Inspired by the exotic hammams of Turkey and using ethically sourced marble from Kosovo and Macedonia, the concept and design of this opulent bathroom was created by the jet-setting homeowners themselves.
U 119 June - CS Fox Marbles FL.indd 89
HOMES THE owners
This five-bedroom detached property, situated in a secluded Hertfordshire village, is home to an entrepreneur and business executive, who have sympathetically extended their brick 1930s house to accommodate their three children. The floor plan is almost twice its original size with plans to build a swimming pool and convert a WW2 shelter into a wine cellar.
Photography by Andrew Hatfield
BALKAN BEAUTY
REAL
11/04/2017 14:52
REAL HOME
T
he homeowners, who have travelled extensively in Turkey and the Balkans, as well as working there, wanted their ensuite bathroom to evoke memories of the exotic hammams they visited. With golden red and silver grey marble - a classic Turkish pairing - this bathroom has been created using marble sourced ethically from excavated dormant quarries in Kosovo and Macedonia by Fox Marbles Plc, who are helping to regenerate the area by providing employment and encouraging investment.
��
“In 2015 my wife and I were planning to extend our house and were looking for a striking finish for our new bathroom and sauna,” explained the homeowner. “Fox Marble’s stone from Kosovo and Macedonia was just starting to become available and we were attracted to the idea of using a new and exclusive material from somewhere we knew.” They also wanted to use stone that might have been available to the region’s hammam builders at the time to give their project a real sense of coherence. “We had an architect, but our feeling was very much that this was our bathroom drawing on our travel experiences. So, although several friends suggested we had taken leave of our senses, we decided to have a stab at the design ourselves even although neither of us had an art design or building background and absolutely no knowledge of working with stone!”
Top-to-toe marble in such a relatively small space could have looked over the top, but the clever choice of colours - using a rich colour to highlight parts of the floor and around the door frames with a more subdued white with grey on the walls and remainder of the floor - creates a striking but not overwhelming aesthetic.
UTOPIA KITCHEN & BATHROOM JUNE 2017
U 119 June - CS Fox Marbles FL.indd 90
11/04/2017 14:52
REAL HOME
“The challenge was how to fit the homeowners vision into a �.�m by 3m modern box without it looking overornate. The result was, in design terms, quite a bit simpler than a typical hammam but the stone and the colour, for us, captured the spirit of the inspiration.” Jon Mitchell, Fox Marble Plc
�� The combination of the colours in the marble connects a simple, clean and modern shape with the inspiration of the hammam. It is functional yet luxurious.
UTOPIA KITCHEN & BATHROOM JUNE 2017
U 119 June - CS Fox Marbles FL.indd 91
11/04/2017 14:53
REAL HOME
Lighting is something easy to overdo. The homeowners primarily wanted functionality and, above all, plenty of light. The main lighting consists of 15 standard LED spots augmented by a simple double light over the sink and two windows. The one area where they went for a little more mood lighting was in and around the shower which has an illuminated step as well as internal LEDs.
��
Much of the room was bespoke. The cupboards and shelves were built by a local carpenter and the shower cubicle was also bespoke.
UTOPIA KITCHEN & BATHROOM JUNE 2017
U 119 June - CS Fox Marbles FL.indd 92
11/04/2017 14:54
Al exandr i anand