Rod Stewart's Secret Attic City

Most people know Rod Stewart as the raspy-voiced rock legend behind "Maggie May" and "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy." What almost no one knew - until he finally revealed it - was that he had been spending decades building a secret city in his attic.

A Hidden City Two Decades in the Making

Stewart's model railway, named Grand Street and Three Rivers City, spans 1,500 square feet and takes up most of the third floor of his Beverly Hills mansion. The layout depicts a 1940s American metropolis inspired by New York and Chicago, complete with five-foot skyscrapers, a railway station, period cars, tunnels, bridges, and over 100 feet of track. Every pavement stone is a slightly different color. Gutters contain fake garbage. Rust is applied by hand.

He Built 90% of It Himself

"I would say 90% of it I built myself," Stewart said. "The only thing I wasn't very good at and still am not is the electricals, so I had someone else do that." He spent 23 years building the city. "If I'd have realised at the start it would have taken so long, I'd have probably said, No! Nah!"

Hotel Rooms as Workshop Floors

Even while touring the world, Stewart refused to stop building. He arranged for hotels to remove beds from extra rooms and install ventilation fans so he could work on the city's skyscrapers and scenery. "We would tell them in advance and they were really accommodating," he said. Nineteen concert tours came and went - and the city kept growing.

The Passion Behind the Project

Stewart traces his obsession to age 8 or 9, when he spotted a model railway in a shop window during a holiday in Bognor Regis, England. He said: "When I take on something creative like this, I have to give it a 110 percent. For me, it's addictive." He kept the hobby almost entirely private for decades, surprising guests when he finally switched on the trains.