Take a tour of Cher’s gorgeous new Buddhist-inspired home

Emily Hsieh, Shine staff
The singer/actress/director/record producer, still resplendent at 64.-

Cher is a master of reinvention. After all, who else can boast winning an Oscar, Grammy, Emmy, and three Golden Globes, rock a fishnet bodysuit past the age of 40 (her video for "If I Could Turn Back Time" was so risqué even MTV banned it!), and churn out one of the world's best-selling dance singles ever, "Believe," in her 50's? And now, at the age of 64, she's switching tracks again: "I am a Buddhist," she declares in the July issue of Architectural Digest, which features her new, stunning, Zen-like Los Angeles apartment. But lest you think she's lost her edge, she adds, "who should always be in after-school detention."

Her just-renovated digs reflect her search for serenity. To create a sense of airiness, she gutted the apartment's 12 rooms in favor of an open floor plan: "I always wanted an apartment that was one big bedroom," the star reveals, "because that's really where I live, starting from the days when Sonny and I could only afford one bedroom."

The space also features calming, beige-centric hues ("I prefer a neutral palette," Cher says, "especially in my bedroom, because the colors are so easy to live with"), many a goddess sculpture, and is devoid of any of the groovy, loud details you might have expected from the splashy performer.

That said, there are definitely some over-the-top aspects of her spread, which spans two floors with sweeping views of the city, clocks in at 4,000 square feet, and is equipped with lavish details like a 16th century opium bed. There's also a massive stone-clad bathtub accessorized with a gauze curtain embellished with gold Indian symbols that surrounds the tub with the push of a button. It's so luxurious even her decorator, Martyn Lawrence-Bullard, can't help but describe it as "very Cleopatra."

"I never get tired of coming into these beautiful, peaceful rooms," Cher says. As someone in the glare of the prying, omnipresent paparazzi, this sense of escape is especially paramount. "There are no words to describe how intrusive they can be," she continues, "which is why my homes, and now this among them, have become so very important. In a word, they are my sanctuaries."

To see more of Cher's Buddhist-influenced boudoir, check out the July issue of Architectural Digest.

And look for more celebrity house tours-Demi Moore & Ashton Kutcher, Jennifer Aniston, and Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch-at architecturaldigest.com.