inside, Italian marble bathroom floors, 24-karat fixtures that Brown calls “jewelry for the bathroom,” a custom suede pool table, a party-ready speakeasy, and that see-through wine cellar.There’s also the medical hyperbaric chamber one step from his bed, one of the truest signs that he is a single man.Jaylen is figuring it out in real time, and he’s letting us watch and listen.The trophy case in the speakeasy is a custom design by Zarifi and fabricated by Jamie Cumming of Loki Custom Furniture. A shelf in the speakeasy holds a collection of Brown’s memorabilia. They say he’s not new to this. In 2020, five days after George Floyd was murdered, he drove 15 hours from Boston to our hometown of Atlanta to lead a march. The same guy who took the swooshes off his Nikes and now has his own shoe company (with custom closets by Molteni to house his own collection). And the same guy who uses this home to stream with Lil Baby and to display art and artifacts dedicated to his family.“The things that he would splurge on are the things that mattered most to him,” Zarifi says. There’s the commissioned portrait in cracked glass by Simon Berger of his grandmother in the foyer. “For him, his flex was his harp.”Brown seated on a bench in the primary bedroom. The custom bed is upholstered in a fabric by Mokum Textiles. The pendants by Apparatus hang over custom nightstands flanking the bed. “I had them recreate the bedding and the comforter of the Four Seasons,” Brown says. The bedding is custom from Crem & Co. Brown’s hyperbaric chamber is beside the bed. “I love the tempered glass,” Brown says. The closet design is the Glis Closet System by Molteni. The pendant light is by Henge. The custom vanity in the primary bathroom is flanked with sconces by Articolo. The fittings are by Dornbracht. The tub and counters are topped in a Pietra Grey stone and the ceiling is painted Ashland Slate by Benjamin Moore. The Sally armchair in the primary bedroom is by Minotti and covered in Holly Hunt fabric. He hasn’t taken lessons yet, good for no more than an impassioned glissando. What he does do, however, is soak in the sounds from Li Shan Tan, the principal harp for the New Haven Symphony Orchestra, who plucks from his palace. “From time to time, when she is not around, I go and I try to recreate some sounds.”“I’ve just been enjoying the bliss.”Not a subscriber? 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