In our collective fantasy, a British rocker's downtown Manhattan crash pad would be strewn with pricey vintage guitars, empty beer bottles, and a lithesome model or two. The smell of clove cigarettes (or something stronger) might hang in the air, an artfully defaced Union Jack tacked to the walls.
But reality is rarely as predictable. In fact, the New York pied-à-terre of Coldplay's lead guitarist, Jonny Buckland, is best described as clean, both literally and aesthetically. Elegantly minimal and flooded with light, it is an ode to dark neutrals, organic materials, and—has rock and roll really come to this?—wholesome family life. Like his bandmate Chris Martin, who is married to Gwyneth Paltrow, Buckland is thoroughly, happily domesticated. He and his jewelry-designer wife, Chloe, have two children, six-year-old Violet and two-year-old…
