JUNE 2019
Britain’s hot talent
THE TOP 100 INTERIOR DESIGNERS
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40-PAGE GUIDE TO THE LEADING DESIGNERS IN 2019 including the TOP 25 GARDEN DESIGNERS
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CONTENTS
VOLUME 74 NUMBER 6 COVER STORIES ARE IN COLOUR. ON THE COVER: A SITTING ROOM DECORATED BY NICOLA HARDING (PAGES 182-191), PHOTOGRAPHED BY PAUL MASSEY
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We’re often asked how we compile this list. The answer is that, though there are some constants in our methodology, it’s a little different every year. The reach of our editorial team is extensive, so we can search out the best interiors and the creatives behind them. The vetting is thorough: portfolios examined, associates contacted and clients’ experiences sought out. But, each year, there are whispers about rising stars and encounters with designers whose work captures the mood of the moment. And so our Top 100 is constantly evolving – like the interiors you find in the magazine. ADAM BRAY COLIN ORCHARD ALIDAD COLLETT-ZARZYCKI BEATA HEUMAN DAVID MLINARIC BEN PENTREATH D’ERLANGER AND SLOAN BENTHEIM DE ROSEE SA BERDOULAT DOUGLAS MACKIE BRYAN O’SULLIVAN EDWARD BULMER STUDIO EDWARD HURST CARDEN CUNIETTI FAYE TOOGOOD CAROLINE HOLDAWAY FLORA SOAMES CAROLINE PATERSON FRANCIS SULTANA CAROLINE RIDDELL FRAN HICKMAN CAVE INTERIORS GAVIN HOUGHTON CHARLES GRANT WHITE RUTHERFOORD GUY GOODFELLOW CHARLOTTE CROSLAND HACKETT HOLLAND CHESTER JONES HARDING & READ CHRISTOPHER HODSOLL HARRIET ANSTRUTHER
HENRI FITZWILLIAM-LAY HOWE HUBERT ZANDBERG HUGH LESLIE JANE CHURCHILL JOANNA PLANT JOANNA WOOD JOHN McCALL JOHN MINSHAW JR DESIGN KATE GUINNESS KITESGROVE LEVESON DESIGN LOUISE JONES MADDUX CREATIVE MARION LICHTIG MARK GILLETTE
MARTIN BRUDNIZKI RITA KONIG STUDIO DUGGAN MARTIN HULBERT RIVIÈRE INTERIORS STUDIO REED MAX ROLLITT ROBERT CARSLAW SUSAN DELISS McWHIRTER MORRIS ROBERT KIME SUSIE ATKINSON MELISSA WYNDHAM ROSE UNIACKE SUZY HOODLESS MLINARIC, HENRY RUI RIBEIRO STUDIO TAYLOR HOWES & ZERVUDACHI SALVESEN GRAHAM TODHUNTER EARLE NATALIA MIYAR ATELIER SAMANTHA TURNER POCOCK NICKY HASLAM STUDIO TODHUNTER VANRENEN GW DESIGNS NINA CAMPBELL SARAH DELANEY DESIGN VEERE GRENNEY OLIVIA OUTRED STUDIO SARAH STEWART-SMITH ASSOCIATES PAOLO MOSCHINO FOR SHALINI MISRA VIRGINIA HOWARD NICHOLAS HASLAM SIBYL COLEFAX & VIRGINIA WHITE PENNY MORRISON JOHN FOWLER VSP INTERIORS PETER MIKIC SIGMAR WALDO WORKS RABIH HAGE SIMS HILDITCH WESTENHOLZ ANTIQUES RACHEL CHUDLEY SPENCER-CHURCHILL WILLIAM SMALLEY RETROUVIUS STUDIO ASHBY WOODY CLARK
F R O M PA G E 1 1 1
Your guide to the Top 100 Interior Designers in Britain today PLUS for the first time the Top 25 Garden Designers
INSIDER 25 SHOPPING Ruth Sleightholme’s selection of chiselled, hammered and carved furniture and accessories 33 NOTEBOOK Gabby Deeming shows us what has caught her eye this month 39 WISE BUYS Floor lamps under £350 41 NEWS AND VIEWS The carpets of Sandy Jones on show; plus diary dates 44 DESIGN DISPATCHES What’s new in the world of contemporary design 46 WIN An interior-design course at KLC 49 OUTSIDE INTERESTS A profile of garden designer Paul Hervey-Brookes 54 OUT AND ABOUT & IN CROWD Laura Houldsworth’s best buys; and The List 71 ART SCENE What to see, what to buy 76 BOOKS Foragers and architects at home, the ruins of Ireland and advice for the apprehensive gardener
26 DE C OR AT I NG
79 SWATCH Charlie Porter gathers up the latest hand-blocked, handembroidered and hand-loomed fabrics 83 DESIGN IDEAS Elizabeth Metcalfe presents a selection of interiors that feature beautiful bespoke joinery 93 RITA NOTES Continuing her series charting the renovation of her own farmhouse, Rita Konig gives advice on choosing fabrics and paint colours 97 THE LONG VIEW Emily Tobin considers whether history can teach us anything about our current uncertain times
LIFESTYLE 101 CARVING A LIFE Though the figurative sculptor David Williams-Ellis lives and works in Oxfordshire, he is proud of his roots in Wales, where he has inherited a manor house on the Llŷn Peninsula backed by the mountains of Snowdonia. By Pamela Goodman e HOUSEANDGARDEN.CO.UK JUNE 2019 7
CONTENTS CONTINUED
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EDIT: INTERIORS, GARDENS, STORIES 182 TELLING STOREYS With the help of interior designer Nicola Harding, a couple has created a versatile home from three flats in a nineteenth-century house in London. By David Nicholls 192 NEW FOR OLD A cottage in a Sussex village has been transformed into a distinctive and colourful family home by the interior designer Beata Heuman. By Elfreda Pownall 200 AS FATE WOULD HAVE IT An instinct for recognising talent paid off handsomely for the owners of a Victorian house in north London when they selected Rachel Chudley to shake up its interiors with her exuberant approach. By Emily Tobin 208 DUCHY ORIGINAL With inviting new interiors by Annabel Elliot, Prince Charles’s sixteenth-century house in Cornwall is at the centre of a community regeneration project that includes a sustainably designed plant nursery. By Fiona Golfar 216 REVAMP, RECYCLE, REUSE Gabby Deeming and Ruth Sleightholme’s low-cost schemes have high impact 222 STATELY SECLUSION In the private gardens of Petworth House, Caroline Egremont has created an intimate sanctuary within a series of garden rooms. By Virginia Fraser 230 TAKING HER PICK For her artisan floristry business, Polly Nicholson makes use of the blooms she grows and forages for at her Georgian house in Wiltshire. By Clare Foster 236 MORE AND MORE In the third part of her diary series, Clare Foster chronicles summer planting in her Berkshire garden
F O O D & T R AV E L 243 THE SIMPLE LIFE Blanche Vaughan’s recipes for one-dish, meat-free meals are ideal for summer entertaining 249 TASTE NOTES Blanche Vaughan’s food news and tips 252 SPICE UP YOUR LIFE Pamela Goodman is beguiled by the vibrant landscape of the Caribbean island of Grenada 255 LITTLE GEMS Mary Lussiana discovers Dá Licença, an art and craft-filled hotel in Portugal’s Alentejo region 256 FIVE REASONS TO VISIT: ZAGOROHORIA Teresa Levonian Cole recommends this little-known area of Greece
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T h i s m o n t h’ s contributors
ANNABEL ELLIOT Interior designer
Annabel Elliot has always been surrounded by beautiful things. For most of her working life she has been an antique dealer, selling everything from vintage clothing to furniture and fine art. Twenty years ago, she also started to take on interiordesign projects after multiple customers requested her help with their houses. Her work is often done under the radar but, luckily for us, one of her recent projects for the Duchy of Cornwall (the Duchess is Annabel’s sister) was less private. It is featured in this issue from page 208.
Who has inspired your work? ‘My original inspiration was my grandmother, then Mark Birley and, more recently, the brilliant Robert Kime.’
PAU L MASSEY Photographer
An avid photographer since he was five, Paul Massey started his career at the Evening Standard when he was 16, going on to cover world news for The Sunday Times for 20 years. He then moved into magazines, specialising in portraiture before progressing on to lifestyle and interiors. Paul likes to convey ‘the sense that someone has just left the room’ in his interiors shots. He moved to Sri Lanka for three years after shooting there and, when not working, can be found relaxing on an old sailing boat in Cornwall. He photographed three of the houses in this issue, including a quirky cottage in Sussex (on pages 192-199) and a London maisonette (on pages 182-191).
Who are you following on Instagram at the moment? ‘A photographer called Gulay Dogan (@gulaydlay), who has a beautifully distinctive style.’
FIONA G O L FA R We are delighted to introduce Fiona Golfar as a new contributing editor to House & Garden, with her first story featured from page 208. Fiona’s journalistic career began at Vogue in 1992, where she held the position of editor at large for 25 years and covered everything from celebrities to interiors; she recalls a particularly memorable experience learning synchronised swimming with the British Olympic team for a feature. Fiona describes herself as ‘much more of a homebody than people imagine’ and is happiest in her kitchen, cooking for family and friends.
Who has inspired your work and shaped your taste? ‘My editor at Vogue, Alexandra Shulman, who responded to ideas instinctively and encouraged me to develop professionally, and the fashion designer Joseph Ettedgui, who taught me how to look at things’ m Rugs & Runners www.rogeroates.com T 020 7351 2288
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FROM THE EDITOR
W
elcome to the biggest issue of the year, which includes our directory of The Top 100 Interior Designers (from page 111) and, for the first time, The Top 25 Garden Designers (from page 169). From now on, these will be published every year. Choosing the Top 100 requires diligent research into several hundred companies, with endless debate and reconsidering of names over many months. The task is momentous but also exciting, and undertaking it annually will ensure we have a continually evolving and upto-date list of the designers whom we think are creating the most stylish, the prettiest or the most interesting private homes. In the years I have been editor of this magazine, I have come to realise the importance of the Top 100 to many people: I feel the dismay of the designers we’ve left off as much as I feel the joy – or relief – of those we’ve included. But I believe the selection we have compiled is most relevant for you, our readers, and most reflective of the pages of the magazine. It also feels right to be featuring our pick of the Top 25 garden designers working today in this much anticipated issue. Alongside these important directories, we have some spectacular houses and gardens. These
include Prince Charles’s Cornish base, Restormel Manor (from page 208), situated in the heart of a thriving estate and appealingly decorated with antiques and country florals by his sister-in-law Annabel Elliot. There is a stylish and original take on cottage style in Sussex by our 2018 Designer of the Year Beata Heuman (from page 192), plus striking London interiors by Nicola Harding (from page 182) and also Rachel Chudley (from page 200) – a new entry in The House & Garden Top 100. As well as practical advice and useful names, there is plenty of seasonal escapism, including two gardens celebrating the gloriousness of the English summer. Polly Nicholson’s Wiltshire garden (on pages 230-235), from which she runs an artisan cut-flower business, has a particular pull for me because, as a child, I hoped I’d be a florist when I grew up. And gazing at the atmospheric pictures of the private gardens created by Caroline Egremont at Petworth House (from page 222) makes me long to be walking barefoot in the grass m
F O R M O R E D E C O R AT I O N I N S P I R AT I O N , V I S I T H O U S E A N D G A R D E N .C O.U K
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The House & Garden Festival is the only fair of its kind and an inspiring day out for summer shopping. The Festival brings together three individual events: House Fair combined with Grow London, Spirit of Summer Fair and The Art & Antiques Fair Olympia. You are sure to be inspired by the variety of collections on display, which will help you to create timeless and versatile living spaces to suit your personal style.
THE ART & ANTIQUES FAIR O LY M P I A
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Be inspired by the finest, often hard-to-find pieces for the house and garden. Benefit from a wealth of expertise and free face-to-face interiors and garden advice. Meet the House & Garden editorial team at their daily talk series in conversation with industry leaders, including, Maria Speake and Adam Hills from Retrouvius, Alasdair Cameron from Cameron Landscapes and Gardens, Salvesen Graham and many more.
Shop the best in summer living and uncover an exciting collection of independent boutiques, as well as the finest artisan food and drink. Take part in hands-on workshops including Macramé-making and floral creations or relax in the Louis Roederer Champagne Bar. Enjoy a unique dining experience with the team at ‘Scully St James’. Choose from a selection of mouth-watering small plates from chef Ramael Scully’s eclectic menu or enjoy traditional afternoon tea from 3pm.
Enjoy London’s longest running vetted art and antiques fair. You can buy with confidence from 160 leading British and international art galleries and antique dealers presenting a wide range of period products and styles – there is a piece for everyone and every room. Enjoy fascinating talks from specialists including Sally Hoban from The Arts Society, Belle Smith from The National Gallery, Jennifer Wearden from the V&A and many more. The Fair runs until 28 June.
A TICKET GIVES ACCESS TO ALL 3 FAIRS House & Garden readers get a special discount of 30% off * by quoting ‘JUNE’ when booking. For more information and to book tickets visit
houseandgardenfestival.com *Transaction fee of £2.20 applies. 30% off ticket offer applies to on-the-door ticket prices. Offer ends 31 May. Advance box office closes 18 June 2019
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The rough with the smooth RUTH SLEIGHTHOLME takes a hands-on approach to furniture and accessories that reflect the trend for chiselled, hammered and carved pieces Maple ‘Touch Sideboard’ (white oil), 92 x 129 x 50cm, £3,934; maple ‘Touch Bench’ (black stain), 32 x 160 x 40cm, £1,863; both from Studioilse and Zanat. Ceramic and wool ‘The Buoy Light’, by Akiko Hirai, £1,200, from The New Craftsmen. ‘Aluminium Yukihira Pan’, £65, from Native & Co. Oak and brass ‘Ebonised Oak Candlesticks’, small, £195 a pair; and large, £325 a pair; both from James Bowyer Furniture. ‘Vieille Ville’ oak vase (red), by Malcolm Martin and Gaynor Dowling, £390, from CAA. ‘Hibu’ bronze vase, by Michaël Verheyden, £2,235, from Willer. Maple ‘Touch Tray’, small (black stain), £110; and large (beeswax), £305; both by Studioilse and Zanat, from SCP. Mango wood ‘Terra Swinging Planter Pot Set 2’, by Andrés Belisario and Estudio Caribe, £390 for set of two, from Maison Numen e
PHOTOGRAPHS KRISTIN PERERS
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1 Jesmonite ‘Carved Pilotis Side Table’ (white), by Malgorzata Bany, 47 x 35cm diameter, £2,500, from The New Craftsmen. CNC-cut maple ‘Rustic Stool 2.5’, 44 x 60 x 28cm; and ‘Rustic Stool 2.3’, 42 x 31cm diameter; both £1,000, from Mark Laban. Black urushi sake jug, by Takashi Tomii, £275, from The Cold Press. ‘Whittle’ oak console table, 79 x 140 x 50cm, £3,700, from Knowles & Christou. 2 ‘Original Petal’ black and white urushi and cherry wood bowls, £45 each; ‘Deep Petal’ bowls, £85 each; and ‘Large Petal’ bowl, £135; ‘Shikomono’ cherry wood plate, £95; and sake cup, £95; all by Takashi Tomii, from The Cold Press. ‘Fluctuare’ walnut and sycamore coffee table, by Beatrix Bray, 30 x 110cm square, £8,950, from Mint. 3 ‘Nera’ walnut and maple bowls, by Monica Förster for Zanat, from £87 for 14 x 12cm diameter, from SCP. ‘Sycamore and Lime Cabinet’, 130 x 60 x 40cm, £9,000, from Sebastian Cox. 4 Ash and beech ‘The Cartwright Chair’, 72 x 85 x 60cm, £4,000, from James Bowyer Furniture. Sweet chestnut ‘Scorped Chestnut Vessel’, £575, from Forest + Found. ‘Sikomono’ oak tray, by Takashi Tomii, £120, from The Cold Press e 26 JUNE 2019 HOUSEANDGARDEN.CO.UK
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Brass ‘Candle Sconce No3’, by Malin Appelgren, 29cm diameter, £380, from The Shop Floor Project. ‘Whittle’ oak chair, 81 x 46 x 50cm, £795; and console table, 79 x 140 x 50cm, £3,700; both from Knowles & Christou. ‘Crockery White’ bone china bowls, £55 and £40; ‘Tall Vase’, £125; all by Max Lamb, from 1882. ‘Vieille Ville II’ oak vases (ochre yellow), by Malcolm Martin and Gaynor Dowling, £315 and £260, from CAA. ‘Figurative Stem’ earthenware lamp (gold), by Camilla Bliss, £960; mohair loop shade, by Mourne Textiles, from £350; cedar, pine and fir ‘Sasa Stool’, by Sasa Works, 28 x 39 x 30cm, £720; all from The New Craftsmen. ‘Atacama’ walnut and glass lamp, £441, from Ligne Roset. Curtains in ‘Lipstick’ (rose dragée), polyester, £144.50 a metre, from Dedar. For suppliers’ details, see Stockists page m
28 JUNE 2019 HOUSEANDGARDEN.CO.UK
collection EXTINCT ANIMALS pattern MENAGERIE OF EXTINCT ANIMALS
moooiwallcovering.com | arte-international.com
ARTE AMBASSADORS: AMERSHAM Amersham Designs www.amershamdesigns.co.uk BELFAST Watson & Browne BRISTOL Whittaker Wells www.whittakerwells.com CHICHESTER Thru The Looking Glass www.thruthelookingglass.co.uk LEEDS Beckett & Beckett Interiors www.beckettsinteriors.com - LONDON Alter London www.alterlondon.com LONDON Inside Job by Lellow www.insidejob.ltd - LONDON S&S Home Supplies www.designercolours.com - LONDON Urbane Living www.urbaneliving.co.uk - MACCLESFIELD Lux Arvika www.arvika.co.uk - PETERBOROUGH TM Interiors www.tm-interiors.co.uk - STAFFORDSHIRE Cream and Browne www.creamandbrowne.co.uk - STANMORE S&S Home Supplies www.designercolours.com
HOUSE & GARDEN PARTNERSHIP
CELEBRATE SUMMER
The House & Garden Festival at Olympia London is the shopping destination of the season, with an enriching programme of expert talks and advice clinics to kick start a project
READER OFFER 30% OFF
Lucy Hughes-Hallett is a historian who will give a talk on ’Sown and Sewn: the gardens of restoration England’
The House & Garden Festival, taking place at Olympia London, is an exceptional shopping destination encompassing interiors, garden and lifestyle brands alongside vetted art and antique dealers. Find the latest products from the likes of Arlo & Jacob, Crucial Trading, Orchid Furniture, Thomas Sanderson and Kitchen Architecture. With an enriching programme of talks and workshops, it’s also the perfect place to learn a new skill or seek advice about an upcoming project directly from the experts. These include the Expert Theatre talks and Expert Advice clinics with BIID professionals and RIBA accredited architects, taking on such topics as getting the best from your architect, choosing flooring, sustainable design and how to use traditional decorating ideas in modern ways. See right for some of the highlights from the programme.
Harriet Forde BIID president elect will be chairing a discussion on how to add value to your project m
House & Garden Festival takes place at Olympia London from June 19-23. House & Garden readers enjoy special discounted tickets for £14 (30% off). Simply quote ‘June30’ when booking online at www.houseandgardenfestival.com or by calling 0844 412 4623*.
*Calls cost 7 pence per minute plus network extras. £2.20 transaction fee applies. 30% discount applies to on-the-door prices. Advance box office closes at 11pm on 18 june 2019
Philip Mould OBE, president of Plantlife, will give a talk on undiscovered paintings in ‘Fake, Fortune and Flowers’
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‘Vera’ (2900), cotton, by Décors Barbares, £250 a metre, from Tissus d’Hélène ‘Ikebe’ ceramic teapot (blue indigo), €474 for six-piece tea set, from Maison Dada
Metal ‘Ajax Table Lamp’ (chinois hiroshi grey), 96 x 35cm diameter, £1,050 including shade, from Paolo Moschino for Nicholas Haslam
GABBY DEEMING shows us what has caught her eye this month
PIXELATE IMAGING
‘Plec’ marble and painted steel coffee table, 30 x 115 x 60cm, €1,330, from RS Barcelona
Silk velvet embroidered cushions, from left: ‘Ulster Green’, €465; and ‘Izoko’, €290; both 50cm square, from Jupe by Jackie
‘Otterbourne Slipper Chair’, covered in ‘Boundary’ (olive) and ‘Fresco’ (olive), linen, by Christopher Farr Cloth and And Objects, 66 x 60 x 70cm, £3,405 as seen, from And Objects e
HOUSEANDGARDEN.CO.UK JUNE 2019 33
INSIDER | SHOPPING
‘Ribambelle’ aluminium extending outdoor tables (from top: lagoon blue, honey), 74 x 149-234 x 100cm, €3,070 each, from Fermob
Hand-painted tulipwood, oak, glass and brass ‘Swan Dresser’, 260 x 90 x 40cm, £9,000, from Beata Heuman
‘Mughal Marigold’ (apple green mini stripe), linen, 135cm wide, £85 a metre, from Bombay Sprout
‘JL15TF3/H’ teak outdoor armchair, 95 x 62 x 64cm, €1,659, from Massant ‘Helix’ hand-blown borosilicate glass tumblers, from €155 each; and pitcher, from €440; all from Laurence Brabant & Alain Villechange e
34 JUNE 2019 HOUSEANDGARDEN.CO.UK
PIXELATE IMAGING
‘Oliver Hang’ metal, brass and linen pendant light (southfield green), 70 x 41cm diameter, £2,645.22, from The Urban Electric Co
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Handmade raffia lampshades, 15cm diameter (natural), £145; 20.5cm diameter (magenta), £160; and 25cm diameter (ochre brown), £190; all from EV Associates
Hand-woven wool rugs, from left: ‘Monk’, ‘Jazzy’ and Jaffa’, all €350 a square metre, from Ferreira de Sá
Cotton, feather and down eiderdowns, from left: ‘Blue Floral Striped’ and ‘Red Floral Striped’, by Anouska Cave, 140 x 160cm, £490 each, from Cave Interiors. For suppliers’ details, see Stockists page m
Painted ash ‘Carver Chair’ (carbon matt), 76 x 54.5 x 53cm, £195, from Garden Trading
36 JUNE 2019 HOUSEANDGARDEN.CO.UK
PIXELATE IMAGING
Walnut, marble and brass ‘Vienna Chest’, 80 x 115 x 45cm, £1,680, from Julian Chichester
1935
Fresco And Objects by Martin Brudnizki
Christopher Farr | cloth christopherfarrcloth.com
INSIDER | SHOPPING WISE BUYS
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Floor lamps VICTORIA BOARDS highlights designs for under £350
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FOR SUPPLIERS’ DETAILS, SEE STOCKISTS PAGE
1 Steel and cast-iron ‘Bruges’, 140 x 25-36 x 61cm, £225 including shade, from Loaf. 2 Steel ‘Shelley Floor Lamp with Table’, 155 x 35cm diameter, £277; with silk ‘Empire Shade’ (royal oyster), 31 x 50cm diameter, £70.80; both from Jim Lawrence. 3 Oak and metal ‘Cohen’ (white and natural oak), 162 x 77 x 20cm shade diameter, £99, from Made. 4 Wood and MDF ‘Ridged Floor Lamp and Shade’, 154 x 26cm diameter, £149, from Graham & Green. 5 Metal ‘Boris Contemporary’, 152.5 x 39.5cm diameter, £122, from Perch & Parrow. 6 Brass ‘Galore’ (white), 135 x 40 x 25cm shade diameter, £200, from Pooky. 7 Metal, concrete and linen ‘Industrial Outline’, 170 x 48cm diameter, £249, from West Elm. 8 Steel ‘Halsted Banker’s’, 150 x 41 x 25cm, £195, from Soho Home m
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EXPERIENCE MODERN FIRE | FOLD FIRE TABLE
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By ELIZABETH METCALFE
Floor show A new retrospective exhibition celebrates the work of the carpet designer Sandy Jones
I
think rugs should sit quietly and make everything else in the room look wonderful,’ says the carpet designer Sandy Jones. Now, her designs are taking centre stage in a retrospective selling exhibition from May 14 to June 14 at the Afridi Gallery, SW3, which specialises in twentieth-century design and antique carpets. Seven of Sandy’s playful, colour-blocked works, reflecting her 27-year career, have been reproduced for Sandy Jones: Stepping into the Light. Having modelled for Mary Quant in her youth and later worked as a costume designer, Sandy turned to textiles in the early Nineties. She became passionate about African and Asian examples – thanks in part to her interior-designer husband, Chester Jones – and enrolled on a textiles and embroidery course at London College of Fashion. She started making carpets when a client of her husband’s suggested that a couple of paintings in Chester’s office would provide wonderful inspiration for a carpet. ‘I made eight for him,’ recalls Sandy. Since then, she has created carpets for interior designers, including Hugh Leslie, and worked on prestigious projects such as a 12 x 12-metre rug for Claridge’s. The carpets in this exhibition, created in collaboration with the gallery’s owner, Shahbaz Afridi, are made in Turkey from hand-dyed, handspun wool. ‘The craftspeople don’t scour the wool, so you get a wonderfully irregular finish,’ she says. Now in her seventies, she continues to take on commissions. ‘Some people just ask me to design a carpet for their space,’ she says. ‘They don’t specify a style and they let me get on with it. I create the designs by tearing up handmade papers, colouring them and playing with their arrangement,’ Sandy explains. The gallery is holding a number of exhibitions over the coming months, including a showcase of Neisha Crosland’s original artworks in September. Afridi Gallery: shahbazafridi.com e
PHOTOGRAPH DEAN HEARNE
HOUSEANDGARDEN.CO.UK JUNE 2019 41
INSIDER | NEWS
FOCUS ON: AFRICAN DESIGN We are too accustomed to seeing designs that are ‘inspired’ by other cultures rather than actually by them but this is changing. Ikea has teamed up with 10 African designers and artists for its Overallt collection of furniture, textiles and accessories, launching this month. The Swedish brand has worked directly with creatives from countries including Ivory Coast, South Africa and Senegal, who have contributed pieces that reflect their individual cultures. Senegal’s Bibi Seck is behind a plastic and steel footstool, while Nairobi-based Bethan Rayner and Naeem Biviji designed a curved eucalyptus bench (below). Further evidence of the creative boom currently underway on the continent is the addition of Africa By Design, which promotes established and emerging designers, as a seller on the online store 1stdibs, giving the work of 30 designer a new and impressive international reach. ikea.com | 1stdibs.com | africabydesign.org This ‘Overallt’ bench by husbandand-wife team Bethan Rayner and Naeem Biviji costs £100 from Ikea
Inside the
HOUSE OF FINE ART
T
en years ago, historian Tamsin Wimhurst came across an intriguing terraced house in Cambridge. Within an unremarkable exterior, the two-up, two-down was an Arts and Crafts marvel, the walls and ceilings covered in murals hand-painted by its previous owner, David Parr. Working for FR Leach & Sons, Parr, a decorative artist who lived in the house from 1887 to 1927, carried out commissions for designers from William Morris to George Bodley and turned his skills to his own house in his spare time. When he died, his granddaughter Elsie moved in and became the building’s custodian. Tamsin bought the house from Elsie in 2013 and set up a charitable trust to support its conservation. ‘We know so much about Morris but very little about the tradesmen who created his designs,’ she says. Thanks to a National Lottery Heritage Fund grant, the house’s two-and-a-half-year conservation – involving historic building advisors, decorative artists and a team of volunteers – is now complete and it is open for guided tours. davidparrhouse.org
RUG REVIVAL
One of our favourite discoveries at Maison&Objet in Paris earlier this year was a range of colourful art-deco-inspired hand-knotted rugs by French brand Maison Leleu. The design house, known for its elegant furniture, lighting and textiles, was founded in 1910 by Jules Leleu, but folded in 1973 when it was not paid for a large commission. It has now been revived by the founder’s great-granddaughter, Alexia Leleu, who has reworked original rug designs from the archive. She also plans to reintroduce furniture and lighting. Watch this space. maisonleleu.com
Tat London x 8 Holland Street Until June 2 Tat London, the online antique shop run by House & Garden decoration stylist Charlie Porter, is selling a curated selection of pieces at 8 Holland Street, W8, this month. It is a merry meeting of minds, with Tat’s toleware sitting alongside the gallery’s furniture and art. tat-london.co.uk | 8hollandstreet.com 42 JUNE 2019 HOUSEANDGARDEN.CO.UK
Margo Selby: Creative Weaving Workshops June 1-2 & August 3-4 The textile artist and weaver Margo Selby will be hosting two weaving workshops in her Whitstable studio over the coming months. The two-day courses are excellent for both beginners and the more experienced, and all materials will be provided. Each two-day workshop costs £300. margoselby.com
London Festival of Architecture June 1-30 This month-long, city-wide festival is made up of more than 500 events and includes a series of talks and workshops. In Cheapside, EC2, look out for a number of new public benches designed by a host of architecture and design students for an initiative called ‘City Benches’. londonfestivalofarchitecture.org e
HOWARD RICE
Diary dates
JULIAN CHICHESTER
JULIANCHICHESTER.COM london
| new york
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The ‘Bristol Light’ from Deadgood
Design dispatches The latest from the world of contemporary design BY DAVID NICHOLLS
LONDON’S CREATIVE QUARTER
There are events, launches and exhibitions galore, as Clerkenwell Design Week returns for its 10th year on May 21-23. More than 100 local showrooms will be taking part, including Deadgood, the design firm set up by Dan Ziglam and Elliot Brook, which will be unveiling its new free-blown glass pendant ‘Bristol Light’ (above). clerkenwelldesignweek.com | deadgoodltd.co.uk
In memory…
ALESSANDRO MENDINI The Italian postmodern designer and architect Alessandro Mendini died in February, aged 87. While his name may not be well known in the UK, his impact on the contemporary design world has been felt for more than four decades. Many of Mendini’s most notable works were produced in the Seventies and Eighties, including the ‘Proust’ armchair, which he designed in 1978 for Studio Alchimia. Today ‘Proust’ is produced by Cappellini and available for £10,000 (below left); Magis also makes a plastic outdoor version for about £780. An original chair fetched $62,500 at a Phillips auction in 2016. More familiar (and affordable) are the kitchen accessories, such as corkscrews (below right), Mendini designed for Alessi, with whom he collaborated for 30 years. cappellini.it | magisdesign.com | alessi.com
Although this chair was designed by Nanna and Jørgen Ditzel in 1955, it has recently been reborn in a collaboration between their daughter Dennie, the Danish furniture company Mater and what is described as ‘the world’s only fishing net upcycling company’. The slightly larger new version forms part of the ‘Ocean’ collection, which also includes two tables. All are made from recycled ocean plastic and are ideal for outdoor use. From £170. materdesign.co.uk m 44 JUNE 2019 HOUSEANDGARDEN.CO.UK
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WIN
Worth nearly £10,000
AN INTERIOR-DESIGN COURSE AT KLC
F
or almost four decades, KLC has been in the business of teaching interior and garden design. Based in London’s Design Centre, Chelsea Harbour, the school was founded specifically to meet the need for industry-relevant training. For a third year, House & Garden has teamed up with KLC to offer a fully funded place on its prestigious Certificate Residential Interior Design course. With a sole focus on living spaces, the course offers a thorough grounding in the subject.
HOW TO APPLY You will find an application form, full details and terms and conditions on the House & Garden website at houseandgarden. co.uk/article/ klc-competition. Candidates will be asked to put together new room and furniture layouts for a small apartment, together with a mood board to convey the style and aesthetic for the given client.
WHY SHOULD YOU ENTER?
This is a great opportunity for someone wishing to forge a career in the industry. ‘We are looking for a candidate who is focused and motivated, a creative thinker with a real eye for interior design,’ says KLC founder and principal Jenny Gibbs. By the end of the course, students will have a full understanding of the design process and the skills to respond to a brief – from the initial visit and briefing session through to the full presentation. Students will learn to plan room and furniture layouts and to undertake detailed planning of kitchens and bathrooms, with a good understanding of how the related services work. They will have knowledge of materials and finishes and their application, and will be able to plan lighting schemes for individual rooms. Digital skills and the ability to communicate ideas visually are an important part of this course.
THE PRIZE
The course starts in September 2019 and the winner can choose either the 11-week fulltime course or the one-year part-time course. A place on KLC’s Certificate Residential Interior Design course is worth £9,945 m
Visit houseandgarden.co.uk/article/klc-competition for infor mation on how to apply, and full ter ms and conditions
46 JUNE 2019 HOUSEANDGARDEN.CO.UK
SIMON UPTON
TERMS AND CONDITIONS
The House & Garden/KLC competition is open to all United Kingdom residents aged 18 years or over. The competition is not available to employees of the Promoters (The Condé Nast Publications Ltd), any associated companies, their families and anyone professionally involved in this competition. The decision of the promoters (House & Garden and KLC) is final and no correspondence will be entered into. KLC reserves the right to cancel or amend all or any part of the competition and/or rules of entry without notice for any matter arising that is beyond the reasonable control of KLC Ltd. The prize cannot be exchanged for cash or any other alternative and the prize is non-transferable. Cost of travel to and from KLC is not included. Only one entry per person will be considered. The competition award is for the full-time or part-time Certificate courses for September 2019 entry only. In order to attend either Certificate course, English Language ability must be competent and a minimum score of 6.5 on the English Language Testing System (ielts.org.uk) or equivalent is required. Entrants must meet the eligibility requirements of KLC. Only entries made by the closing date of June 2, 2019 and in the manner set out in the competition details will be considered for the award. The winner of the competition will be selected and notified as set out in the Competition Terms. There is no requirement to make any purchase to enter the competition.
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INSIDER | NEWS
Outside Interests CLARE FOSTER finds fresh gardening inspiration
Garden Designer Paul Hervey-Brookes Continuing our series of profiles of a new generation of exciting design talent
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JOSHUA MONAGHAN
ithout doubt, plants make Paul HerveyBrookes tick. Growing up near the Oxford Botanic Garden, he soon became fascinated by them and went on to study horticulture at Pershore College and then plant classification at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. ‘There is only so much potting on in freezing polytunnels you can do,’ he says with a laugh. ‘After Edinburgh, I went abroad to work in real gardens and started to make the connection between plants, landscape and design. I still wanted to work with plants, but realised I could use them to make places with real emotion and atmosphere.’ Paul returned to the UK and studied landscape design before setting up his own business in the Cotswolds. His work is varied, with projects around Britain and abroad, ranging from private gardens and estates to a series of roof gardens in Tel Aviv. In March 2016, he launched Allomorphic, a garden and lifestyle shop in Stroud, with his partner Yann Eshkol. Tragically, Yann was diagnosed with cancer around the time the store opened and died later that summer, but his vision and ethos live on – both in the original store and in the new branch in Tetbury. Since 2009, when he was asked to design a garden at the RHS Malvern Autumn Festival, Paul has designed gardens for shows all round the world – from London to Australia, New Zealand and Japan. RHS Chelsea Flower Show, he says, is ‘the ultimate luxury for any designer’ and he relishes the chance to explore ideas with others in his field. This year, he is working on his sixth Chelsea garden for sponsor Viking Cruises, in which he is conjuring up a scene reminiscent of a water meadow he once saw in the Ukraine, with rivulets, water birch and rich, colourful planting. ‘To me, a garden must convey some sort of emotion,’ he says. ‘This one is a calm, reflective space, somewhere to switch off from the world around us.’ paulherveybrookes.com | allomorphic.co.uk
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Three of the best DECKCHAIRS
1 Merpauh wood and polyester ‘Vanessa Bell Warner Textile Deckchair’, £99, from welovecushions.co.uk. 2 Metal and plastic-covered canvas ‘Split Folding Deckchair’ (taupe), £73.49, from maisonsdumonde.com. 3 Mango wood and cotton ‘Acacia Macrame Deckchair’, £295, from frenchconnection.com. e
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INSIDER | NEWS
Secret squares The Aga Khan Centre in King’s Cross is one of more than 130 venues you can visit over London’s annual Open Garden Squares Weekend on June 8-9. Opened in 2018, the building incorporates five Islamic courtyard gardens, including the Garden of Light, shown below, designed by Nelson Byrd Woltz. Other venues range from wildlife, allotment and community gardens to secret terraces and historic gems, many not usually open to the public. An advance ticket (£8-£15) allows unlimited entry to all the gardens included in the two-day event; tickets cost £10-£20 if you book after May 8. opensquares.org
PLANT OF THE MONTH
FLOWER GARDEN MASTERCLASS
Expert grower Rachel Siegfried will lead a two-day course, Grow Your Own Cut Flowers for Pleasure or Profit, at West Dean College in Sussex on June 24-26. You will learn how to create a productive cutting garden to supply you with flowers from April to October. The course costs £304, including lunches. westdean.org.uk e 50 JUNE 2019 HOUSEANDGARDEN.CO.UK
HUFTON + CROW; EVA NEMETH
Dianthus ‘Cherry Burst’ is one of a new generation of single, longflowering pinks and will bloom continuously from May to September. Its striking, delicately scented flowers have flushed pink petals with a dark maroon eye. Growing to a height of 15cm, it is ideal for pots and will be exhibited by Hardy’s Cottage Garden Plants at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show. Available to buy from hardysplants.co.uk.
020 8969 3399
www.camerongardens.co.uk
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‘Twist’ runner by Esti Barnes
RAIN OR SHINE
These outdoor lamps from Tribù’s ‘Monsieur Tricot’ collection are made of weatherproof cord. Available in hanging or standing versions, they come in wengé (above), white, linen, moss and brick. From £775 each, from Go Modern. gomodern.co.uk
VINTAGE INSPIRATION
Created by garden designer Phillippa May, this elegant chair is based on a Fifties example she found in Morocco. Made from zinc-coated steel, it is available in two ranges: ‘Bloomsbury’ (turquoise, ivory and taupe) and ‘Casablanca’ (crimson, lemon and tangerine). Measuring 91 x 53 x 59cm, it costs £495. To order, email phillippamay@gmail.com.
Nkuku’s new ‘Ramla’ glass vases have antiqued-brass lids with a decorative cut-out pattern designed to hold stems of flowers and foliage. The vases come in four different sizes – the smallest one measures 7 x 17.5cm diameter and costs £19.95. nkuku.com m
+44 207 795 3333 www.topfloorrugs.com
HOUSE & GARDEN PARTNERSHIP
Planted to perfection
RACHEL WARNE
Whatever the size and shape of your garden, award-winning designer Jo Thompson has the vision and expertise to transform your outdoor space into a stylish sanctuary
CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT Traditional borders of shrubs, roses and herbaceous perennials flank a lawned area at a historic country estate. Topiary and soft planting lead the eye to the landscape beyond. Clipped box offsets pale hydrangeas in a city garden
J
o Thompson is an award-winning garden designer and the mastermind behind some of the UK’s loveliest gardens. With a portfolio of historical country estates, bespoke residential gardens and leafy city rooftops, her reputation is world class and she has been named this month as one of House & Garden’s Top 25 Garden Designers. Based between London and Sussex, Jo prides herself on her sensitivity to a garden’s location and history, her objective being to ensure her horticultural creations blend seamlessly with their location. Alongside devising visually stimulating spaces, her understanding of the landscape and the conditions of each site leads to well considered schemes that blossom into their
full potential over time. Rather than following trends, she re-imagines the landscape thoughtfully, often with what she terms ‘a gentle intervention rather than a heavy stamp of design’. Her studio works closely with architects, sculptors, craftspeople and the client, achieving extraordinary results. Jo is the recipient of five gold and four silver-gilt medals at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, and in 2017 she won the People’s Choice Award with a 70 metre-long riverbank installation at the first RHS Chatsworth Flower Show. ‘More than anything, I want our gardens to look as if they are meant to be there,’ she says. ‘A great garden is the result of intelligent thinking and exquisite planting.’ To view her designs, visit jothompson-garden-design.co.uk m
OUT AND ABOUT
Latest launches… chic showrooms… hot buys… LAURA HOULDSWORTH takes note
Leading lights New to Porta Romana is this flocked wooden ‘Large Bamboo Lamp’ in mustard. It is 72 x 17cm diameter and costs £618. The linen ‘Bongo’ shade with chutney velvet trim, 29 x 33cm diameter, costs £264. Also new is the steel ‘Small Urchin Chandelier’ with a bodu gold finish (top), 73cm diameter, which costs £4,668. portaromana.com
PLATE UP
THE US-BASED ARTIST, ILLUSTRATOR AND CALLIGRAPHER STEPHANIE FISHWICK HAS DESIGNED CHINA AND LINENS IN PARTNERSHIP WITH MODA OPERANDI. THIS 32CM-DIAMETER ‘PORCELAIN CHARGER’ IS £396 FOR FOUR. 020-7235 9153; MODAOPERANDI.COM
ON THE TILES
I love the fresh colours of these ‘Series S’ tiles from Balineum, which are handmade in Italy. All the patterns, trims and coordinating plain tiles are available in 27 glaze colours. Seen here are (from left) ‘Budapest’, £505.56 a square metre; ‘Nastro Edge’, £739.20 a square metre; and ‘Felce’, £523.33 a square metre. 020-7431 9364; balineum.co.uk
EXOTIC APPEAL
Reminiscent of traditional Japanese screens, this ‘Shangri La’ wallcovering from Phillip Jeffries is seen here in the euphoric teal colourway on cotton canvas linen. A 340.4 x 91.4cm panel costs £547.50. phillipjeffries.com
NEWS IN BRIEF Oka has launched a range of 48 paint colours by Edward Bulmer Natural Paint. Sample pots costing £5 will be available from Oka’s stores in Chelsea, Guildford and Knutsford. 0333-004-2042; oka.com e 54 JUNE 2019 HOUSEANDGARDEN.CO.UK
PHOTOGRAPH: JOSHUA MONAGHAN. LAURA WEARS A ‘SOFT MERINO VELOUR JACKET’ IN MIST, AND ANKLE BOOTS, BOTH FROM BOTTEGA VENETA (BOTTEGAVENETA.COM). BAG, FROM RUSSELL & BROMLEY (RUSSELLANDBROMLEY.CO.UK)
Laura at the Roche Bobois showroom on Fulham Road, SW10
P O R T E R
INSIDER | NEWS
ELEGANT AESTHETIC
Ledbury Studio is a new kitchen brand by Charlie Smallbone, the founder of Smallbone of Devizes. This latest venture was born from a desire to create practical kitchens that exude style and elegance. This kitchen from the ‘Metallics’ collection is on display in the company’s showroom in Ledbury Mews North, W11. Kitchens cost from £50,000. 020-7566 6794; ledburystudio.com
115 QUEENSTOWN ROAD LONDON SW83RH +44 (0)20 3355 1817 P O R T E R B AT H R O O M . C O M
BEN QUINTON
a helping hand
Design Centre, Chelsea Harbour has launched a new personal shopping service. Gabrielle Grubanovich can help you find what you need in the centre’s 120 showrooms. Seen here is a selection of fabrics and trims sourced from Design Centre brands. The free appointments are suitable for shoppers who do not need a full design service but would still benefit from some friendly, practical advice. For further information and to book, visit dcch.co.uk. e
Modern Day Scent Essentials
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OPEN INVITATION
The Beardmore Collection’s ‘Brass Limnia Lever’ door handle is seen here in burnished bronze and aged brass. It is 14cm wide with a 7cm projection and costs £330. beardmore.co.uk
All the angles
The sculptural ‘Cube Dining Table’ from Julian Chichester has a prism-inspired timber and steel base coated in bronze and a bleached oak top. It measures 76.2 x 122cm diameter and costs £2,585. 020-7622 2928; julianchichester.com
THIS NEW ‘JACKFRUIT’ COTTON/LINEN FABRIC BY SANDERSON FEATURES STYLISED FRUITS AND BOTANICAL DETAILS. AVAILABLE IN FOUR COLOURWAYS, INCLUDING INDIGO/ RAMBUTAN (SEEN HERE), IT COSTS £59 A METRE FROM STYLE LIBRARY. 020-3457 5862; STYLELIBRARY.COM/ SANDERSON
At Ashley & Co® we savour scents and memories informed by the past, but our spirit is anchored firmly in the present, in the richness of our modern world.
Made in New Zealand ashleyandco.co
Ruark Audio has been creating radio and hi-fi products for more than 30 years. The British family firm prides itself on the fact that each piece fits stylishly yet subtly into any space and looks as good as it sounds. This walnut-veneer ‘R5 High Fidelity Music System’ measures 14.2 x 52 x 30cm and costs £999. 01702-601410; ruarkaudio.com e
ELLE DUNN
SOUND INVESTMENT
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USM U. Schaerer Sons Ltd 49 – 51 Central St London EC1V 8AB 020 7183 3470 info.uk@usm.com
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In crowd NEWS ON THE LATEST READER EVENTS
SEASONAL KITCHEN MASTERCLASS
Thermostatic Shower Valve
Design Centre Chelsea Harbour landmark-collection.co.uk Made in England
Join House & Garden and Martin Moore for a summer cookery class at the kitchen specialist’s Notting Hill showroom in Westbourne Grove, W11. Participants will meet David Moore, the owner of Pied à Terre restaurant, and enjoy a cookery masterclass with its head chef Asimakis Chaniotis (pictured). Pied à Terre has gained some of the highest awards and accolades possible, including retaining a Michelin star in 2019, which it has held for more than 25 years. At the event, which will take place on Tuesday, June 18, 11am-1.30pm, Asimakis will demonstrate his signature summer dishes using seasonal produce. This will be followed by a tutored wine tasting with an award-winning sommelier from Pied à Terre, and the chance to try Chardonnay from around the world – ideal summer drinking. After the cookery class and wine tasting, you will have the opportunity to meet members of the Martin Moore design team, who will be available to advise on all aspects of kitchen design. Tickets cost £25 and include morning coffee, a cookery masterclass, tutored wine tasting, a two-course lunch with wine prepared by Daylesford and a gift bag. To book, visit summer-cookery-and-wine.eventbrite.co.uk. e
INSIDER | NEWS
DE SIGNER INSIGHT S Leanne Walstow meets two members of The List to discuss their latest projects and sources of inspiration
LUCY BARLOW co-founder of London interiordesign studio Barlow & Barlow
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For more information, visit houseandgarden.co.uk/the-list e
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e’re currently working on transforming the interiors of a very beautiful Grade II listed townhouse in Holland Park (above) – the owners are still living there, so we’re refreshing the rooms bit by bit. Sticking to the classic English style, we have updated the colour palette and added dramatic Soane wall lights and beautiful curtains in a chintz fabric from Colefax and Fowler. Pitzhanger Manor, Sir John Soane’s house in west London, has provided me with plenty of inspiration – he filled his houses with collections of things he loved and we always advise our clients to do the same. On Instagram, I really like Miles Redd’s eclectic and colourful interiors (@milesredd). barlowandbarlow.com
JONATHAN BOND
Barlow & Barlow
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SHEENA MURPHY founder of Nune, an interior-design firm with offices in London and New York
THE INVISIBLE LIGHTSWITCH® www.forbesandlomax.com
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e recently launched a second studio in London, having spent more than 11 years away, working from our New York base. Our UK projects have included a Victorian house in north-west London (above). Across the Atlantic, we have just completed a house in Connecticut that was built in 1790. We source a mix of old and new pieces for our projects – for the Connecticut house, we used vintage Swedish finds to create a look that honoured the unique architecture. Our dream client is someone who thinks like us and wants to create honest spaces with a focus on craft and materials. nunenune.com
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CALL 01491 612820 CROWNPAVILIONS.COM
Visit The List today to find a design professional near you. Or perhaps you are a design professional and want to join The List? Sign up now to be a part of it. Call 0207152 3639, or email leanne.walstow@condenast.co.uk m
MICHAEL SINCLAIR
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SAM BARKER; RAY MAIN
FROM TOP RWD designed the interior of the 46-metre S/Y Elfje. The Old Mill studio. The 73-metre M/Y Hasna, designed by RWD
DETAILS IN DESIGN
Conceiving stylish yachts for its discerning international clients, RWD studio is quietly pushing the boundaries of yacht design
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aving acquired 25 years’ experience, designed and built 80 superyachts on the water for clients across the globe and amassed a cabinet full of awards, RWD is one of Britain’s leading interior and exterior yacht designers. Based in beautiful Beaulieu, a picturesque village on the edge of the New Forest, RWD conceives some of the world’s most spectacular yachts from this remote hideaway for its discerning clients. Founded in 1993, the studio embodies an unapologetic Britishness: it is discreet and fastidious, and values fun, loyalty and dedication to detail. RWD quietly creates exterior and interior designs, pushing boundaries, innovating new techniques and setting new standards for quality, craftsmanship and luxury along the way. While the RWD approach has always been to stay under the radar, once launched, its projects make waves. In the past year alone, the studio has won three prestigious World Superyacht Awards. It has also launched two extraordinary 73 and 117-metre expedition yachts and a 108-metre motor yacht, the largest in the latest 100m+ custom yacht range from Italian shipyard Benetti. Over the years, the RWD team has grown to 40 dynamic creatives who are set to continue to thrive. With exciting signings, projects and opportunities on the horizon, the studio is constantly looking to collaborate with talented designers, innovators and leaders to take it to new heights of artistry, design and skill. To find out more, visit rwd.co.uk m
HOUSE & GARDEN PARTNERSHIP
OPPOSITE ‘Cielo I Catini Collection available from CP Hart. Create a stylish statement with the current trend for colourful bold finishes in the bathroom. ABOVE Exclusive Cielo ‘Elle’ and ‘Kyros’ basins from CP Hart in talco and cipria
MAKE A SPLASH
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Create the perfect bathroom with inspiration from specialists CP Hart
it back, relax and picture your dream bathroom. Does it involve the elegant ‘Winchester’ freestanding roll-top bath? And what about classic Dornbracht wall-mounted taps and a beautiful ‘Hart Bevelled Framed Mirror’? If this sounds like your idea of bliss, then why not make your dream a reality with a trip to CP Hart, the experts in bathroom design? Whether you favour a classic look based on practicality or have a hankering for an opulent bathing routine worthy of Cleopatra, CP Hart is the place to go. Its professional in-house design service offers customers a wealth of knowledge and specialist advice, access to state-of-theart product design, home visits and tailor-made design packages to help you realise your vision for your bathroom. The company has more than 80 years of experience in the industry and 15 showrooms across the UK, including
a distinguished flagship store located under the historic railway arches behind London’s Waterloo. The showrooms are wonderful sources of inspiration, providing a stylish hub of luxury, ingenuity and imagination for customers, architects and interior designers alike. With a range of collections by some of the most exciting contemporary designers, such as Philippe Starck, Marcel Wanders, Patricia Urquiola and India Mahdavi, CP Hart is always first to showcase the latest bathroom trends, cutting-edge products and innovative technologies. And if you prefer a more traditional look, there are plenty of stylish options. Let the expert team at CP Hart help you put together the perfect bathroom – and make your dreams a reality m CP Hart Flagship Store, Newnham Terrace, Hercules Road, London SE1 (020-7902 5250). For more information and to arrange a consultation, visit cphart.co.uk
YOUR LIFE. YOUR RULES.
YOUR SHOWER. YOUR TURN. GROHE SMARTCONTROL
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STUDIO NEW KI TCH E N D ESIG N by CH AR L I E SMALLBON E
The Metallics Collection 4b Ledbury Mews North Notting Hill London W11 2AF ledburystudio.com From an idea originated in collaboration with deVOL
020 7566 6794
art scene Edited by EMILY TOBIN
The untold story SHEDDING LIGHT ON A WORK OF ART: CONEY ISLAND (2018) BY CHANTAL JOFFE
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hantal Joffe first painted her daughter, Esme, three weeks after she was born, in 2004. She is a crumpled, pink-faced creature, her tiny white body gleaming within a cocoon of inky black paint. Committing her daughter to canvas was a wholly natural impulse for the British artist, who lives in London. ‘I needed to start painting very soon after the birth because, for me, to paint is to feel alive,’ she says. Esme, who is now 14, has appeared in her mother’s paintings ever since. ‘I paint my life, and she is the main person in my life,’ says Chantal. Last summer, the pair took a trip to Coney Island in New York. ‘I love the crazy vivid light there and the fact it’s slightly rough around the edges,’ Chantal says. ‘We were waiting outside the loos with the sea behind us and I was thinking about Degas’ painting Beach Scene, where a maid combs a young girl’s hair and the sand is the colour of sable.’ Chantal took a photograph of her teenage daughter – ‘who was looking particularly paintable in her striped top and beret’ – and created this work based on the snapshot. The painting is a deceptively simple concoction of broad, gestural brushstrokes. Six multicoloured stripes line up to form a beach towel; a passer-by is captured in all his baldness with a f lurry of pink and blue marks; and the
facets of Esme’s face are denoted in shell-pink blocks of colour, with a mauve sweep of paint under each eye. ‘Esme is a fierce, strong person and there was something confronting about her pose,’ says Chantal. ‘My relationship to her and to painting her has evolved over time, from baby, to needy child to a whole person with separate thoughts and ideas. She is growing up and I think I’m rehearsing the things I can’t bear to imagine.’ Paintings by Chantal Joffe will be on show at the Victoria Miro galleries in Wharf Road, N1, and George Street, W1, until May 18; victoria-miro.com e HOUSEANDGARDEN.CO.UK JUNE 2019 71
INSIDER | ART
BUYING ART Three works to consider adding to your collection
exhibitions LEE KRASNER: LIVING COLOUR Lee Krasner was one of the key pioneers of abstract expressionism. This show at the Barbican, EC2, will feature nearly 100 works spanning her 50-year career, many of them on show in the UK for the first time. Krasner was a remarkable artist, whose importance has often been eclipsed by her marriage to Jackson Pollock. May 30-September 1; barbican.org.uk Pictured Desert Moon, 1955, collage of oil on paper on canvas, and oil on canvas
FRANK BOWLING Frank Bowling’s first major retrospective opens at Tate Britain, SW1, this month. Aged 19, he moved from Guyana to London as part of the Windrush Generation and studied painting at the Royal College of Art. Now 85, he still paints every day. This exhibition brings together a lifetime’s worth of large-scale, boldly coloured works. May 31-August 26; tate.org.uk Pictured Iona Miriam’s Christmas Visit to & from Brighton, 2017, acrylic on canvas
JEFF KOONS AT THE ASHMOLEAN Catch the final weeks of this divisive exhibition. Jeff Koons, long considered a subversive artist, is exhibiting 17 works from the Eighties to today, in the world’s oldest university museum. Until June 9; ashmolean.org Pictured Gazing Ball (Rubens Tiger Hunt), 2015, oil on canvas, glass and aluminium
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[2] ESTHER ECKLEY Lemon Segments, oil on board, 43cm square, AU$900 (about £480); walchagallery.com.au
[3] SERPIL MAVI USTÜN Come to My World and See my True Self, 76 x 61cm, oil on canvas, £3,750; maviustun.com e
LOS ANGELES COUNTY MUSEUM OF ART © THE POLLOCK-KRASNER FOUNDATION © 2018 DIGITAL IMAGE MUSEUM ASSOCIATES/LACMA ART RESOURCE; NY/SCALA, FLORENCE; IMAGE COURTESY OF THE ARTIST AND HALES GALLERY © FRANK BOWLING. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. DACS 2018; COLLECTION OF THE ARTIST © JEFF KOONS. PHOTOGRAPH: TOM POWEL IMAGING, COURTESY GAGOSIAN
[1] ELLIE WINTOUR Morning in Bellport, watercolour and ink on paper, 21 x 29cm, £145; theeditionshop.co.uk
INSIDER | ART
A brief history of THE VENICE BIENNALE
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ndoubtedly the grande dame of art events, for more than 120 years La Biennale di Venezia has attracted hundreds of thousands of visitors to the Italian archipelago. Purpose-built pavilions and crumbling palazzos play host to international contemporary art on an unprecedented scale, not to mention the art-world glitterati. As the oldest exhibition of its kind, it reigns supreme among a calendar full to bursting with increasingly ubiquitous A-list art fairs and nascent competing festivals. The first International Art Exhibition of the City of Venice was mounted to celebrate the silver wedding anniversary of King Umberto of Italy and Margherita of Savoy in 1895. It drew considerable tourist crowds, not least because Giacomo Grosso’s salacious painting of five nude women writhing over their lover’s coffin incurred the wrath of the church. Unsurprisingly, it won the popular vote, while the official jury celebrated more conservative offerings, setting the pattern for the perennial tussle between critical acclaim, prize-giving and public opinion. Over the past century, the Biennale has grown into a mega-event that covers the whole city, occupying everywhere from galleries to deconsecrated churches. Within the Giardini – the traditional site – no fewer than 29 permanent pavilions have been built over the years, showcasing diverse architectural prowess as much as art. The Venetian legacy has also been cemented by the list of Golden Lion award winners, which reads like a who’s who of art history, from Rauschenberg to Richter. As more and more groups vie for representation, the Arsenale has come to serve as a second main venue, while also hosting a major thematic exhibition that sets the overall tone for the proceedings. For the 58th iteration, titled May You Live in Interesting Times, artistic director Ralph Rugoff promises to showcase work that represents ‘art’s potential for looking into things that we do not already know – things that may be off-limits, under-the-radar, or otherwise inaccessible’. Similarly, the British Pavilion presents Cathy Wilkes, an artist known for eschewing explanatory texts and interviews in favour of visceral reactions. According to curator Zoé Whitley, it will be a world away from the excesses that have come to typify the Biennale, in the form of super yachts, selfies and bombastic offerings, such as Damien Hirst’s ‘fake’ exhibition Treasures from the Wreck of the Unbelievable in 2017. ‘This personal approach is something I hope people will spend time with and appreciate,’ she explains. ‘It’s not about an Instagrammable moment.’ Holly Black Biennale Arte, May 11-November 24; labiennale.org/en m
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XXXII ESPOSIZIONE BIENNALE INTERNAZIONALE D’ARTE, VENEZIA, 1964, PHOTOGRAPH UGO MULAS © UGO MULAS HEIRS. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED; G DOBNER/ALAMY; SHUTTERSTOCK
CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT Support by Lorenzo Quinn leaning against Ca’ Sagredo Hotel on Venice’s Grand Canal in 2017. Alison Lapper Pregnant by Marc Quinn outside the church of San Giorgio Maggiore in 2013. Robert Rauschenberg’s Express, 1963, being transported by boat to the Giardini grounds of the XXXII Esposizione Biennale Internazionale d’Arte in June 1964
Sail beyond your imagination. The Transatlantic Crossing, by Cunard.
INSIDER | NEWS
Words and pictures What to read: the latest books reviewed by LEANNE WALSTOW
THE FORAGED HOME by Oliver Maclennan (Thames & Hudson, £24.95) Written and photographed by brother and sister duo Oliver and Joanna Maclennan respectively, this book presents the stories and interiors of people for whom foraging has grown from an occasional hobby into a lifestyle. It is easy to become enraptured by the stories of these intriguing individuals and their homes. Their lives are intimately narrated through the objects that they discuss – every piece has an anecdote attached – and Oliver displays a particular talent for lively characterisation, achieved through the slightest nuances in the conversations that he relays. Each tale is accompanied by photographs that possess an almost magical quality: despite the time-sensitive nature of most foraging, the interiors photographed here seem almost suspended in time. A whitewashed cottage in Dorset filled with botanical finds contrasts sharply with the Australian home of artists Bill and Genevieve Moseley, who
ARCHITECTS AT HOME (ACC ART BOOKS, £20)
The technical and rather dry introduction by John V Mutlow, professor of architecture at the University of Southern California, might give one the impression that this is a book for experts, a dull compendium of structures. In truth, it is the opposite. Readers are warmly invited to peruse intimate photographs of family homes round the world, designed by the architects who live there. Bite-size amounts of text explain the inspiration, process and functionality behind these buildings – practicality is a feature they have in common, no matter how wondrous they first appear. 76 JUNE 2019 HOUSEANDGARDEN.CO.UK
have foraged antique curiosities to create their eclectic style. Despite being anything but minimal, the houses, sheds and shacks featured in The Foraged Home evoke a simple, honest way of living. The owner of a farmhouse in Provence that has been filled with rescued furniture and objets describes how hunting for his next find is ‘an adventure… It’s like a small gift every day’. The individuals interviewed by Oliver were obviously selected because of the way they hold objects discarded by others in such reverence – a refreshing attitude that signals hope in the shadow of today’s throwaway culture. It is a shame that this world view is so rare; indeed many of the interviewees in this book present themselves as eccentrics, their unique way of living having placed them at the fringes of society. This book is not to be taken as a guide to foraging, but rather like the interiors that it showcases, it is a display of the beautiful yet curious.
THE APPREHENSIVE GARDENER BY GRISELDA KERR (PIMPERNEL PRESS, £16.99)
Griselda Kerr’s gardening reference guide has been formulated not to sit on a coffee table, but instead to become dog-eared with repeated thumbing through its pages. The first section suggests gardening tasks for each month – starting with the general, such as weeding and mulching, before going into the care of specific plant species. The second section is a chart that functions as an index for the first, arranged by plant name rather than by month. This is an excellent guide to the practicalities of gardening.
THE IRISH AESTHETE: RUINS OF IRELAND BY ROBERT O’BYRNE (CICO BOOKS, £16.99)
In his introduction, Robert O’Byrne quotes the German writer Johann Georg Kohl, who called Ireland ‘the country for ruins’. It is a well-chosen quote, given that what follows is just under 170 pages of atmospheric photographs of crumbling castles, decaying mansions and forlorn farmhouses from all over Ireland. Empty ruins do not remain so – instead, they are populated by engaging histories of the fascinating characters who lived and died there. This is a beautiful yet sad survey of buildings abandoned to time. m
HOUSE & GARDEN PARTNERSHIP
A bedroom scheme featuring Lema’s ‘Emery’ modular wardrobe system. RIGHT The new ‘Ombra’ chair. BELOW RIGHT Two ‘Taiki’ armchairs in Osborne & Little fabric, exclusive to Lema UK
Elegant innovations Lema’s London flagship is the perfect showcase for the Italian firm’s stylish furniture designs
THOMAS PAJANI; AMANUELE RAMBALDI
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n the heart of Chelsea on the King’s Road, SW3, Lema’s airy London flagship is far more than a showroom, functioning both as a furniture store and a design studio. Its artistic director, Piero Lissoni, envisioned the space, which covers 400-square-metres across two floors, to showcase the brand’s two pillars: Lema Home and Lema Contract. Their common ethos – of tradition, innovation and industry know-how – is the essence of Italian design. Lema Home provides a completely bespoke interior-design consultancy service for residential projects, using the brand’s clever modular systems, upholstered seating, beds, and furniture for dining and sitting rooms. Meanwhile, Lema Contract collaborates with interior designers, architects and developers on furnishing projects on a larger scale, including in the commercial and hospitality industries. Completely unique to Lema is its revolutionary ‘LEMA Air Cleaning System’. The outcome of more than a year of research, it uses nanotechnology and a special UV lamp to generate a
photochemical reaction that naturally destroys pollutants, bacteria and mould, purifying the inside of wardrobes and eliminating more than 90 per cent of bad odours. At Salone del Mobile 2019, Lema unveiled its new dynamic furniture range, which stays true to the firm’s Italian identity. The collection attracts the viewer with its delicate style and evocative details, and presents an understated and subtle concept of luxury. One of such designs is the ‘Ombra’ chair, designed by Piero Lissoni. Made from a printed sheet of sturdy polypropylene, the shell is available in black leather or entirely dressed in leather with a light padding. The choice of materials ensures that the chair remains lightweight yet strong. Also new is the ‘LT40’ Daytime System’ by David Lopez Quincoces, a clever and highly customisable unit of containers and wall elements. With its network of collaborators, creative in-house team and emphasis on stylish innovation, Lema meets all the requirements to take on projects of any size. To learn more, visit the Lema showroom at 183 King’s Road, SW3, or go to lemamobili.com m
0333 011 3333
D E C O R AT I N G S WAT C H | D E S I G N I D E A S | R I TA N O T E S | C O M M E N T
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Bag of tricks CHARLIE PORTER gathers up hand-blocked, hand-embroidered and hand-loomed fabrics 1 ‘Siam’ (pacific blue), by Walter.g, linen, £184.80, from The Fabric Collective; ‘Lagoon Border’ (midnight), linen/jute, £74, from Samuel & Sons; ‘Crestaix’ (grey/dark green), cotton/linen, £110, from Nicholas Herbert. 2 ‘Trellis with Pompoms’ (white and neutral), by Francois Gilles, cotton, £210, from George Spencer Designs; ‘Mende’ (cream), by Namay Samay, silk, £420 a square metre, from Tissus d’Hélène; ‘Olive Sacking’ (cognac), cotton, £80, from Guy Goodfellow. 3 ‘Gamcha’ (mayon), by Namay Samay, silk, £420 a square metre, from Tissus d’Hélène; ‘Crazy Paisley’ (petrol azure), linen, £540, from Vanderhurd. 4 ‘Thebes’ (saffron), by Walter.g, linen, £184.80, from The Fabric Collective; ‘Palm Border’ (aloe), linen/jute, £74, from Samuel & Sons; ‘Vintage Linen’ (caramel), £18, from Parna. 5 ‘Violetta’ (indigo), by Mary Bergtold-Mulcahy, cotton, £99, from Les Indiennes; ‘Petit Paravento’ (lapiz/natural), linen, £210 a square metre, from Vanderhurd. Background, ‘Large Check Madder’ (madder root), cotton, £24, from Cloth House e
PHOTOGRAPHS BILL BATTEN
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DECORATING | SWATCH
1 ‘Sharang Tara’ (teal), by Namay Samay, silk, £420, from Tissus d’Hélène; ‘Amapola Jal’ (green), by Brigitte Singh, cotton, £72, from Aleta. 2 ‘Casita B’ (kiwi on logan white), by Galbraith & Paul, linen, £280, from Tissus d’Hélène; ‘Big Botafogo’ (verdant), cotton/ wool, $295 a yard, from Studio Four NYC. 3 ‘Flores’ (moss), by Walter.g, linen, £184.80, from The Fabric Collective; ‘Medallions’ (FN001), by Neisha Crosland for Chelsea Textiles, linen, £261, from Chelsea Textiles; ‘Fabiola’ (olive), by Mary Bergtold-Mulcahy, cotton, £99, from Les Indiennes. 4 ‘Stripe Khadi’ (mustard), cotton, £24, from Cloth House; ‘Amates Brocade’ (mostaza), cotton, £500 for a 30 x 120cm or 48 x 100cm panel, from A Rum Fellow; ‘Emilie’ (gold), by Mary Bergtold-Mulcahy, cotton, £99, from Les Indiennes. 5 ‘Drawn Thread – Hem & Ladder Stitch Edge’ (ivory white), linen, £92, from Volga Linen; ‘Shelburne Damask’ (sea green and antique white), by Marialida, cotton, £294, from Tissus d’Hélène. Background, ‘Emilie’ (gold), by Mary Bergtold-Mulcahy, cotton, £99, from Les Indiennes. Prices are per metre, unless otherwise stated. For suppliers’ details, see Stockists page m
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COLLIER WEBB
HANDCRAFTED IN ENGLAND
Ma ke r s o f t h e fin est b espo ke light in g, fur n it ure & hard ware
w w w. c o l l i e r webb.co m
68 P i m li co Roa d Lon don SW 1 W 8LS
1965 Rolex GMT-Master Pepsi Estimate: £15,000 William George & Co
George IV silver candlesticks Estimate: £350–520 Adam’s
Coffee table, Herman Miller Estimate: £760–1,150 Wright
Marble bust Late 19th/early 20th century Estimate: £11,500–15,500 Christie’s
Sear c 2000 h over hous auction es fr om over the w all orld Andy Warhol, Mick Jagger Estimate: £30,000–50,000 Sotheby’s
Pumpkin, Yayoi Kusama (b.1929) Hammer price: £550 Forum Auctions
Hermès bag Kelly Starting price: £7,500 Stockholms Auktionsverk
ALL AUCTIONS IN ONE PL ACE
May Day V, Andreas Gursky Estimate: £450,000–650,000 Phillips
Mahogany dresser Estimate: £500–660 Uppsala Auktionskammare
Swivel chair by Hans J. Wegner Estimate: £2,460–3,300 Bruun Rasmussen
Style of Serge Mouille, ca. 1950s Estimate: £300–460 Rago Arts
Edwardian Art Noveau frame Estimate: £200–300 Tennants
Emerald cut diamond ring Fixed price: £27,400 Once Upon A Diamond
Without title, Alexander Calder Estimate: £430–600 Artcurial
Edwardian arm chair, ca. 1910 Fixed price: £3,850 Wick Antiques
Find the true value of your treasures - only £13. Visit barnebys.co.uk/valuation
Design ideas
J OI N E RY
SIMON BROWN
Bespoke joinery is the ultimate in tailored storage. ELIZABETH METCALFE presents a selection of outstanding examples, which range from the historically appropriate to the ultra modern
This pediment bookcase by interior designer Gavin Houghton and architect Simon Hurst is designed in the Georgian style and has integrated wall lights. It is in a green paint different to the one used on the walls, giving the room a contemporary twist. gavinhoughton.co.uk | schd.co.uk e HOUSEANDGARDEN.CO.UK JUNE 2019 83
DECORATING | DESIGN IDEAS
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1. An elegant dresser, designed by interior designer Chester Jones and made by builders and joiners Tavener, echoes this flat’s nineteenthcentury architecture. It includes a sliding serving hatch through to the kitchen. chesterjones.com | tavener.co.uk 2. Maria Speake divided this old byre with a wall of storage that conceals a television, an audio system and gym equipment. The doors, which slide, swing up and pull open, are made from engineered oak floorboards and have been trimmed with reclaimed iroko. retrouvius.com 3. Designed by Turner Pocock to maximise wall space and frame the sofa, this open shelving has a smart brass trim. turnerpocock.co.uk 4. Beata Heuman capitalised on the high ceilings in this sitting room by installing f loor-to-ceiling MDF shelving around the doorway, which creates an illusion of space. beataheuman.com 84 JUNE 2019 HOUSEANDGARDEN.CO.UK
DECORATING | DESIGN IDEAS
PAUL MASSEY; GRAHAM ATKINS-HUGHES; SIMON BROWN
The solid oak bookcases that wrap around this library by interior designers K&H Design were designed to complement the Georgian architecture of this rectory. They have been painted in Farrow & Ball’s ‘Stiffkey Blue’ (£62 for 2.5 litres estate eggshell) and the effect is fresh yet classic. The ceiling coving continues across the front of the units to create a sense of cohesion. kandhdesign.co.uk | farrow-ball.com e
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DECORATING | DESIGN IDEAS
1. Floor-to-ceiling bookshelves flank a wall in this sitting room by architect Daniele Petteno. The MDF has been spray lacquered in white, which provides a cleaner finish than hand-painting and suits the modern feel. danielepetteno.com 2. De Rosee Sa constructed the study nook in this kitchen from MDF, with space-saving pocket doors. deroseesa.com 3. Martin Hulbert wanted the wall of cupboards in this snug to form a ‘simple and practical backdrop’. The sprayed white doors conceal storage and a bar. martinhulbertdesign.com 4. Suzy Hoodless broke this wall of wardrobes up by cutting lines resembling tongue and groove into the MDF doors, with recessed handles: ‘I wanted to add texture in a simple and graphic way.’ The doors have been painted in Paint & Paper Library’s ‘Temple’ (£55 for 2.5 litres architects’ matt). suzyhoodless.com | paintandpaperlibrary.com e 86 JUNE 2019 HOUSEANDGARDEN.CO.UK
DAVIDE LOVATTI; ALEXANDER JAMES; LUCAS ALLEN; PAUL MASSEY
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10-12 BURLINGTON GARDENS, LONDON W1S 3EY 149 SLOANE STREET & SLOANE TERRACE, LONDON SW1X 9BZ +44 (0) 20 7493 8939
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DECORATING | DESIGN IDEAS
E X PE RT A DV ICE
CHARLOTTE CROSLAND
‘MDF is a great affordable option, however we often suggest veneered woods such as tulip or rosewood. If your budget allows, we recommend solid woods, which can be polished to a brilliant finish.’ croslandbespoke.com
1. Under-stair shelving and cupboards make use of often wasted space in this project by Cindy Leveson. levesondesign.com 2. Fitted shelves, wardrobes and a desk wrap around one end of this bedroom by Charlotte Crosland. Charlotte, who recently launched a bespoke joinery service, added rounded beading to the doors and chose a strong teal for all the woodwork. charlottecrosland.com 3. In the seating area of her previous kitchen, Nicole Salvesen added drawers and adjustable shelves on either side of the fireplace and used match boarding to cover up the irregular walls, creating a streamlined look. salvesengraham.com 4. Patrick Williams combined reclaimed Georgian reeded uprights and architraves with new shelves to create bookcases that feel appropriate for this eighteenth-century house in Bath. berdoulat.co.uk e 88 JUNE 2019 HOUSEANDGARDEN.CO.UK
SARAH HOGAN; ALEXANDER JAMES; MICHAEL SINCLAIR
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DECORATING | DESIGN IDEAS
1. In this small bedroom by Jane Taylor, cupboards are cleverly disguised by panelling made by Sympatico Joinery, while a small cubby hole acts as a bedside table. janetaylordesigners.com | sympatico.co.uk 2. ‘We love layering joinery,’ says designer Nicholas Spencer, who devised this child’s bed sandwiched between drawers and cupboards. spencerandwedekind.com 3. To update some tired built-in wardrobes, Matilda Goad had panels cut out of the doors before backing them with cane and adding narrow beading to frame the inset. matildagoad.com 4. Powder blue tongue-and-groove sliding doors have been used for the wardrobe in this bedroom by Jonathan Tuckey. Sliding doors are an excellent idea for smaller spaces and the scalloped trim, which goes all the way round the room, is a charming finishing touch. jonathantuckey.com m 90 JUNE 2019 HOUSEANDGARDEN.CO.UK
SARAH HOGAN; BÉNÉDICTE AUSSET DRUMMOND; OWEN GALE; PAUL MASSEY
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DECORATING | ADVICE
Rita Notes
Rita with the paint specialist Edward Bulmer
Continuing her series about the renovation of her own farmhouse, RITA KONIG explains her choice of paints and fabrics
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PHOTOGRAPH CRAIG FORDHAM
t takes me a little while in a project to get round to colours and fabrics. They are a hard thing to leap straight into and I always advise thinking about the furniture, layout and use of a room before one worries too much about the colours. It can also be true that a fabric or paint you have been keen on from early on ends up not working. It is important to remain f luid at this point – sometimes you have to let go of colours and patterns that are causing a block. The f irst colour I knew I wanted to use was ‘Invisible Green’ by Edward Bulmer (edwardbulmerpaint.co.uk) in the drawing room. I realised that I’ve never met a bright green room I don’t love, yet I rarely use the colour. This is the green of Babar’s coat – a shade that goes with so much, as it does in nature. I wanted to be bold in here with the fabrics, too. It started with a GP & J Baker favourite called ‘Jessup’ (gpjbaker.com), which I planned to use for the sofa but sadly had to relinquish as it was out of stock. Instead, I covered the sofa – from Andy Gibbs at Blank Canvas Antiques – in ‘Pachinko’, a chocolate brown and off-white linen-mix weave by my mother Nina Campbell for Osborne & Little (shop.ninacampbell.com). I combined it with a pink Raoul Textiles print called ‘Indira’ and some light blue and green ikat cushions bought in Turkey last summer. Where I got bolder (and a bit nervous) was using a wool check – ‘Fontainebleau’, also by my mother – in red and brown for the curtain over the door, which I trimmed in pale blue felt from Hainsworth (hainsworth.co.uk). Mild panic set in: was this going to end up looking like a jumble sale or the sort of room I hoped for – one that has been around for a while rather than recently done? I cracked on, but at this point decided to start harmonising rather than adding more conflict. Pink became the balm and it was the lampshades and pictures that pulled it together. Lampshades can bring in pattern and colour without it being a massive commitment, so don’t be afraid to spend money on them. The ground floor is largely in earth tones: the hall is in a tobacco-leaf yellow paint, which I worked on with Edward for a client and loved. In fact, Edward liked it so much that he has called it ‘Trumpington’ and added it to his latest collection. The same cannot be said for the pink he mixed for my five-year-old daughter’s bedroom walls. This has been the hardest colour at North Farm by far. I knew I was in trouble when she said the pretty pale pink bed I had bought for her wasn’t pink but white. I decided to go for it – once I’d committed to fulfilling her dream colour, it might as well be right. I painted the room twice and am still not convinced, but it has passed muster with Margot, thankfully. I am hoping that once the pictures are hung, it will settle down. As with all wall colours, this can never be the only thing
‘Be aware of how colours follow on from one another’ going on; the walls, whether papered or painted, are always simply the background canvas. With pink, one never needs a huge amount – a few accents go a long way – so I toned down Margot’s walls with curtains in ticking from The Cloth Shop (theclothshop.net), trimmed with a ‘Dolce Pom Pom Fringe’ bobble trim in red (a shade aptly named candy apple) from Samuel & Sons (samuel andsons.com). For the roller blinds and headboard, I opted for Howe’s ‘Little F’ glazed cotton print, which is small and charming and brings all the elements together (36bournestreet.com). When you are choosing the colours for a house, be aware of how they follow on from one another. This is particularly important downstairs, where the rooms tend to lead into each other: when you are sitting in them, the views from one room to the next should be pleasing and restful to the eye rather than jarring. Upstairs, make sure landings and passages are decorated in something that is harmonious with the rooms that lead off them. I used a smallprint wallpaper called ‘Coral’ in chestnut from Soane (soane. co.uk), which I am so happy with and highly recommend m HOUSEANDGARDEN.CO.UK JUNE 2019 93
THIS PAGE In this colourful bathroom, ‘Norse Subway’ gloss ceramic tiles in the terra colourway (from £46.40 a square metre) are combined with ‘Terrazzo Nouveau’ porcelain in ivory (from £57.60 a square metre). OPPOSITE FROM TOP ‘Zellige Nouveau Metro’ gloss tiles in aqua (from £52.64 a square metre) add subtle colour and texture to the walls of this kitchen. Made from durable porcelain with a monochrome patterned finish, ‘Freya Decor 5/6’ tiles (from £46.80 a square metre) are a good choice for high-traffic areas
HOUSE & GARDEN PARTNERSHIP
The family stone Mandarin Stone’s new collection of porcelain and ceramic tiles embraces uplifting colours and retro patterns
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ith a passion for natural materials, and inspired by the interiors and fashion industries, Mandarin Stone has been providing home-owners and interior designers with a carefully sourced collection of stone, porcelain and decorative tiles for more than three decades. Established in 1989 by its managing director Alma Small, this family-run tile company is one of Britain’s leading importers of natural stone (including limestone, marble, slate and granite). In recent years, it has become a design trail-blazer bringing some of the most innovative and inspiring tile schemes on the market. How so? While the characteristics of natural stone offer an inherent beauty and durability that has seen it used within buildings for centuries, it is not for everyone. Inconsistencies in shade and markings ruffle the feathers of perfectionists. Porcelain tiles, on the other hand, are consistent, require minimal maintenance and are available in a wide array of formats and minimal thicknesses. In response to customer demand for such qualities, in 2011 Mandarin Stone introduced man-made porcelain and ceramic tiles. Starting initially with just a small taster collection, it has now grown into a comprehensive and ever-evolving range. These include surfaces that cleverly mimic other materials such as wood, concrete, metal and stone, as well as more design-led decorative tile collections and glass. Proving extremely popular at the moment is its collection of 2cm thick outdoor porcelains in large-format sizes. Many have a corresponding interior thickness, allowing a seamless floor covering from inside to out. The new collections for this year are as dynamic as ever. Two that particularly stand out are ‘Norse Subway’ in terra – a glossy blush-pink ceramic tile – and porcelain ‘Terrazzo Nouveau Ivory’, which plays beautifully on the current terrazzo trend. Both tiles are pictured opposite. This year marks Mandarin Stone’s thirtieth anniversary. Having just opened the doors of a brand-new showroom (its eleventh) in Primrose Hill, the company is clearly going from strength to strength. Its experienced tile consultants are always on hand to advise on all things aesthetics and technical, and best of all, with virtually the entire range stocked at the the headquarters in Monmouthshire, most orders can be delivered within a week m READER OFFER Find your nearest inspirational Mandarin Stone
showroom or browse the entire collection online at mandarinstone.com. Enjoy 15 per cent off in the brand’s Summer Sale from June 1–July 31 (excludes ‘Classic’ and discontinued lines)
DuraSquare: Now with the new bathroom furniture series XSquare. The exact and precise edges of the DuraSquare bathroom series blends perfectly with the latest furniture collection XSquare designed by Kurt Merki Jr. Handle-free fronts, striking chrome proďŹ les and 28 furniture ďŹ nishes enable an individual bathroom design. Co-ordinating mirrors feature a touch-free control panel for demisting and light or dimming functions. www.duravit.co.uk and pro.duravit.co.uk
DECORATING | COMMENT
The long view EMILY TOBIN considers whether history can teach us anything about our current uncertain times ILLUSTRATIONS ADAM NICKEL
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ast your mind back to an arguably more innocent time. It is the beginning of 2016. You have never heard the word ‘backstop’ – except perhaps in reference to a plumbing conundrum. The term ‘Article 50’ elicits blank stares. ‘No deal’ is uttered only by contestants on a gameshow. Days on end pass when the headlines are devoid of mentions of the European Union. It is, to my mind at least, a wholly alien scenario to the times we are living through today. At the time of writing this, the UK is in the midst of a thorny divorce from the EU. On March 29, we are scheduled to leave
this marriage, regardless of whether or not a deal has been struck. The ramifications of this remain decidedly murky and – short of a miracle – I suspect the situation will not be much clearer on the day you read this. I decided to canvas opinions from those in the design industry who have worked through times of economic uncertainty – in some cases more than once – to see what they had learned and, if possible, to garner advice to pass on to those coming up through the ranks. In short, the current mood is heated. Had I been able to quote everyone I have spoken to on the subject verbatim, this article would be littered with unprintable words. There are fears of another recession,
worries there will be less cross-cultural fertilisation and concern that, as a nation, we will become insular and isolated. Brexit is not, however, the first episode of uncertainty that our country has lived through. Far from it. In 1974, there was a 12-week period during which commercial businesses were restricted to only three days of electricity consumption. During the period covered by the Three-Day Work Order, the interior designer Nina Campbell recalls illuminating her newly opened shop with candles and drinking cups of coffee with clients in the semigloom: ‘We simply had to get on with it.’ The Seventies trundled on despite the vast shadow cast by two oil crises, which e HOUSEANDGARDEN.CO.UK JUNE 2019 97
DECORATING | PROFILE COMMENT
knocked the wind out of the global economy, helping to trigger a stock-market crash, soaring inflation and high levels of unemployment. Added to this was the Winter of Discontent – as 1978 drew to a close, the UK was beset by strikes by public-sector trade unions. In 2001, after the September 11 attacks, numbers of American tourists in Europe plummeted and UK companies saw a dip in spending by their transatlantic clients. For some shops and manufacturers, the impact of this was so great that they had to close down. And then there was the 2008 recession, resulting in an economic downturn across the US and Western Europe. But while the news rolled out images of recently fired, shamefaced bankers clutching cardboard boxes filled with their possessions, there were some who saw the apparent collapse of the world’s financial system as an opportunity. ‘I began my company in 2003, but didn’t have the money to open a store,’ says rug designer Luke Irwin. ‘Then, in the same month as Decorex 2008, Lehman Brothers went to the wall and I took the view that this presented an opportunity.’ While others in the industry were hunkering down and biding their time, Luke took on the lease of a shop. ‘Rental space was suddenly available and landlords were keen for shopping parades to look active, so were offering good rates.’ He also notes that, while most people were battening down the hatches, he was one of the few making efforts to push his business forward and he received a ‘disproportionate amount of press’ as a result. House & Garden’s Gabby Deeming recalls that in most areas of product design, people were simply rehashing old patterns in different colourways rather than delivering new collections, so when someone launched something new, it stood out. The interior designer Louise Bradley took a similar tack. Having opened her first showroom during a period of recession in the early 1990s, she went on to open her second showroom at the time of the 2008 crash. ‘Postponing business decisions and playing it safe because of a weak economy will never enable growth and set you apart from competitors,’ she
says. ‘I believe that if you excel at what you do, there will always be people, customers and other business owners who’ll stay with you and offer their support through difficult times.’ Anthony Collett, of interior design and architectural firm Collett Zarzycki, recommends maintaining a core workforce who are capable of turning their hands to all elements of the business. ‘Because tomorrow the sun is going to rise, projects will pour in and one needs to be ready and
David Mlinaric, who, having been in the business for 55 years, has weathered his fair share of political and economic strife. Sarah Watson founded Balineum in 2007 just before the financial crash. The company, which is now in its twelfth year of trading, has seen periods of growth as well as stretches with stagnant sales. ‘The longer you run a business, the more you build up resilience and the fear of uncertainty becomes less paralysing,’ she says. ‘My advice is to know that this is a marathon not a sprint. Slow growth is to be expected and profitability may not come for some time. It is better to be smaller and profitable, than larger and in debt.’ After the last recession, many people redecorated rather than relocated. Those who could not afford to buy a new house or flat, stayed put, applied a lick of paint and bought a new sofa. We may see the same thing happen again. ‘One upside to this astonishing act of political self-harm might be that the world of design will apply its creativity in a dynamic way to the situation,’ muses Luke. Nina says she would like to see much more manufacturing taking place here in the UK: ‘We ought to be weaving and printing our own fabrics, and making our own paint and furniture here, too.’ House & Garden was launched in 1947, less than two years after the end of the Second World War. ‘Great fires have raged again, this time across continents,’ wrote editor Anthony Hunt in the inaugural issue. ‘But now, phoenix-like from the ashes of war, the arts of peace are struggling to rise again. Men and women are once more dedicating their minds and their energies to creation and to rebuilding. What could be better or more natural than that they should turn first to their houses and their gardens?’ He speaks of social and economic upheaval while lauding ‘the civilising influences of home’. So, while the period of precariousness we are living through today looks set to continue, perhaps hope can be found in the fact that even after two world wars and a catastrophic stretch marked by loss and damage, we have survived before and we might just survive again m
‘One upside to this act of political self-harm might be that the world of design will apply its creativity in a dynamic way to the situation’
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LUKE IRWIN, RUG DESIGNER
able to accommodate new business,’ he says. ‘It may look lean out there at the moment, but when things pick up, you must be in a position to put your foot on the throttle and move immediately.’ Understandably, the ability to do everything in-house is a luxury that may not be afforded to smaller sized design firms and makers. In which case – most people advise – it is best to sit tight, reduce the overheads and consolidate the business. ‘Don’t employ more people, don’t buy a new office or a new van. Put simply, don’t owe money,’ says the interior designer
HOUSE & GARDEN PARTNERSHIP
The pioneers
Vispring In the first of a series on pioneers in the design world, we look at luxury beds company Vispring, which crafted the first pocket-sprung mattress in 1901 PHOTOGRAPH ALUN CALLENDER
Vispring has been making supremely comfortable luxury beds since it pioneered the world’s first pocket-sprung mattress. Remaining true to its philosophy of using the very best craftsmanship and finest natural materials to create the most comfortable beds in the world, every Vispring bed is made entirely by hand in Plymouth by master craftsmen whose artisan skills have been passed down from generation to generation. Every detail, from hand-nesting each pocket spring in a honeycomb pattern to tape-edging the mattress, is painstakingly completed to ensure a perfect night’s sleep. Pictured here is managing director Jim Gerety alongside Danny Hannis, a craftsman who has worked for Vispring since 1981. vispring.com
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Model shown – WAT286H0GB Now with a Which? Best Buy and 5 year warranty. Requires online registration, applicable to selected models only. For more information visit stories.bosch-home.com/uk
LIFESTYLE Carving a life Though figurative sculptor DAVID WILLIAMS-ELLIS lives and works in Oxfordshire, he is proud of his roots in Wales, where he has inherited a manor house on the LlÅ·n Peninsula backed by the mountains of Snowdonia TEXT PAMELA GOODMAN | PHOTOGRAPHS ANDREW MONTGOMERY
David at the Llechwedd Slate Caverns in North Wales, a family business of which he is a director. Once a mine, the site is now an adventure tourism destination with zip lines, mountain biking and underground tours
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warm colours, old oak beams, ancient staircases, inglenooks, and antiques and art, among which, of course, are several of David’s sculptures. These feature in the gardens, too, which were landscaped in the Twenties by Clough, when his brother (David’s grandfather) was living at Carregfelen. From the terrace, awash in summertime with pink roses, the eye is drawn across the lawn to a pair of stone pillars – on top of which, on the left, sits the curled verdigris form of Louise, a signature David Williams-Ellis piece. Beyond lie the orchard and meadow, with the land rising in the distance to the rocky contours of Moel-y-Gest perfectly framed by ancient oak woodland. Though at heart a Welshman and with Carregfelen his spiritual home, David spends only small chunks of the year in Wales. Brought up in Ireland and having lived in Cumbria for 25 years, David now lives predominantly in Oxfordshire with his wife, Nikki. And it is here that his life and work as a sculptor plays out, in a new studio he converted from a derelict barn in 2016. The Williams-Ellis creative gene became apparent at an early age as David describes a boyhood spent ‘messing around with clay’. He was 17 when he sold his first e
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n North Wales, the name Williams-Ellis packs quite a punch – not least in the area surrounding, and including, Portmeirion, the fantastical pastiche of an Italianate village created by Clough Williams-Ellis over the course of several decades in the mid twentieth century. Not far from Portmeirion, where the crook of Cardigan Bay extends into the long arm of the Llŷn Peninsula, David Williams-Ellis, the sculptor and great-nephew of Clough, presides over one of the prettiest small Welsh estates imaginable. With parts of the house dating from the fourteenth century, Carregfelen, described by David as ‘a miniature manor’, has undergone a variety of restorations, embellishments and extensions as it has passed through the family line. Yet, picturesque as the house may be with its distinctive turquoise-blue window frames (a recurring Williams-Ellis trademark instigated by Clough), its core credentials as a robust structure of stone and slate, built to withstand the brutality of the Welsh climate, remain intact. On the inside, rooms are small and comfortable, their character defined by low ceilings, crooked doorways,
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OPPOSITE David at Carregfelen, his family’s Welsh estate, with his dogs Snap and Inca. The blue paint on the window frames was chosen by David’s great-uncle, the architect Clough Williams-Ellis. THIS PAGE CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT David and his wife Nikki in the sitting room. The bronze sculpture on the diningroom table is a maquette made by David for a larger piece, Mercury. The main bedroom. Another maquette by David, Mistral, in white patinated bronze, can be seen in the hall
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ABOVE Landscaped in the Twenties, the gardens at Carregfelen lead the eye towards Moel-y-Gest. David’s sculpture Louise tops one of the pillars. BELOW Close to the front door is a bronze maquette for a larger work, Sunrise
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David presides over one of the prettiest Welsh estates imaginable
sculpture, and 20 when his first exhibition was held in Paris. Since then, he has worked largely to private commission, his figurative sculptures always modelled from real life and fashioned from bronze, silver or glass. Recently, David has undertaken public commissions, too. These include a larger-than-life-size bronze of Kyffin Williams (a family friend, who is regarded as the most influential Welsh artist of the twentieth century) for Oriel Ynys Môn museum and arts centre in Anglesey, where the Kyffin Williams Collection is housed. There is also his memorial for the Aberdeen Maritime Museum, which commemorates the men and women of the city’s fishing industry. His largest project to date, however, which he has been working on intermittently for the past three years, is due to be unveiled in June. Commissioned by the Normandy Memorial Trust, the D-Day Sculpture, comprising a set of three bronze figures, will occupy the forecourt of the new British Normandy Memorial constructed on a gently sloping hillside above Gold Beach near Ver-sur-Mer. Up to now there has been no single British memorial dedicated to the 22,442 men and women who lost their lives in Normandy between the D-Day landings of June 6, 1944 and August 31, 1944 (when the Normandy campaign officially concluded). When not messing about with clay, David can often be found messing about in boats. His RIB is an essential feature of summers in Wales, hitched to the back of the 4x4 at Carregfelen and hauled to the harbour in nearby Criccieth, where his three children – now in their twenties – and countless friends have whiled away many a day water-skiing and mackerel fishing in Cardigan Bay. And then there are the lobsters – the Williams-Ellis staple for dinner parties at Carregfelen or, better still, barbecue lunches on the beach. Between Criccieth and the vast sandy sweep of Black Rock Sands is a stretch of private shingly beach, accessible to outsiders only by boat or on foot. The track down for insiders is challenging even for the hardiest of vehicles, but this is part of the adventure, leading to the scene of numerous summer beach parties – whatever the weather. Swimmers brave the waves, the young jump off nearby rocks, rugs are laid out on the pebbles, dogs run amok, the rosé flows and David throws together a makeshift fire of driftwood gathered on the beach. The lobsters, freshly caught, are grilled to perfection. A regular guest at Williams-Ellis lunches and dinners is his friend Michael Bewick, managing director of the Llechwedd Slate Caverns at Blaenau Ffestiniog, a family business from David’s great-grandmother’s side of the family, of which David is also a director. At the turn of the twentieth century, the slate mines had employed upwards of 1,000 people but, after the Second World War and with the arrival of cheap imported slate from Spain and China, the industry floundered to near extinction. In e
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2011, the company was restructured, diversifying away from mining (although a small amount of slate is still quarried on site) to join the emerging boom of North Wales as Britain’s main destination for adventure tourism. The turnaround has been successful and the Caverns now offer myriad activities from zip lines to mountain biking, deep mine tours and an underground trampoline complex, ‘Bounce Below’. Visitor numbers last year exceeded a quarter of a million and the company is in
THIS PAGE In his Oxfordshire studio, David is creating three bronze figures for the new British Normandy Memorial on the coast of France. They will be unveiled in June this year on the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings
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profit again, bringing much-needed investment to what David calls an unsung and deprived corner of Wales’. And plans are afoot to expand the accommodation offering at Llechwedd. Six safari-style lodges, each sleeping four to five people and with interiors put together by David and Nikki, were opened last year to create an onsite, upmarket glamping experience and 2019 will see the launch of Plas Weunydd (the house where David’s aunt was born) as a four-star hotel. e
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When not messing about with clay, David can often be found messing about in boats
TOP LEFT David at the Slate Caverns with their managing director Michael Bewick. ABOVE When staying at Carregfelen, David launches his RIB from a local harbour
Back at the ranch, David and Nikki recently completed the refurbishment of three holiday cottages on the Carregfelen estate, and will be starting on a fourth this year. There are a lucky few, too, who get to stay at Carregfelen itself, although David, quite understandably, likes to keep back many of the prime weeks for entertaining family and friends who have come to love this beautiful place just as much as he does m David’s ‘D-Day Sculpture’ will be unveiled in Normandy on June 6; visit normandymemorialtrust.org. Maquettes for the sculpture will be on display at the Portland Gallery, SW1, June 11-21; visit portlandgallery.com. For sculpture enquiries, email david@dwe.com. For holiday rentals at Carregfelen, email wernystad@hotmail.com. For the Llechwedd Slate Caverns, visit llechwedd-slate-caverns.co.uk. Glamping lodges cost from £120 a night for four people
CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT Over a makeshift fire of driftwood gathered on the beach, David and Nikki grill freshly caught lobsters for a barbecue lunch with friends. This private stretch of shingle, between Criccieth and Black Rock Sands in Cardigan Bay, is a favourite picnic spot. The shellfish are a local delicacy and David enjoys lobster potting in his RIB 108 JUNE 2019 HOUSEANDGARDEN.CO.UK
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We’re often asked how we compile this list. The answer is that, though there are some constants in our methodology, it’s a little different every year. The reach of our editorial team is extensive, so we can search out the best interiors and the creatives behind them. The vetting is thorough: portfolios examined, associates contacted and clients’ experiences sought out. But, each year, there are whispers about rising stars and encounters with designers whose work captures the mood of the moment. And so our Top 100 is constantly evolving – like the interiors you find in the magazine. ADAM BRAY COLIN ORCHARD ALIDAD COLLETT-ZARZYCKI BEATA HEUMAN DAVID MLINARIC BEN PENTREATH D’ERLANGER AND SLOAN BENTHEIM DE ROSEE SA BERDOULAT DOUGLAS MACKIE BRYAN O’SULLIVAN EDWARD BULMER STUDIO EDWARD HURST CARDEN CUNIETTI FAYE TOOGOOD CAROLINE HOLDAWAY FLORA SOAMES CAROLINE PATERSON FRANCIS SULTANA CAROLINE RIDDELL FRAN HICKMAN CAVE INTERIORS GAVIN HOUGHTON CHARLES GRANT WHITE RUTHERFOORD GUY GOODFELLOW CHARLOTTE CROSLAND HACKETT HOLLAND CHESTER JONES HARDING & READ CHRISTOPHER HODSOLL HARRIET ANSTRUTHER
HENRI FITZWILLIAM-LAY HOWE HUBERT ZANDBERG HUGH LESLIE JANE CHURCHILL JOANNA PLANT JOANNA WOOD JOHN McCALL JOHN MINSHAW JR DESIGN KATE GUINNESS KITESGROVE LEVESON DESIGN LOUISE JONES MADDUX CREATIVE MARION LICHTIG MARK GILLETTE
MARTIN BRUDNIZKI RITA KONIG STUDIO DUGGAN MARTIN HULBERT RIVIÈRE INTERIORS STUDIO REED MAX ROLLITT ROBERT CARSLAW SUSAN DELISS McWHIRTER MORRIS ROBERT KIME SUSIE ATKINSON MELISSA WYNDHAM ROSE UNIACKE SUZY HOODLESS MLINARIC, HENRY RUI RIBEIRO STUDIO TAYLOR HOWES & ZERVUDACHI SALVESEN GRAHAM TODHUNTER EARLE NATALIA MIYAR ATELIER SAMANTHA TURNER POCOCK NICKY HASLAM STUDIO TODHUNTER VANRENEN GW DESIGNS NINA CAMPBELL SARAH DELANEY DESIGN VEERE GRENNEY OLIVIA OUTRED STUDIO SARAH STEWART-SMITH ASSOCIATES PAOLO MOSCHINO FOR SHALINI MISRA VIRGINIA HOWARD NICHOLAS HASLAM SIBYL COLEFAX & VIRGINIA WHITE PENNY MORRISON JOHN FOWLER VSP INTERIORS PETER MIKIC SIGMAR WALDO WORKS RABIH HAGE SIMS HILDITCH WESTENHOLZ ANTIQUES RACHEL CHUDLEY SPENCER-CHURCHILL WILLIAM SMALLEY RETROUVIUS STUDIO ASHBY WOODY CLARK
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[1] Alidad’s layered interiors are always richly textured. [2] This Adam Bray bedroom combines detail with comfort. [3] Beata won our Interior Designer of the Year Award 2018
ADAM BRAY With a background in antiques and over 25 years of experience as a decorator, Adam’s eye is confident and informed. He excels at textiles, colour and comfort and, with a small team, projects get his full attention; current work includes an office in a former chapel in Hampstead, a flat in an Edwardian building in Chelsea and a house in a converted Sussex cowshed. He says ‘My style is unfussy and creative – relying on carefully chosen furniture, interesting fabrics and a distinctive palette to create inviting rooms that feel like home.’ People say ‘In terms of colour and texture, I think Adam has helped put a final nail in the coffin of safe, off-white interiors.’ Adam Sykes, owner, Claremont
We say ‘Adam’s mercurial sense of humour and eclectic eye will make the experience of working with him both educational and very enjoyable.’ adambray.info
ALIDAD Working on a grand scale, Alidad designs with eye-watering attention to detail. The team offers an interior architecture and decoration service, and current projects include a Paris apartment, a Georgian townhouse in London and a villa in Croatia. He says ‘Our speciality is richly textured and eclectically furnished interiors that appear to have been brought together over decades.’ We say ‘Alidad understands the true meaning of the word bespoke. No two design details are ever repeated.’ alidad.com
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Beata Heuman’s star is in the ascendant. Beata (below) launched her design studio in 2013 and last year won the inaugural House & Garden Interior Designer of the Year Award. Her projects are imaginative, fun and deeply stylish. She says ‘My look is playful, colourful and elegant. I’m Swedish, so I still have a penchant for crisp Scandinavian lines and interesting shapes without a lot of ornament.’ We say ‘Beata’s bold sense of colour and line set her apart. Her projects are grounded in classical interior-design tenets yet, like Nicky Haslam with whom she trained, she imbues her work with wit and irreverence.’ beataheuman.com e
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top 100 BEN PENTREATH
HIS APPROACH IS METICULOUS AND DEEPLY RESPECTFUL OF THE BUILDINGS HE WORKS ON
Many of his larger interiors projects are just coming to fruition, so it is interesting to see how Ben’s style is evolving beyond the familiar images of his own houses. With an architectural practice and a decoration team in Bloomsbury, he takes on projects great and small. He says ‘I like effortless rooms that don’t shout “interior designer”. We create houses that stand the test of time and reflect the character of their owners. Rooms are influenced by an eclectic range of ideas with a sense of their own purpose and energy.’ We say ‘Ben speaks the language of English decoration in all its eccentric, comfortable and faded glory. Don’t be surprised to see Ikea and Ebay finds sitting happily alongside an Ivon Hitchens.’ benpentreath.com
BENTHEIM David Bentheim’s interiors, from houses to hotels, are known for their dashes of colour and easy-to-live-with furniture, much of it Italian from the likes of B&B Italia. His love of theatre and art is reflected in his projects. He says ‘Pattern and texture can help to soften the modern with a been-there-forever charm.’ We say ‘Expect modern, tailored interiors but not without an element of surprise. David combines years of experience with making projects fun for clients.’ bentheim.co.uk
BRYAN O’SULLIVAN STUDIO
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BERDOULAT
Patrick Williams (above), whose practice is named after his parents’ house in France, specialises in period buildings and restoration projects. His approach is meticulous and deeply respectful of the buildings he works on. He champions sustainable design, investing in traditional craftsmanship and properly made furniture that stands the test of time. He says ‘I like to work on period buildings where the resulting spaces tend to be “classic” – not belonging to any given fashion or style – save those informed by the property’s historic fabric. We also like to be hands-on, as we have first-hand knowledge of building practices, having worked as builders ourselves.’ People say ‘Patrick is one of those rare designers who responds to historic buildings in such a way that it evokes the spirit of the place. He is someone who truly understands how to bring the best out of an historic building and its interior. His approach to design is that perfect blend of scholarship, romance and quirkiness.’ Tim Whittaker, administrator, The Spitalfields Trust. berdoulat.co.uk e
DERRYN VRANCH
Having worked with David NEW ENTRY Collins among others, Bryan is as experienced with private clients as with hotels and restaurants. The architect and designer has a busy studio in Shoreditch. Current projects include Ballynahinch Castle in Ireland, a house in Paris, several houses in London, a private villa in Mexico, and a yacht in the Mediterranean. He says ‘My style is classically inspired, eclectic and pared back. The starting point in any project is the layout and flow of the space. It can be the most beautiful room, but if it does not function properly it is not successful.’ bos-studio.com
top 100 CARDEN CUNIETTI Headed up by co-founders Audrey Carden and Eleanora Cunietti, this studio produces striking and very modern interiors, whether for a new development or a Nash townhouse. They say ‘An interior designer’s job, I think, is to push clients to be braver and bolder in their choices and to love their space.’ Audrey Carden ‘Taste can and should be nurtured. It’s a great start if you’re interested in the arts, music, travel and learning about new things.’ Eleanora Cunietti We say ‘There is always something cool and a little offbeat about their projects. Strong connections to the contemporary art world and music industry give them a good grasp of the broader cultural zeitgeist.’ carden-cunietti.com
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[1] Bold blue walls add dramatic depth to this sitting room by Carden Cunietti. [2] A dining area in muted neutrals by Caroline Riddell has a relaxed elegance
CAROLINE PATERSON INTERIORS Caroline and her team turn their hands to projects large and small, and are currently working on a Tuscan villa complete with frescoes, a Croatian fisherman’s cottage, a Sussex farmhouse and the odd hotel. She says ‘When starting a project, we research varied sources; my aim is always to be sympathetic to the period of a house but never slavish.’ We say ‘Clever in her use of space, Caroline seems to magic extra room out of thin air, as well as creating comfortable, highly useable homes.’ carolinepatersoninteriors.co.uk
CAROLINE RIDDELL INTERIORS Caroline’s interiors are friendly and familiar with a subtle use of colour. Presently working on a number of residential projects, including a turreted property in Scotland, she is frequently called back when a previous client moves house, which is always a good vote of confidence. She says ‘Rooms should flow from one to another with ease and nothing should feel contrived.’ We say ‘She has a knack for being able to combine a great sense of style with an easy-going attitude that makes a house feel “designed”, but not at the expense of familiarity or homeliness.’ carolineriddellinteriors.co.uk
CAVE INTERIORS Georgina Cave’s studio presents a gentle take on modern interior style. Her projects feel friendly, relevant and fun without being off-puttingly cool. She says ‘A home should be authentic to the architecture. Design should be eye-catching rather than glitzy and feel long-lasting rather than too “of the moment”.’ We say ‘Since its debut in last year’s Top 100, Cave Interiors continues to impress us and we get the sense that Georgina’s kind manner appeals to clients every bit as much as her designs.’ caveinteriors.com
Although Caroline Holdaway (opposite) started her career as an actress, the boards she most often finds herself treading these days are the vintage ones she is a genius at tracking down for her clients’ houses. Reclaimed materials are a hallmark of her style. Her clients tend to work in the arts and want homes that feel distinctively their own. She says ‘I have chosen to keep my practice small. It’s the way I like to work: concentrated and precise. I enjoy unravelling and interpreting how clients wish to live.’ We say ‘Caroline has a talent for finding beautiful vintage fabrics – part of her skill in making clients feel instantly at home in their finished house.’ carolineholdaway.com e 116 JUNE 2019 HOUSEANDGARDEN.CO.UK
PAUL RAESIDE; MICHAEL SINCLAIR
CAROLINE HOLDAWAY DESIGN
Caroline Holdaway worked on the redesign of this former artist’s studio in Hampstead
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[1] Charles Rutherfoord. [2] A kitchen by Charlotte Crosland. [3] Christopher Hodsoll’s schemes for a sitting room and a dining room
CHARLES RUTHERFOORD There is a pleasing tension between the contemporary and the classic in the work of Charles Rutherfoord (above). He read architecture at Cambridge and his spatial design and eye for detail are exemplary. His small studio in south London takes on a mix of projects. He says ‘I like clients to understand the spirit of what I do. There is a stillness to my work and people might come to notice different things in the design – the details. That is important.’ charlesrutherfoord.net
CHARLOTTE CROSLAND INTERIORS With over 25 years’ experience, this Notting Hill-based designer and her small team create interiors that are comfortable, elegant and incredibly welcoming. Charlotte has also just launched a bespoke joinery service. She says ‘I’m inspired by the feeling of liveability and cosiness. I like to blend different periods of design with a mixture of textiles. There are so many beautiful fabrics to choose from that I try to avoid giving projects a particular look.’
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People say ‘It is always refreshing working with Charlotte. Her unique understanding and bold use of colour, along with her professional approach to each project, never fail to create a sublime interior space.’ John Canessa, MD, Sinclair Till We say ‘The rooms Charlotte creates are full of soul, layered with pattern and charming original details.’ charlottecrosland.com
CHESTER JONES With the evolving roles of Chester Jones’ two sons, Benjamin and Toby, there is the feeling of a baton being
handed over in this high-profile Chelsea-based studio. That said, its revered namesake is still a hugely influential sounding board. They say ‘We are interested in exploration, in the identity of buildings and the lifestyle of our clients. The question we consider is the degree to which a building may be changed to serve the owner while retaining its character.’ We say ‘Chester’s work, and that of his studio, is about pared-back beauty and curatorial flair. Its strength is in creating modern interiors that are rooted in the classic.’ chesterjones.com
CHRISTOPHER HODSOLL
Christopher cut his teeth working with Geoffrey Bennison, buying and selling beautiful antique furniture. He has a connoisseur’s eye and an innate understanding of English country-house grandeur and its inherent eccentricity; his clients relish his exacting approach to decorating. He says ‘The most satisfying part about this work is the challenge to please, impress and humour the clients – and in creating interesting rooms to suit them.’ We say ‘Christopher has a discerning eye for both the quirky and the beautiful, and is able to conjure interiors that appear timeless.’ hodsoll.com e
RADU PALICICA; MICHAEL SINCLAIR; SIMON WATSON
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Creators of the world’s most luxurious freestanding and fitted furniture Designed and hand crafted in England
D AV I D S O N L O N D O N . C O M
top 100 ‘THERE ARE COUNTLESS INTERIOR DESIGNERS WHO OWE A GREAT DEBT TO DAVID MLINARIC’
COLIN ORCHARD Much of Colin Orchard’s recent work has been on the other side of the Atlantic, where his English countryhouse style is much in demand. This highly experienced decorator, who led a design team at Sibyl Colefax & John Fowler, works on projects that are large and long term. He says ‘Good taste is, of course, a matter of opinion. Our job is to give the best we possibly can, bearing in mind the wishes and lifestyle of the client. We always try to subtly impose our flair and experience, never to intimidate or make the clients feel belittled.’ info@colinorchard.com
COLLETTZARZYCKI
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David Mlinaric in the Waterloo Gallery at Apsley House, W1
DAVID MLINARIC
David Mlinaric (above) has been in the business of interiors for 55 years. His contribution was recognised in 2009, when he was awarded a CBE for services to interior design and heritage. David has a starry client list, including Jacob Rothschild, Mick Jagger, the Victoria & Albert Museum and the Royal Opera House. His recent book Great English Interiors offers a glimpse of a few of the impressive houses he has worked on over the years. He says ‘My work is grounded in, but not shackled to, tradition. In my opinion, interiors should always answer the architecture. There is nothing worse than walking into a house where the rooms are completely different to the shell. If I could advise anyone at the start of their career, it would be to nurture long relationships with their clients. I still receive Christmas cards from the very first people who employed me.’ We say ‘There are countless interior designers who owe a great debt to David Mlinaric. Fluent in the language of historic buildings, he executes his designs with razor-sharp attention to detail and an unwavering conviction as to what works and what does not. He shows no signs of letting up with several new projects in the pipeline.’ martin@davidmlinaric.com e
SIMON UPTON
This highly respected company was founded more than 30 years ago. In the intervening decades, Anthony Collett, Andrzej Zarzycki and their team have made a name creating bold and glamorous interiors, with peppy colour palettes and interesting collections of artworks. They say ‘Our decorating style is contemporary but informed by classical principles, with an emphasis on detail, good-quality materials and craftsmanship. We work in multiple cultures with interesting clients, thorough professionals and wonderful craftspeople offering endless variations and possibilities.’ People say ‘We’ve worked with their team for more than a decade – the professionalism and attention to detail is admirable and second to none.’ Hugh Kenrick, London showroom manager, Edelman Leather We say ‘Anthony and Andrzej produce tailored, elegant interiors for blue-chip clients. They know the industry inside and out and have a natural instinct for scale, comfort and practicality.’ collett-zarzycki.com
Valere Glass Chandelier
VAUGHAN vaughandesigns.com
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[1] Douglas Mackie is known for his sophisticated, wellcurated interiors. [2] The pared-back kitchen of an airy courtyard house by De Rosee Sa
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DOUGLAS MACKIE DESIGN
D’ERLANGER
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Since their interiors firm NEW launched in 2008, Emilia ENTRY d’Erlanger and Anna Sloan have evolved an understated style, mixing contemporary designs with antique pieces. Current projects range from a Malibu beach house to a country house in Gloucestershire. They say ‘We love to combine old and new to give rooms a sense of evolution. For inspiration, we look to Robert Kime and the late Jaime Parladé, masters of well-balanced spaces that never feel overdone.’ We say ‘Emilia and Anna worked for Veere Grenney and his influence is evident in their tailored and elegant aesthetic.’ derlangerandsloan.co.uk
Max de Rosee and his wife Claire Sa head this multi-disciplinary practice, which covers architecture, interior design, furniture design and project management. The small studio they run offers a personal service and the look is modern, pared back and carefully considered. She says ‘Contemporary interiors and architecture don’t have to be cold and minimal. We are good at the practical family stuff and try to make “back of house” spaces, such as utility rooms, glamorous too.’ We say ‘Max and Claire have young children, so understand the needs of the twenty-first-century family home. They are also utterly charming and have great taste.’ deroseesa.com e
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ALEXANDER JAMES; REBECCA MILLER
Working with just one assistant, Douglas (above) creates carefully curated, sophisticated interiors for a discerning few. He originally studied architecture and has worked globally as an interior designer for more than 20 years. He says ‘Aged 12, I became obsessed with looking into people’s windows: when this developed into an obsession with pelmets, I knew I was destined for a career in design.’ We say ‘While there is an admirable sense of restraint to many of his projects, Douglas does not shy away from strong colour and statement art.’ douglasmackie.com
BESPOKE KITCHENS AND JOINERY
555 King’s Road London, SW6 2EB 020 7731 4466 eggersmanndesign.com
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EDWARD HURST
Heading up a 10-strong team in his Herefordshire studio, Edward combines his design work with his successful natural paint company. Doing up historic houses is his métier and he chooses projects carefully. People say ‘Edward is, without doubt, one of this century’s supreme conjurors of beauty in interiors, both historic and modern. Fundamentally, what I value is his unerring eye.’ Christopher Boyle QC, chairman, The Georgian Group We say ‘As an art and architecture historian whose first interiors job was working for David Mlinaric, Edward has impeccable credentials that are hard to argue with. He is also an incredibly affable man.’ edwardbulmerinteriordesign.co.uk
Edward Hurst (below left) has been dealing in antiques for over 30 years, during which he has acquired an incredible breadth of academic knowledge. Recently, he has crossed the line into interior decoration, creating intelligently designed, harmonious spaces filled intuitively with serious furniture and impressive works of art with historical resonance. He says ‘There are four things I look for before buying a piece: originality, condition, romance and, crucially, good design. I believe firmly in trying to do the right thing by the house.’ People say ‘Edward has decorated several houses for me. He is the most knowledgeable person about British furniture in the country.’ Jasper Conran. edwardhurst.com
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FAYE TOOGOOD
Faye (below) is a multidisciplinary designer whose work encompasses residential interior design as well as furniture, fabrics and artistic installations for fashion brands such as Mulberry and Hermès. Her style – modern, often conceptual and highly curated – is genuinely unique. We say ‘Give her an inch and we suspect you’ll get miles of creativity out of Faye Toogood.’ fayetoogood.com e
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DEAN HEARNE; PAUL MASSEY; PHILIP SINDEN
[1] Edward Bulmer was responsible for the interiors at Pitshill in Sussex. [2] Edward Hurst in the office of his Dorset showroom. [3] Faye Toogood
EDWARD BULMER
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FRAN HICKMAN DESIGN AND INTERIORS
Just five years after setting up her own design studio (she previously worked for Soho House Group), Fran Hickman (below) has become a much talked-about and soughtafter interior designer. Her projects are very much at the top end of the market – currently on her books are large town and country houses in both the UK and US, and the revamp of a Richard Meier house in the Hamptons. She says ‘Precision, poise and harmony are the order of the day. Proportion, scale and light are all deployed with the simple objective of making the built environment better, thus enhancing mood, behaviour and even relationships.’ franhickman.com e NEW ENTRY
FLORA SOAMES Having been creative NEW director of Talisman for ENTRY a decade, Flora (above) set up on her own in 2009. Her schemes tend to be quintessentially English and understated, with an eclectic mix of art, antiques and craftsmanship. She says ‘As a small interior-design company, I am fully immersed in the detail and planning of each project. This tailor-made approach is key to the varied nature of my work.’ We say ‘Flora has a discerning eye and an intuitive sense of what makes a comfortable home, no matter what the size or grandeur of the project.’ florasoames.com
‘PRECISION, POISE AND HARMONY ARE THE ORDER OF THE DAY’
As a young man growing up on Malta’s sister island Gozo, Francis would pore over interiors magazines, such as House & Garden. They were ‘windows for seeing what was going on, what was new and what was good’. Today, he helps drive what is new and good with dazzling interiors projects and furniture design, and as CEO of David Gill Gallery. He says ‘For me, interior design is not just about walls and curtains: it’s about how you live in a space every day, how you move around it, how you entertain in it and how you use it.’ We say ‘You can tell by the way Francis speaks about his clients that he sees his role as far more than a provider of nice-to-live-in spaces. He gets to know them, then figures out how to deliver what they actually need, as well as what they want.’ francissultana.com 126 JUNE 2019 HOUSEANDGARDEN.CO.UK
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[1] Flora Soames is known for her quintessentially English interiors. [2] With projects in the UK and the US, Fran Hickman’s work is in demand
TRENT McMINN; BILAL TARIGHT
FRANCIS SULTANA
CATCHPOLE & RYE KENT ENGLAND
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The Saracen - Painted White
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GAVIN HOUGHTON INTERIOR DESIGN
From his small south London studio, which he launched in 2008, Gavin Houghton designs interiors that are layered, English and full of charm. He has also recently started selling decorative antique furniture through his website. He says ‘I love to play with colour and delicious combinations of paint, wallpapers and fabrics. I’m a big fan of Charleston, the former Sussex home of Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant – it has an ease and doesn’t take itself too seriously. I don’t like a room to look laboured.’ People say ‘Gavin’s interiors are fun, vibrant, happy and yet also incredibly liveable.’ Claud Cecil Gurney, founder, de Gournay. We say ÔGavin creates rooms that are joyful and make you smile. He can be bold with colour – rich, punchy greens and warm yellows – but it always feels soft and relaxed, thanks to a good scattering of pretty chintzes and pleated lampshades.’ gavinhoughton.co.uk
Grant has been on House & Garden’s radar for almost 20 years, turning his hand to houses, hotels, restaurants, yachts and private jets. He and his team work on a grand scale with bespoke execution at its heart. He says ‘I love the diversity of what we do – I would find a signature style too restrictive and repetitive. Each project is different, depending on the location, architecture and brief.’ People say ‘Grant captures the essence of interior design by listening to his clients and seeing how they live. He has a great eye and his creativity is evident in the way he develops highly attractive and meaningful environments.’ Robin Yacoubian, proprietor, Gallery Yacou. grantwhitedesign.com
GUY GOODFELLOW
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With an encyclopedic knowledge of architectural details and restoration expertise, Guy and his team are skilled at wrangling planning deals for complicated properties. Current projects include a Grade I-listed house in Belgravia, an Oxfordshire Queen Anne hunting lodge with a contemporary wing and a Jacobean country-house restoration.
He says ‘We thrive on bringing new life to old houses. Strong on the architectural side of things, we offer elegantly executed restorations of listed buildings, squeezing every last inch of space out of the tiniest and grandest rooms for maximum effect.’ People say ‘Guy’s energy, inspiration and attention to detail are refreshing – he understands how to combine traditional lighting effects with concealed, modern touches, discreet enough to complement architecture and create atmosphere.’ Sally Storey, design director, John Cullen Lighting We say ‘Despite his historical prowess, Guy knows how to make a modern, comfortable home and is also utterly charming.’ guygoodfellow.com
HACKETT HOLLAND Interior designer Jane Hackett and her husband Jonathan Holland, an architect, set up this multidisciplinary firm in 2001. This formidable team shows a deep sensitivity and fantastic colour sense in period projects. They say ‘Our aim is to create spaces that are beautifully proportioned, considered, responsive, functional and formed using good-quality and sustainable materials. We believe this approach is truly modern – in the best sense.’ hackettholland.co.uk e
BOZ GAGOVSKI
[1] A charming mix of prints and colour fill this sitting room by Gavin Houghton. [2] Striking pieces make a statement in a bold dining room by Grant White
GRANT WHITE DESIGN
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Nicola Harding and Orla Read (opposite) produce modern interiors that are rooted in tradition. They deftly combine patterns and periods to create characterful and cool rooms, which are always true to the spirit of the place and never look too formal. They say ‘We don’t focus on fashions or genres – we strive for integrity and character.’ People say ‘Having worked with Harding & Read for five years, I’m consistently surprised by their refreshingly innovative and creative approach to design. Their friendly, efficient work ethic makes them a joy to collaborate with.’ Rosi de Ruig, lampshade designer. hardingandread.com
HARRIET ANSTRUTHER STUDIO
HENRI FITZWILLIAMLAY
HUBERT ZANDBERG INTERIORS
Having founded her architectural and interior design practice in 2011, Harriet creates glamorous, elegant interiors in London and the country. She has recently branched out into creative consultancy work. She says ‘I am always curious about a building’s history – its architectural past but also who lived there. I think about what I sense when I walk into a space, and what it would look like with nothing in it. That is my starting point.’ harrietanstruther.com
A fun and fearless decorator, American-born Henri has a strong visual signature, confidently mixing styles with flair and originality. She says ‘My look is constantly evolving. I’m inspired by location, architectural style and my clients’ aspirations. Mixing these elements allows me to create something new every time, which I find exciting.’ We say ‘Henri will introduce you to a whole new world of sources and makers.’ henrifitzwilliamlay.com
Hubert possesses a lightness of touch: he arranges beautiful objects to create glamorous, versatile spaces with international appeal that are luxurious but never ostentatious. He says ‘I am a stylist at heart and love the creative process – the art of putting things together, allowing that composition to become bigger than the sum of its parts. The “offscript” moments towards the end of a project, when both planned and unplanned decisions fall into place
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Christopher Howe (below) is known for his ceaseless enthusiasm and gimlet eye. He has been in the antiques trade for over 30 years, but has more recently turned his hand to creating interiors, too. The spaces he and his team design are filled with beautiful things of different styles, materials and periods. We say ‘Attention to detail is at the core of the Howe aesthetic, which transcends trends to create timeless interiors packed with eclectic pieces and impeccable craftsmanship – Christopher will only take on projects that inspire him.’ howelondon.com
and the atmosphere is created, are what give me real pleasure.’ People say ‘What is brilliant about Hubert is that he pushes boundaries and tests the skills of craftsmen. He also has an insatiable desire for objects, which results in endless selfeducation.’ Rupert Bevan, furniture designer. hzinteriors.com
HUGH LESLIE A townhouse in Belgravia and a large Lutyens house in the country are just two of the projects Hugh Leslie is currently working on. He set up on his own in 2001 and, with more than 30 years of experience, he operates with a small team of four to create stylish, understated and thoughtful interiors. He says ‘Every project and client creates its own set of possibilities, so observing them with fresh eyes allows the creativity to flow. My approach is simple – get to know the client and how they wish to use the space. It all stems from there.’ They say ‘Hugh’s sensitive treatment of a house’s architecture is evident in every single detail, due to the great emphasis he places on craftsmanship and the integrity of materials.’ Lulu Lytle, co-founder and creative director, Soane. hughleslie.com e
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[1] A fun, punchy look is typical of projects by Henri Fitzwilliam-Lay. [2] Antique dealer Christopher Howe has turned his hand to creating interiors HOUSEANDGARDEN.CO.UK JUNE 2019 131
top 100 JANE CHURCHILL
It takes a lifetime of experience to conceive the elegant yet liveable spaces Jane Churchill (right) creates. She has a deep knowledge of the classic decorating tradition, which she has gained from more than 40 years in the business. She says ‘My main influences have been Nancy Lancaster and her sister, my grandmother. She had less money and a smaller house, which was still ahead of its time. My sister (the late Melissa Wyndham) and I saw both ends of the spectrum when we were growing up.’ janechurchill.com
JOANNA PLANT INTERIORS
While firmly rooted in the traditions of English decoration, Joanna Plant creates interiors that have a cleaned-up aesthetic underpinned by rigorous planning and rooms that feel contemporary and inviting, without disrupting the romance and proportions of the architecture. She says ‘I work closely with clients to understand how they live and to interpret their taste. The rooms we design are thoughtful, comfortable
[1] Jane Churchill in her own dining room, in front of a painting by Bianca Smith. [2] A modern rustic Ibiza kitchen by Joanna Plant
MARK LUSCOMBE-WHYTE/THE INTERIOR ARCHIVE; ELSA YOUNG
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and are definitely somewhere you can have a good time.’ People say ‘Joanna has a very incisive sense of how to realise a client’s vision and is a delight to work with. She is more than ably supported by her ever-resourceful husband Nick.’ Christopher Payne, manager, Robert Kime We say ‘Joanna’s work exemplifies how a grand house need not feel formal. She makes the necessary concessions to family life without compromising on grown-up fun and a cleverly applied touch of glamour.’ joannaplantinteriors.com e
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top 100 JOHN McCALL INTERIOR DESIGN
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While large country-house projects may be his trademark, John McCall has proved equally adept at creating alluring, comfortable interiors in small rural cottages and Caribbean newbuilds. His current projects include a new lodge in Oxfordshire and a large house in Knightsbridge. He says ‘As a precocious teenager, I felt the uncontrollable need to move my parents’ furniture around all the time, and I orchestrated for myself, aged 16, a Hicksian-style bedroom in scarlet, chocolate and orange. A career in design seemed inevitable to me.’ We say ‘John is a thoughtful designer with a gentle manner, so it’s no surprise that his clients come to him again and again or that, after 30-odd years in business, his talent is still very much in demand.’ mccalldesign.co.uk
It has been a good year for Joanna and her team. Projects have included the private apartments and ongoing historical restoration at Winfield House, NW1 for the current US Ambassador, a big house in Florida and a newbuild on the coast of Ireland, literally hewn out of the cliff. Her clients and the jobs she takes on are diverse, and her capable team can turn their hands to most things. She says ‘Space planning is the bit I like the best, and which I know I’m good at. The most important thing is to listen to your client and then to consider the architecture.’ We say ‘Joanna is one of the most energetic people we know and can make the largest and most complex of projects fun for the client.’ joannawood.com
[1] The sitting room of a Bahamas beach house by John McCall. [2] John Minshaw uses collectors’ pieces as a starting point for his schemes
JOHN MINSHAW DESIGNS
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With more than 30 years’ experience, John Minshaw’s interiors draw on classical and Soanian disciplines and are calm, luxurious spaces. A painter in another life, John creates schemes that are artworks in themselves, with the finished project presenting itself as an entire entity. We say ‘Immaculate detailing and subtlety of colour are the hallmark of John’s work. He has an expert eye for collectors’ pieces, which form the fulcrum of a room.’ johnminshawdesigns.com
JR DESIGN Jane Ormsby Gore, who heads up this Notting Hill-based team of five, creates interiors that feel as layered and sophisticated as her own life. She worked for the esteemed antique dealer Christopher Gibbs in the Sixties and after that at Vogue. She set up JR Design in 1999 and continues to craft fun and elegant rooms. She is currently working on an eighteenth-century house in the Borders, as well as a couple of houses in London. She says ‘Good taste comes from a deep understanding and love of objects and good spaces encountered through one’s experience of life.’ People say ‘Jane is an artist who designs rooms, mining her extraordinary breadth of experience to create beautifully crafted, memorable spaces. She is instinctual – it’s a reflex. She is a rare bird and modest to a fault.’ James McWhirter, co-founder, McWhirter Morris We say ‘Jane may be well versed in classic English style – antique furniture and textiles feature in almost all of her projects – but the rooms she creates often feel fresh and incredibly imaginative. She isn’t afraid of bold colours and details, but she includes them in such a way that they feel as though they have always been there.’ jrdesign.org e
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top 100 KATE GUINNESS Kate Guinness, who runs NEW ENTRY a small and friendly team, has a clever knack of understanding her client’s taste and achieving the best version of it. She delights in colour and pattern – she maintains a modern sensibility that is decidedly cool but never cold. Her rooms are cheerful and welcoming, and made for the realities of life. She says ‘My first career was in set and costume design for theatre and opera. I loved it, but I came to realise that I wanted to create real spaces for real people, which would last and grow over the years.’ kateguinness.co.uk
LEVESON DESIGN In business since 1990, Cindy Leveson remains very much in demand with those who favour classic English decorating. Over the years, she has done extensive interior design work at the Goodwood Estate, although private clients make up an important part of her portfolio. She says ‘My approach is to create a house – or sometimes just a room – that has a lived-in and understated atmosphere. Working with real collections, with a bit of modern thrown in, is my idea of heaven.’ We say ‘Cindy trained as an artist and has a particular instinct for colour. She also produces beautiful sketches of her schemes, which are themselves small works of art.’ levesondesign.com
Antique furniture is juxtaposed with contemporary art and design in this Chelsea f lat by Kitesgrove
LOUISE JONES INTERIORS
MARK BOLTON
KITESGROVE
NEW ENTRY
Creative director Sophie Elborne heads up the design arm of London-based interior design and project management studio Kitesgrove. She produces chic interiors that are inhabited by design-led furniture, antiques and good art. She says ‘We want to create intelligent spaces that celebrate longevity, not a short-lived wow factor. By collaborating with exceptional craftsmen and artists, we aim to achieve an authentic result that resonates with our clients for years to come.’ We say ‘Kitesgrove’s interiors are recognisable for their bold and yet sophisticated combination of luxurious materials. Expect to see plenty of marble, marquetry and mohair. The look is fresh and elegant.’ kitesgrove.com
Louise Jones produces highly polished and beautifully tailored schemes in the country and city. Clients who come to her with large projects can be assured of expert management, too. Current work includes large houses on the Wentworth Estate and on Jura. She says ‘If I am not designing for my clients, I’m researching for them, which means I’m almost always on the lookout for inspiration, regardless of where I am or what I’m doing.’ louisejonesinteriors.com e HOUSEANDGARDEN.CO.UK JUNE 2019 137
top 100 MADDUX CREATIVE
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MARION LICHTIG Marion Lichtig worked in fashion before moving into interior design and setting up her own practice in 1985. She has a talent for creating unfussy, effortless interiors, and her small team offers a personal service. People say ‘Marion’s ability to combine antiques and contemporary pieces is so relevant today. Her interiors have an uncluttered richness that is instantly attractive.’ Marc Weaver, co-owner, Guinevere We say ‘Marion’s interiors have a feeling of calm, which comes from soothing palettes and natural materials. Her rooms look as if they have evolved over a number of years.’ marionlichtig.com
MARK GILLETTE INTERIOR ARCHITECTURE AND DESIGN
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This Cheshire-based outfit is celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2019. Mark Gillette is a rigorous designer and a versatile one, too, producing everything from high camp to gracious castle interiors. He says ‘My father is a historian
and I grew up surrounded by his collection of antiquities. I love old objects and the stories behind them.’ We say ‘Mark is a thoughtful decorator with an encyclopedic knowledge of art and design movements.’ markgillette.com
MARTIN BRUDNIZKI DESIGN STUDIO Although Martin is more often associated with high-profile commercial projects, such as the reinvented private members’ club Annabel’s, he and his large team can apply his dramatic, atmosphere-rich aesthetic to the right residential projects as well. He says ‘My father always said, “Focus on the here and now and the future will be part of the journey.” The same could be said for interiors. Don’t try to follow trends – be true to yourself and the building and you will create an interior that will last.’ We say ‘Martin’s layering adds a timeless quality to his interiors, which often feel as if they’ve always been like that and always will be. He takes bespoke to a new level.’ mbds.com e
MICHAEL SINCLAIR; MICHAEL PAUL
[1] Jo leGleud and Scott Maddux of Maddux Creative. [2] A peaceful and uncluttered dining room by Marion Lichtig
The duo behind Maddux Creative – Jo leGleud and Scott Maddux (left) – delight in pushing boundaries. The schemes the pair devise are colourful, bold and sophisticated with a dollop of wit. They say ‘We weave an intricate tapestry, using our practical knowledge and limitless imagination. We combine creative thought with an understanding of what is physically possible.’ Jo leGleud We say ‘Scott and Jo are true alchemists, champions of colour and old-fashioned glamour. All their projects delight in unexpected ways.’ madduxcreative.com
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top 100 [1]
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[1] Jay Grierson (on left) and Martin Hulbert at the Grove of Narberth in Wales, a recent hotel project. [2] Vanessa Macdonald (on left) and Honor Hebblethwaite of Melissa Wyndham Interior Design
Martin Hulbert and Jay Grierson offer elegant, grown-up designs. They have created interiors for a string of hotels and restaurants, including Coworth Park, the Monaco outpost of Nobu and the Treehouse Suites at Chewton Glen, as well a number of private houses. They say ‘We have worked on such a variety of projects, so our approach is always evolving. Right now, we’re moving towards contemporary lines with soft textures and colour. We are also lucky enough to have many repeat clients who give us a lot of freedom. All this contributes to a lovely creative spirit among our team.’ Jay Grierson We say ‘Martin and Jay’s open-minded outlook makes their schemes endlessly original. Their sense of humour makes them a joy to work with.’ martinhulbertdesign.com
MAX ROLLITT An antique dealer, furniture maker and interior designer with impeccable taste, Max Rollitt has run his own antique shop since 1993 and, in 2006, began taking on decorating projects. He now leads a team of 12. Max has a deep-rooted love of objects and their patina, and curates classical rooms underpinned by the enduring and often underrated pleasure of comfort. He says ‘I will always attend to the 140 JUNE 2019 HOUSEANDGARDEN.CO.UK
framework of a room – its flooring, fireplace, cornicing – before turning my attention to the fabrics and furnishings, so the room will look and feel right from its architectural bones to the placing of pictures on the walls.’ We say ‘Max’s projects are recognisable for their beauty, purity of design and authenticity. He has a well-earned, loyal client base, both here and in the US, who admire his eye for quality and scale.’ maxrollitt.com
McWHIRTER MORRIS This studio was set up in 2005 by Sarah Morris (an alumna of Sibyl Colefax & John Fowler) and the antique dealer James McWhirter, who has a wonderful eye for everything from the seventeenth century onwards. We say ‘Their work, ranging from the prettiest of Scottish crofts to elements of Dumfries House in Scotland, is very detailed and always individual.’ mcwhirtermorris.com
MELISSA WYNDHAM INTERIOR DESIGN This studio is now run by Vanessa Macdonald and Honor Hebblethwaite, who are really doing justice to Melissa Wyndham’s legacy. Their classic interiors have a modern feel. Recent projects include a New York apartment and a chalet in Courchevel. They say ‘We love interiors to be perfectly imperfect. For us, it’s about plenty of research, going to see everything you choose and developing carefully considered
drawings for your contractor. The final interior may look effortless, but that’s when you know the hard work has paid off.’ Vanessa Macdonald We say ‘Their style is a marriage of the best of English decoration with immaculate modern detail and a mix of antiques and contemporary furniture.’ melissawyndham.com
MLINARIC, HENRY & ZERVUDACHI This established studio is now led by Hugh Henry, Tino Zervudachi, Jason Roberts and Laurence Macadam, with associated offices in London, Paris and New York. MHZ is an authority on sophistication, with current projects including a villa in Athens, a palace in New Delhi and an apartment in a Roman palazzo. They say ‘We believe good taste is something you either understand or you don’t. Although it is difficult to attain, it is something to strive for. Good design can give happiness and fulfilment. ’ Tino Zervudachi We say ‘MHZ is synonymous with classical design, with considered concessions to a more modern aesthetic.’ mhzlondon.com e
DEAN HEARNE; ANDREAS VON EINSIEDEL
MARTIN HULBERT DESIGN
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NICKY HASLAM STUDIO
At 79, Nicky Haslam is full-steam ahead, with projects in Florida and in London, plus monthly cabaret shows on the King’s Road and two books on the go. Over 45 years, he has created houses for royals, rock stars and the fabulously rich, all in his sophisticated style, which combines drama, wit and incredible detail. He says ‘Almost everything I use in projects is either custom-made or antique. I go into anywhere with an antiques sign like a shot – one can usually find something that will be transformed when painted white.’
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People say ‘I’m jealous of how energetic Nicky is. He still makes watercolour sketches for his clients – a lovely touch.’ Claud Cecil Gurney, founder, de Gournay We say ‘For a man who created a tea towel that lists what he finds common (ie gourmet canapés), Nicky is refreshingly un-snobby when it comes to interiors. Anything can find its way into his designs – brown wrapping paper was once used on the walls of a drawing room, while gessoed plumbing pipes were turned into a Giacometti-inspired chandelier.’ nh-design.co.uk e
SIMON UPTON/THE INTERIOR ARCHIVE
Seen here in his London flat, Nicky Haslam is known for combining drama and wit with incredible detail
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top 100 ‘WE LIKE ROOMS TO FEEL UPLIFTING AND TO HAVE AN ELEMENT OF SURPRISE’ NATALIA MIYAR ATELIER Positioned at the sharper end of the interior-design spectrum, Natalia Miyar’s studio is strong on spatial planning (she is also a trained architect) and turns out smart, tailored interiors. The look is unashamedly modern and will appeal to clients who are not afraid to be bold with colour, finish and texture. She says ‘If a space is beautifully dressed but it doesn’t work, it isn’t a beautiful space. Substance and style need to work together.’ We say ‘It’s difficult not to use the word glamorous when describing Natalia’s work, but she’s also incredibly warm and fun-loving and this shows in her projects.’ nataliamiyar.com
NINA CAMPBELL
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Olivia Outred is known for her use of bespoke furniture alongside clients’ treasured pieces
OLIVIA OUTRED STUDIO
NEW ENTRY
Having trained with some of the best – at Sibyl Colefax & John Fowler (under Philip Hooper) and Soane Britain – Olivia shares her mentors’ love of good craftsmanship and bespoke furniture. Since she branched out on her own in 2014, she and her team have worked on residential and commercial interior design projects. They have also recently completed, among others, an ocean-going yacht. She says ‘We like rooms to feel uplifting and to have an element of surprise – every entrance hall, corridor and stairwell should carry with it a great sense of occasion. We feel that, from the moment you open the front door, you should know that it is going to be fun exploring the house.’ We say ‘Her projects show a good mix of old and new and a keenness to include clients’ treasured items that they have gathered from around the world.’ oliviaoutred.com e
SEBASTIAN BOETTCHER
One of the true doyennes of English interior decoration, Nina has been in the business for almost 50 years. She is a designer with a truly international following and plenty of projects in the US. She says ‘Storage is incredibly important in all my projects. I always like a laundry room and plenty of space for glasses, china and linen. Nothing gives me greater pleasure than opening a door and finding rows of glasses that are arranged by colour.’ People say ‘I’ve worked with Nina for 30 years – she has a brilliant eye for pattern, scale and colour. In her schemes, her talent for providing elegance, comfort and practicality is continually revealed.’ Peter Osborne, co-founder, Osborne & Little We say ‘A number of designers on our Top 100 list honed their skills under Nina’s watchful eye, and she continues to influence a generation of decorators today with her grounded, fresh and elegant interiors.’ ninacampbellinteriors.com
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top 100
Paolo Moschino and Philip Vergeylen (left) are the creative forces driving this business, which includes interior design, fabrics, furniture, lighting, two shops and a showroom in the Design Centre, Chelsea Harbour. They say ‘I love that eureka moment at the concept stage, when all of a sudden I find the key that unlocks all design for the room or the project.’ Paolo Moschino ‘There’s always a risk that by striving for “good taste” you only achieve bland and boring. I try to be as openminded as possible.’ Philip Vergeylen We say ‘What would Brexiteers make of the fact that an Italian and a Belgian have become leading figures in the traditional English decorating establishment? Then again, who cares?’ nicholashaslam.com
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[1] Paolo Moschino (left) and Philip Vergeylen at their London flat with their French bulldog. [2] A mix of reclaimed materials takes centre stage in this smart kitchen by Retrouvius
PENNY MORRISON A formidable figure in the decorating world, Penny Morrison has long perfected a pleasingly dishevelled aesthetic that epitomises English country-house decorating at its most louche. Glorious fabrics form the backbone of her schemes – she is a textile designer and dealer after all. She says ‘I like to create unexpected elements in a room, but not a harsh contrast. I’m neither a fan of matchymatchy, nor of the rude awakening.’ We say ‘Given half a chance, Penny is equally likely to lacquer an entire room in a bold colour as she is to specify a pretty pleated lampshade, and if anyone can make the two sit well together in a room, she can.’ pennymorrison.com
PETER MIKIC From a city flat or country pile to a modernist house in the Balearics, an appealing energy runs through this studio’s projects. Peter, who worked in fashion in Australia before moving to the UK in 1990, runs a team of 17, including industrial and interior designers as well as architects. He says ‘When I first saw Azzedine Alaïa’s work in the Eighties I knew I 146 JUNE 2019 HOUSEANDGARDEN.CO.UK
wanted to design. I’ve strayed over many different creative fields, but there is something special about a well-designed interior.’ We say ‘Peter’s work is often described as glamorous, but full credit should also be given for his ability to create spaces that work well and that serve as elegant backdrops for his cleverly curated furnishings.’ petermikic.com
RABIH HAGE A trained architect who creates exacting interiors for blue-chip clients, Rabih Hage devises schemes that exude old-world elegance while also championing up-and-coming designers and artists. He says ‘I love the excitement of starting a new story – writing fresh scenarios for a space and the lives that are going to unfold there. It is all part of adapting spaces and creating a new purpose for buildings.’ We say ‘If you want someone who can work with, or add to, your collection of contemporary design, look no further than Rabih Hage. His projects are considered, tailored and luxurious.’ rabih-hage.com
RETROUVIUS When it comes to sustainable design, Retrouvius sets the pace with its judicious and creative use of reclaimed materials. Led by the charming Maria Speake, the design studio intelligently reconditions and reuses objects, and is ecologically mindful without being sanctimonious. She says ‘Under our studio’s inventively applied wood, stone and hand-dyed textiles lie larger tales of transformation. We love the breadth of people involved in the business, from the builders to the clients of all ages and backgrounds.’ People say ‘It is always inspiring to see how Maria uses textiles – the way light plays on a fabric can totally transform a space. Her sense of colour is wonderful.’ Kirsten Hecktermann, designer and maker We say ‘Maria has a unique ability to give an object a new lease of life. She creates idiosyncratic rooms that are warm and stylish without ever sacrificing practicality.’ retrouvius.com
JOSHUA MONAGHAN; ROMAIN RICARD; MICHAEL SINCLAIR
PAOLO MOSCHINO FOR NICHOLAS HASLAM
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RACHEL CHUDLEY Rachel Chudley is a NEW rising star with a unique, ENTRY exuberant style that most people would be hard pressed to imitate. She is a confident interior designer whose schemes cleverly combine high drama and comfort. She says ‘My style is playful with a focus on art. I think that interiors should reflect their inhabitants’ quirks and passions.’ People say ‘Rachel is much bolder than many of our clients, so we always know that when she is involved, it’s going to be something interesting and creative.’ Sarah Watson, founder, Balineum We say ‘Rachel’s work is fresh, cool and in no way derivative – and she is a joy to be around. Her London studio is made up of artists as well as designers, resulting in truly unique spaces.’ rachelchudley.com e
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Rachel has taken a typically exuberant approach to colour in this London house
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A modern day renaissance woman, Rita is not only a decorator par excellence, she is also a House & Garden columnist, product designer, purveyor of desirable goods and host of interior-design workshops. Add to this a well-honed sense of what makes a relaxed home and you can see why she is so sought after. She says ‘What I am interested in is how to be comfortable. Often, it’s as simple as wanting to sit down and have somewhere to put your drink and a light to read your book by.’ We say ‘It’s hard for us to be completely impartial, as Rita is part of the House & Garden family, but her natural flair and down-to-earth nature make her a major force in British decorating.’ ritakonig.com
ROBERT KIME
Antique dealer, decorator and textile connoisseur, Robert Kime (below) creates beautiful interiors that lift the spirits. His projects are a distillation of 50 years of experience, his inquisitive eye and an impeccable knowledge of history, objects and architecture. He says ‘Decorating makes my life worthwhile – it completes and ref lects me.’ We say ‘First and foremost, Robert is a collector. He has an insatiable curiosity and a unique ability to turn the simplest object into a rare treasure by putting it in the right place. There are plenty of interior designers on this list who cite Robert’s idiosyncratic style as an inspiration.’ robertkime.com e
Robert Kime in the sitting room of his London f lat with his dog. The f lat is a showcase for Robert’s impressive collection of art, antiques and textiles
RIVIÈRE INTERIORS The antique dealer Robert Young and his wife, Josyane, take on only a few projects at a time to ensure their small team can give them the attention they need. Self-taught, but equipped with a good eye, they create interiors that show the utmost sensitivity to architecture, a confident use of colour, a grasp of space and a strong dose of originality. We say ‘The work of Rivière Interiors shows a modernity of spirit while being sensitive to the past.’ robertyoungantiques.com
Prior to setting up on his own in 1983, Robert Carslaw worked under the great twentieth-century designer Christopher Rowley. Today, his portfolio suggests an affinity with the English country house, although his approach varies from light and airy to traditional and pattern rich. He says ‘I have always felt that my art-school training, followed by a three-year diploma course in interior design, gave me the ability to express my creativity and has allowed me to take a pragmatic approach to a variety of briefs.’ We say ‘This accomplished designer has a rare grasp of what makes a room beautiful and comfortable.’ robertcarslaw.com 148 JUNE 2019 HOUSEANDGARDEN.CO.UK
SIMON UPTON
ROBERT CARSLAW
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top 100 The decorator, furniture designer and antique dealer Rose Uniacke in her London house with her dog Errol
Her interiors are cool, her manner is calm and the new and antique furniture that she sells is widely collected. Rose is one of the most sought-after names for top-tier international interiors projects. She says ‘I’m obsessed with allowing spaces to breathe. Not every room needs a clear purpose. Wasted space, if treated properly, can make a house.’ We say ‘It is difficult to pinpoint what it is that creates the sense of serenity in Rose’s work, whether in a single chair or a rambling country house, but it is always there, playing a central role in her schemes.’ roseuniacke.com e
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JAKE CURTIS
ROSE UNIACKE
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top 100 RUI RIBEIRO STUDIO A visit to Rui Ribeiro’s headquarters in a west London mews will give you an idea of what his studio excels at. Namely, moody hues and natural materials, modern craft teamed with luxury finishes, and one-off furniture designs produced in collaboration with artists. Angola-born Rui also has an office in Lisbon with plenty of projects on the continent and in the UK. He says ‘One of the most satisfying aspects of my job is working with craftspeople and artists to create a beautiful finish or item for one of our projects.’ We say ‘Rui has a knack for elevating the seemingly simple to the extraordinary. He also has a great eye for materials and texture.’ ruiribeirostudio.com
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[1] Salvesen Graham creates pattern-rich, elegant rooms. [2] Sarah Delaney’s projects feature light, airy interiors
SALVESEN GRAHAM With an impeccable design pedigree (Nicole Salvesen trained under Nina Campbell and Mary Graham under Cindy Leveson), this partnership has a talent for creating pattern-rich interiors filled with smart and practical solutions. The firm has recently branched out into product design, in collaboration with the likes of rug specialist Jennifer Manners and The Lacquer Company. They say ‘Decorate with the courage of your convictions – it will always work, even if it’s not to everyone’s taste.’ Mary Graham We say ‘Encounters with this design duo are always delightful: they fizz with energy, ideas and fun.’ salvesengraham.com
SAMANTHA TODHUNTER DESIGN Samantha Todhunter’s projects pack a punch when it comes to colour and pattern. The dynamic and engaging designer has recently been working her magic on a sixteenth-century manor house and a ski chalet in Aspen. She says ‘Rooms need to have pace in terms of pattern mix, colour combinations and furniture styles. I’d never want to be formulaic – every scheme should have an element that turns your head.’ People say ‘Samantha’s rooms tell a story with a mix of smooth and textured, dark and light, and handmade textiles or found objects. She has an immaculate sense of scale.’ Michal Silver, co-founder, Christopher Farr Cloth We say ‘Personality and personability count for a lot in this business, and Samantha has plenty of both.’ samanthatodhunter.com
SARAH STEWART-SMITH Before becoming an interior designer, Sarah Stewart-Smith was an established design journalist. As such, she has an admirable critical eye. Clients benefit from the small teams of craftsmen that Sarah pulls together for each project. She says ‘My job is making people feel safe and sound – safe from judgement, because they know their home looks like a joy, and sound in how at home they feel there.’ We say ‘Sarah’s interiors are striking, modern and imaginative. Your house won’t look like your friend’s.’ sarahstewartsmith.co.uk
Luxurious minimalism would sum up the work of Sarah Delaney (left). Although her clients enjoy her light, airy interiors, she is highly versatile and keeps a keen eye on budgets of whatever size to make sure jobs come in on target. She says ‘Working with the client is paramount – every project is a dual learning curve.’ We say ‘Sarah’s projects show a good use of materials and colour and demonstrate an encyclopedic knowledge of turnof-the-century lighting.’ sarahdelaneydesign.co.uk e 152 JUNE 2019 HOUSEANDGARDEN.CO.UK
RACHAEL SMITH; BEN COLE
SARAH DELANEY DESIGN
Made in England Since 1860
The Beardmore Collection beardmore.co.uk
Est. 1860
top 100 SHALINI MISRA
Shalini Misra won the inaugural House & Garden Project of the Year Award in 2018
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MEL YATES
Based in London but with projects all over the world, this 12-strong team of designers, headed up by the architect and interior designer Shalini Misra, is excellent at creating modern and infinitely detailed bespoke interiors for clients with a healthy budget. She says ‘A well-designed home should help you navigate intuitively around the world of your own creation. Interiors can serve as powerful mood enhancers: whether you crave a trip to a peaceful day spa in the morning, or a glamorous escapade to a jazz bar in the evening. Your home should facilitate all your whimsical moods and help you restore the connection with yourself.’ shalinimisra.com e
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SIBYL COLEFAX & JOHN FOWLER
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[1] A bedroom in Wisconsin decorated by Sibyl Colefax & John Fowler. [2] Sigmar’s love of clean lines and pale colours is epitomised by this kitchen
SIGMAR
SIMS HILDITCH
Expect clean lines, pale backdrops, interesting natural materials and beautiful vintage furniture from this studio, headed up by Swedish designer Ebba Thott. She set up Sigmar in 2005 with the Danish design aficionado Nina Hertig, who runs the firm’s excellent shop in the King’s Road, SW3. They say ‘We want to bring back the idea of poetry to interiors, focusing on the beauty of quality as well as the design.’ Ebba Thott We say ‘Ebba is a knowledgeable and straight-talking designer, who has a great sense of space and proportion.’ sigmarlondon.com
With a main office in Wiltshire and a new outpost in London, Emma Sims Hilditch established her studio in 2009. Ever since then, she has been busy stamping her fresh and pared-back, country-house aesthetic on homes nationwide. She says ‘Central to our philosophy is our belief that good design can transform not only how we live but also how we feel. Beautifully and intelligently designed homes make everyday life effortless and brighter, so there’s less stress and more time to be happy.’ simshilditch.com e
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SIMON BROWN; PETR KREJCI
Established in the Thirties, this quintessential English firm continues to set the bar high. Current projects include a Robert Adam house in London. They say ‘Our philosophy is to respect the architecture and create a sense of peace. We like to include a light to read by, a stool to put your feet up and a table to put a drink down on.’ Managing director Wendy Nicholls People say ‘This firm has the vocabulary to describe, aesthetically and emotionally, the make-up of a room.’ Matthew Collins, decorative artist We say ‘There is incredible know-how at this studio. The eight principal designers have more than 150 years of collective experience.’ sibylcolefax.com
top 100 SPENCERCHURCHILL DESIGNS
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With offices in London and Oxfordshire, Henrietta SpencerChurchill is known for her refined interiors and classically English approach to decorating. She specialises in listed and largescale country houses. She says ‘Design should stimulate the mind and emotions and appeal to the eye. I love studying classical architecture and buildings – and interpreting and incorporating details and features that will work for today.’ We say ‘Having written several books on classic interiors, Henrietta is an authority on the subject.’ spencerchurchilldesigns.com
[1] Sophie Ashby’s own flat in London reflects her eclectic, layered aesthetic. [2] Tiffany Duggan likes to fuse eras and different styles
STUDIO DUGGAN Tiffany Duggan (below) is part of the new wave of interior designers, who enjoy making bold statements and taking chances. Although her studio’s portfolio includes projects that display a great sense of restraint, Tiffany seems at her best when she flexes her creative muscle in terms of fun, glamorous interiors. Her new homeware line, Trove by Studio Duggan, is available to buy from the firm’s Notting Hill shop. She says ‘I try to create liveable yet dramatic spaces, which fuse different eras and styles in pursuit of today’s perfection.’ studioduggan.com [2]
ALEXANDER JAMES
STUDIO ASHBY
Studio Ashby consists of a team of 12, led by Sophie Ashby (above). She has been in the business for five years and, in that time, has honed a fresh yet distinctly glamorous style underpinned by good art and craftsmanship. She is currently working on several projects in London, including a house near Hyde Park in which JM Barrie wrote Peter Pan. She says ‘It’s a privilege to be an interior designer in London. The city energises and inspires me, and designing houses for a living is a pleasure I will never tire of.’ We say ‘For someone who is in the relatively early stages of her career, Sophie is remarkably accomplished. She is also delightfully un-snobby in her approach – combining one-off design pieces with inexpensive antiques to create a layered and eclectic look.’ studioashby.com e HOUSEANDGARDEN.CO.UK JUNE 2019 159
Jonathan Reed in one of his projects in central London
STUDIO REED PROJECTS ARE AUTHENTIC, SUBTLE AND IMMACULATELY CURATED
top 100 STUDIO REED
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Jonathan Reed (opposite) pioneered purism long before the pared-back and craft-focused aesthetic became mainstream, but while his designs feature clean lines and excellent workmanship, they are by no means minimal. Studio Reed projects are authentic and subtle, and always immaculately curated. He says ‘Our style is strong and masculine, with a clear focus on the materials of the maker. We are determined and quality driven. Delivering a project that exceeds the client’s expectation and seeing their reaction is the best part of the job.’ We say ‘Jonathan keeps an intentionally low profile, but his fluency in contemporary and historical design is immediately apparent in his work. He and his team never roll out a “look” but, instead, offer thoughtful schemes devised specifically for that person.’ studioreed.com
MICHAEL SINCLAIR; JOSHUA MONAGHAN; ELSA YOUNG
SUSAN DELISS Although the antique NEW textile dealer and ENTRY designer Susan Deliss only branched out into interiors a couple of years ago, she already has a number of projects under her belt. They include a six-bedroom country house in Suffolk (you can see the exclusive story on the House & Garden website). A one-woman band, Susan continues to add designs to her own fabric range, which Guy Goodfellow now stocks in his London showroom. She says ‘As with a good painting, one’s eye should move around a room with plenty to interest it. I don’t want any single thing to dominate and I go out of my way to avoid obviously recognisable brands, which will go out of fashion.’ We say ‘The interiors Susan creates are colourful, layered and worldly, inspired by her travels in her previous career as a City lawyer and repeated visits to hotel La Mirande in Avignon. Antique textiles crop up in almost all her projects.’ susandeliss.com
SUSIE ATKINSON DESIGN Susie Atkinson (above right) has a flair for balancing materials, pattern and colour, so her interiors are always harmonious, combining the traditional and contemporary with ease. She is currently working
on a Queen Anne house in Chelsea, a classic Thirties motor yacht and a house in the Caribbean. She says ‘We design interiors that enhance and complement the architecture of a building. I thrive on the diversity of projects, creating interiors that welcome and inspire.’ We say ‘Susie is passionate about British craft and is as skilled at commissioning original work as she is at discovering the perfect antique.’ susieatkinson.com
[1] Susie Atkinson likes to commission original work. [2] The sitting room of a f lat by Susan Deliss
SUZY HOODLESS Well known for bold pops of colour and distinctive vintage pieces mixed with the very modern, Suzy Hoodless has a number of projects underway, including a Georgian apartment on Piccadilly, a private members’ club in Mayfair and a family house in Holland Park. She says ‘Our London-based practice incorporates an alchemy of styles, delivering unexpected and discerning designs. We combine colour confidence with sophisticated taste to create timeless, bespoke interiors.’ We say ‘Suzy creates glamorous spaces with an often unexpected edge. With her up-to-the-minute twenty-first-century style, Suzy is a tastemaker for the cool crowd and will help you invest in future classics.’ suzyhoodless.com e
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top 100 TAYLOR HOWES Karen Howes heads up one of the biggest design studios on this list – 39 people and counting. The range of current projects is large and impressive, from a newbuild in the Cotswolds with the largest thatched roof in Europe to a palace in Kuwait. Nearly half its clients have worked with the company before. Through a passion for business as well as design, Karen established the Business of Design in 2015, a forum in which influential thinkers and business people from design brands can connect and collaborate; its first summit was held in November 2018. She says ‘We are progressive – we never sit still. Foremost we are a design studio, but we are making waves to become a brand.’ We say ‘Karen and her team are highly experienced and passionate about what they do – creating high-end luxury interiors. You can absolutely trust their judgement.’ taylorhowes.co.uk
A neutral palette retains the light and airy feel of this double-height room by Todhunter Earle
TODHUNTER EARLE INTERIORS
Emily Todhunter and Kate Earle are at the top of their game, with a highly professional team handling a diverse range of (usually large-scale) projects. These range from grand newbuild houses to a villa in Antibes and everything in between. They are also working on two important historic houses – Rodmarton Manor in Gloucestershire (Grade I-listed Arts and Crafts) and Reddish House in Wiltshire (once home to Cecil Beaton). People say ‘Emily and Kate know how fabric changes a room and they use it lavishly. Their rooms do not shout luxury – they whisper it.’ Bernie de Le Cuona, founder, de Le Cuona We say ‘If you are looking for a combination of experience, enthusiasm and creativity, you will be in safe hands with Todhunter Earle. This year, the company is set to celebrate its 21st birthday.’ todhunterearle.com 162 JUNE 2019 HOUSEANDGARDEN.CO.UK
With offices in London and Geneva, Bunny Turner and Emma Pocock (opposite) cater for international clients who want twenty-first-century living balanced by warmth and texture. They say ‘Clients may come to us for our aesthetic, and we like to challenge them with new ideas. But we know it’s their house, so we don’t force anything. It’s nice to be told that we’re good listeners.’ Bunny Turner People say ‘Bunny and Emma’s amazing energy and passion for their work is evident in the interiors they create: rich in colour and pattern but also thoughtfully functional. Their aesthetic touches on the traditional, but with just the right dose of cool.’ Hannah Cecil Gurney, director, de Gournay We say ‘Detail is at the heart of Bunny and Emma’s work – whether it’s a brass trim on a bookcase or a textured wallcovering. They are also brilliant at sourcing and hanging art.’ turnerpocock.co.uk e
PAUL MASSEY; MICHAEL SINCLAIR
TURNER POCOCK
Emma Pocock (on left) and Bunny Turner are known for their dramatic use of colour and texture
‘TURNER POCOCK’S AESTHETIC TOUCHES ON THE TRADITIONAL, BUT WITH JUST THE RIGHT DOSE OF COOL’
top 100 [1] Veere Grenney’s own dining room in Tangier. [2] A smart sitting room by Virginia Howard
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Sarah Vanrenen and Louisa Greville Williams are childhood friends who have decades of collective interior design experience. They set up their practice in Berkshire last year and travel to London every week for sourcing and client meetings. We say ‘Their interiors are colourful, richly layered and life-enhancing.’ vanrenengwdesigns.com
VEERE GRENNEY ASSOCIATES A towering design figure who works on houses all round the world, Veere has a small team and is fully involved in every project. Whether using chintz or grasscloth on the walls, his interiors feel elegant and calm. He says ‘I am like the conductor of an orchestra. I can’t actually do the things that are needed, but I can control them all and get them done to the highest possible level of excellence.’ veeregrenney.com 164 JUNE 2019 HOUSEANDGARDEN.CO.UK
VIRGINIA WHITE In recent years, Virginia White has focused on the development of her own furniture, fabric and wallpaper lines. Fans of her style – English classical with a vintage Scandinavian twist – will be delighted to hear she is busy with interiors projects again. She says ‘I love using my knowledge of art history in my projects and merging all the skills I have learnt along the way, including the production of my own fabrics and furniture. Every day and every project is different, meaning I am always excited by my job.’ People say ‘Virginia is an artist who uses textiles, artefacts and dyes to create a collage of colour pattern and texture.’ Michal Silver, co-founder, Christopher Farr Cloth We say ‘Art often plays a big role in Virginia’s work. The fact that she once worked under John Stefanidis suggests that she is not afraid to use bold colours either.’ virginiawhitecollection.com
VIRGINIA HOWARD
Virginia Howard and her small team of designers often collaborate with long-standing clients on multiple projects, which is always a good sign. She does ‘grown-up’ decoration extremely well, but there is no shortage of fun or f lair. Virginia, whose mantra is ‘listen carefully first’, has a sensitive eye and always stays faithful to good architecture – bringing old buildings to life for the twenty-first century. Current projects include a Georgian farmhouse in Hampshire and a Regency house in Cornwall. She says ‘I believe in the maxim that your home is your kingdom. For me, interior design is about creating havens as an antidote to the modern world.’ virginiahoward.co.uk
VSP INTERIORS Henriette von Stockhausen leads a team of four. She started her career in the country-house sales department at Sotheby’s, which laid solid foundations for many future projects. VSP Interiors, which she launched in 2000, specialises in large country houses. She says ‘Comfort is key, as are
antiques. I could not design a house or a room without antiques, let alone live in one.’ We say ‘For nearly two decades, Henriette has been creating schemes with grandeur and flair. While her designs are classic in their architecture, she has a lightness of touch when it comes to combining old and new.’ vspinteriors.com e
SIMON UPTON/THE INTERIOR ARCHIVE; PAUL MASSEY
VANRENEN GW DESIGNS
MARC WOOD STUDIO
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top 100 WALDO WORKS
WOODY CLARK
Over the past decade Waldo Works, an architectural and design studio started by Tom Bartlett (right), has undertaken projects as varied as warehouse conversions in London and a penthouse in Hong Kong. We say ‘Tom’s interiors have a clean, colourful and sometimes edgy feel derived from the strong architectural background of the practice.’ waldoworks.com
For decades, the name Woody Clark has been quietly passed by word of mouth as the go-to designer for important historic houses. Operating under the radar, Woody is relied on as much for his organisational skills as for his historical knowledge and eye for detail. We say ‘Clients have the highest regard for his ability and everything about his work is low key and subtle.’ mail@woodyclark.com m
WESTENHOLZ ANTIQUES & INTERIOR DECORATION The trailblazing antique dealer and decorator Piers von Westenholz began his career four decades ago. Based in Hertfordshire, he creates rooms that are grand yet welcoming. He says ‘I like to include plenty of objects and paintings in my interiors. I tried minimalism in my own house, but it did not last long.’ People say ‘The key to a Piers von Westenholz room is that you are immediately intrigued by its confident personality. There is no formula – simply elegance and erudition.’ Nathalie Farman-Farma, founder, Décors Barbares We say ‘Expect to find club fenders, plaster busts, Howard sofas and Indian lamp tables, layered in a way that feels warm, comforting and incredibly English.’ westenholz.co.uk
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[1] Tom Bartlett, founder of the architectural and design studio Waldo Works. [2] A pale, tranquil sitting room created by William Smalley
DON’T MISS THE J U LY I S S U E O F HOUSE & GARDEN
IN WHICH WE REVEAL THE WINNERS OF OUR DESIGN AWARDS, INCLUDING DESIGNER OF THE YEAR [2]
With a love of craft and simplicity, William Smalley’s work possesses a cool harmony. A recent London project involved everything from the architecture to choosing the cutlery. He is currently working on a Fifties modernist house in Kent. He says ‘I grew up in a fifteenthcentury house, so I love old buildings, but I also think that new buildings should be new.’ People say ‘William is continuing in the tradition of great architects for whom the result was only as good as the care and intention put in.’ Nina Hertig, co-founder, Sigmar We say ‘Pared-back monastic beauty meets Bang & Olufsen.’ williamsmalley.com 166 JUNE 2019 HOUSEANDGARDEN.CO.UK
JENNY VAN SOMMERS; ALEXANDER JAMES
WILLIAM SMALLEY
HOUSE & GARDEN PARTNERSHIP
ABOVE Walls in ‘Sulking Room Pink’ modern emulsion showcase units painted with ‘Paean Black’ modern eggshell
COLOUR VISION Farrow & Ball’s at-home colour consultancy service offers exciting inspiration and expert advice for those wishing to enhance or transform their home
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olour has transformative powers. Applying a new lick of paint to a room is an easy way to freshen a scheme instantly. Whether you wish to update a room or the whole house, a colour consultation with a Farrow & Ball expert is essential. They will assess the light in the room, discuss your taste and ideas for the decoration and suggest the best options from its 132-colour palette. Often, people find it difficult to choose colour and shade for the home. Farrow & Ball can suggest ways to ease into making bolder, more impactful decorating decisions, be it starting
with a smaller room such as a cloakroom or in areas of passing such as the staircase or hallway. This bespoke service involves a consultant coming to your home, doing a walk-through of each room, discussing all the options then following up with a written list of agreed colours, designs and finishes – plus £50 to spend at Farrow & Ball to help make your new colour schemes a reality. Whatever the size and scope of the project, this invaluable service means achieving that distinctive Farrow & Ball look just became much easier. From £195 per hour. To book a consultation, visit farrowball.com/colour-consultancy m
HOUSE & GARDEN PARTNERSHIP
ABOVE LEFT SA Baxter shields demonstrating unlimited finish capabilities. ABOVE RIGHT The ‘Gothic Suite’ doorknob in bronze
Precious metals
The artisans at SA Baxter in New York combine ancient craft with modern design to create timeless hardware in brass, bronze and white bronze
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ased in New York’s Hudson Valley, the hardware specialist SA Baxter’s foundry uses ancient processes to craft highly detailed designs in solid brass, bronze and white bronze. The company’s skilled artisans employ the ancient process of lost wax investment casting, which was developed more than 3,000 years ago and is still used by the finest jewellery houses in the world. The technique has since been refined and updated for the twenty-first century. This allows for unlimited design capabilities, so that even the most complicated and intricate ideas can come to life. SA Baxter designs and makes bespoke hardware
and lighting for high-end residential, commercial and yacht projects. The permanent range includes fittings and fixtures for doors, cabinets and locks, as well as flooring and lighting, in an array of patterns and finishes. The extensive palette ranges from light antique copper to burnished gold and dark antique white bronze, to name a few. The studio frequently collaborates with some of the best artisans, designers and architects working today. Its meticulous attention to detail and age-old making techniques ensure elegant pieces that stand the test of time, both in style and quality. To see SA Baxter’s range of hardware and for more information, visit sabaxter.com m
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Britain has such a long and illustrious history of gardens and gardening that it is no surprise we are able to boast some of the world’s leading garden designers, many with a truly international client base. Within this context of gardening excellence, the designers we have selected here all possess a deep knowledge of plants, an intuitive sense of space and setting – and a certain extra something that sets their work apart from the rest. Focusing on domestic-scale garden design rather than large-scale landscape architecture, we have, after much deliberation, picked our top 25: the creatives whose work we think represents the very best of British garden design.
ACRES WILD ANDY STURGEON DESIGN ARABELLA LENNOX-BOYD LANDSCAPE DESIGN ARNE MAYNARD GARDEN DESIGN BALSTON AGIUS BUNNY GUINNESS DESIGN CHRISTOPHER BRADLEY-HOLE CLEVE WEST DAN PEARSON STUDIO
DEL BUONO GAZERWITZ LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE GEORGE CARTER GARDEN DESIGN I & J BANNERMAN GARDEN DESIGNERS JAMES ALEXANDER-SINCLAIR JINNY BLOM JO THOMPSON LANDSCAPE & GARDEN DESIGN KIM WILKIE
LUCIANO GIUBBILEI MAZZULLO + RUSSELL LANDSCAPE DESIGN PIP MORRISON ROBERT MYERS ASSOCIATES RUPERT GOLBY SARAH PRICE LANDSCAPES TODD LONGSTAFFE-GOWAN TOM STUART-SMITH XA TOLLEMACHE
HOUSEANDGARDEN.CO.UK JUNE 2019 169
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ACRES WILD Last year Debbie Roberts and Ian Smith celebrated 30 years as Acres Wild. Specialising in large rural gardens, they blend contemporary and traditional elements to create generously planted designs within tightly structured frameworks. The projects they most enjoy are those in beautiful locations, which have a strong sense of place and plenty of detail in the design. We say ‘Acres Wild is experienced at making beautiful gardens, which are designed to be used and are easy to maintain.’ acreswild.co.uk
ANDY STURGEON DESIGN
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A high-profile designer of innovative, contemporary gardens, Andy (below left) is a regular at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show. This year, he will reveal his ninth show garden for M&G – a woodland glade with dramatic pools and burnt timber sculptures. From his Brighton base, he designs public and private gardens in the UK and abroad, and current work includes a new garden for the National Trust at Beningbrough Hall, North Yorkshire. He says ‘It’s a very exciting project – we’re working on different areas, including a Mediterranean garden and circular hedged enclosures in the walled garden.’ andysturgeon.com
ARABELLA LENNOX-BOYD LANDSCAPE DESIGN
[1] Arne Maynard in his garden in Monmouthshire. [2] Andy Sturgeon is an RHS Chelsea Flower Show regular
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One of the most accomplished garden and landscape designers of our times, Arabella has more than 40 years of experience. She decided recently to wind down her business, but still designs on a more personal basis. ‘I’m enjoying myself more than ever with wonderful old clients and appreciative new, younger ones.’ She says ‘In recent years, I have loved travelling to see plants in the wild. Nature is a wonderful teacher.’ We say ‘Arabella’s gardens are based on solid design principles with beautiful planting. Her own garden at Gresgarth Hall in Lancashire is the perfect representation of her work.’ arabellalennoxboyd.com
ARNE MAYNARD GARDEN DESIGN Over the past 25 years, Arne (left) has become synonymous with elegant country-garden style, combining romantic planting with strong green architecture and beautiful detailing. Recently, he has been taking on more work abroad, relishing the challenge of new climates. At home, in response to demand for cut-flower gardens, he is designing complex planting plans that work on the idea of colour gradation. He says ‘We’re not designing fashion or statement pieces; our gardens are all about horticulture and the art of gardening. They are landscapes to be gardened, from the compost heap up.’ We say ‘Arne makes real gardens that blend seamlessly into their setting. Designed to be lived in and used, they are as functional as they are beautiful.’ arnemaynard.com
BALSTON AGIUS Michael Balston and Marie-Louise Agius have worked together since 2010 and have a large portfolio of private and estate gardens. Michael’s background is in architecture, while Marie-Louise is a director of Exbury Gardens in Hampshire. Their beautiful designs combine sophisticated landscaping with interesting planting, and current projects include a new Maggie’s Centre in Leeds, working in partnership with Heatherwick Studio, and a new garden area at Exbury. They say ‘Making a garden is like conducting an orchestra. We work throughout with other specialists to create gardens that work hard in every season.’ balstonagius.co.uk
BUNNY GUINNESS DESIGN Bunny Guinness has been creating gardens for 30 years and now works with her daughter, Unity, on both private and public projects. Recent projects have included a garden for a hotel and spa in Gloucestershire, and a Horatio’s Garden for the Midland Centre for Spinal Injuries in Oswestry. She says ‘We work in a very personal way. When we visit clients for the first time, we spend the whole day with them, sketching out ideas on a survey plan so that they feel part of the process.’ bunnyguinness.com e
ANDREW MONTGOMERY
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top 2 5 CHRISTOPHER BRADLEY-HOLE Christopher studied architecture and this is evident in his approach to garden design. His creations are all about geometry, proportion and dividing a space up, though not in an overt way. ‘When I started, there was a lot of hard landscaping: these lines increasingly now come from blocks of yew or hornbeam, avenues of native trees or mounds of clipped shrubs.’ Working in the public and private realm, he designs in his own right and with Brita von Shoenaich. He says ‘My leitmotif is calm excitement. It’s an oxymoron, but I think there has to be a level of intensity or surprise in a design to make it stand out.’ christopherbradley-hole.co.uk
CLEVE WEST Known for his holistic, therapeutic gardens that aim to forge a close connection with nature, Cleve has an almost reverential respect for landscape and the natural world. This is at the core of his work, which includes private gardens and public spaces. The projects he finds most rewarding are for schools, hospitals or hospices, such as Horatio’s Garden at Salisbury District Hospital, and a new Maggie’s Centre in Cardiff. He says ‘I try to respond to the landscape in a thoughtful way and to minimise the impact on the land. Structure in a garden is important, but don‘t overdo it.’ clevewest.com
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DEL BUONO GAZERWITZ LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE London-based Tommaso del Buono and Paul Gazerwitz (right) are known for their elegant urban gardens with sculptural green architecture, and are now designing more floriferous country gardens here and abroad. A second office in Florence oversees Italian projects, such as an apothecary garden at the Davines headquarters in Parma, led by Tommaso. Paul is working on a site in Connecticut and OmVed Gardens in Highgate. They say ‘We’ve evolved from clean geometry to more curvaceous lines. Strong bones are important, but on top of that you can be bold with the planting.’ delbuono-gazerwitz.co.uk
GEORGE CARTER GARDEN DESIGN George’s elegant, formal gardens are inspired by the simple geometry of seventeenth-century designs. As a garden historian, he is often called in to update historic gardens. His current projects include Somerleyton Hall in Suffolk and Cholmondeley Castle in Cheshire, where he plans to link spaces and replant borders. He says ‘I don’t want my gardens to “smell more of paint than plants”, as the diarist John Evelyn wrote. So architectural elements are likely to be living structures rather than built.’ georgecartergardens.co.uk
[1] Tommaso del Buono (on left) and Paul Gazerwitz are known for their chic town gardens. [2] Dan Pearson is passionate about bringing nature into urban spaces
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Dan (right) is one of the country’s foremost garden designers and has a strong international profile. Ongoing public projects include the revitalisation of Dartington Hall gardens in Devon and the Delos area at Sissinghurst. He has been working on Tokachi Millennium Forest in Hokkaido since 2000 and is collaborating with Thomas Doxiadis on an Aegean island. He also designs for private clients and is passionate about bringing nature into urban spaces. He says ‘Each of our gardens is deeply embedded in its place. We are making sustainable landscapes that will inspire people to re-engage with the environment.’ We say ‘Dan is a magician with plants, creating beautifully crafted gardens with intuitive schemes based on a deep horticultural knowledge.’ danpearsonstudio.com e 172 JUNE 2019 HOUSEANDGARDEN.CO.UK
ANDREW MONTGOMERY; OWEN GALE
DAN PEARSON STUDIO
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top 2 5 [1] Julian and Isabel Bannerman. [2] Jinny Blom’s designs enhance natural diversity
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Well established, with a select list of high-profile clients, Isabel and Julian (above) have a distinctive style epitomised by their own gardens at Hanham Court near Bath and Trematon Castle in Cornwall: romantic designs full of soft, fragrant plantings that flow around ruins and follies. Having just moved on from Trematon, they will no doubt embark on another landmark Bannerman garden soon. They say ‘You have to know when to leave a garden alone. Restraint is very important in our gardens.’ We say ‘The Bannermans are adept at drawing the magic out of a place, starting with its natural flora, light and shade and architectural details.’ bannermandesign.com
JAMES ALEXANDERSINCLAIR Chairman of the RHS Gardens Committee and a member of the RHS Council, James is on a mission to bring horticulture to a wider sphere. He has been designing gardens for many years and has a wide portfolio of private projects, as well as show and public gardens. James feels 174 JUNE 2019 HOUSEANDGARDEN.CO.UK
that his recent design for Horatio’s Garden at Glasgow’s Queen Elizabeth University Hospital is one of the most meaningful gardens he has created. He says ‘We are much more in touch now with the natural world and what’s happening to the planet – and it all starts with the garden. We need to share the love.’ jamesalexandersinclair.com
JO THOMPSON LANDSCAPE & GARDEN DESIGN Although garden design is a second career for Jo, her profile has risen quickly over the past decade, thanks to a string of successful Chelsea gardens – her 10th will be unveiled at this year’s show. With a team of four, she juggles many projects – from roof terraces to large private gardens. She is currently working on an estate, which was partly designed by Humphry Repton, and a garden originally created by Vita SackvilleWest. She is also collaborating with landscape architects Gustafson Porter + Bowman on landscaping and planting for the prestigious Chelsea Barracks development. We say ‘Jo’s strength is her planting, which is soft, feminine and delicate rather than bold and blocky.’ jothompson-garden-design.co.uk
JINNY BLOM
Having given up a career in psychology 18 years ago, Jinny (above) has risen to the top ranks of her profession and now runs a team of 10. Her multi-disciplinary approach embraces art, architecture and conservation. She recently finished a garden for the Fife Arms hotel in Braemar, a collaboration with owners Hauser & Wirth, and is working at Waddesdon Manor in Buckinghamshire. Land use is a major interest: the projects that drive her are large farms and estates, where she devises schemes that combine ‘an intelligent amount of garden’ with thoughtful land management and conservation. She says ‘The countryside has been so degraded, and I am ambitious to restore what has been destroyed. I dig deep into the DNA of each tract of land, working to reveal and enhance its true identity and natural diversity.’ jinnyblom.com
KIM WILKIE
Kim is known for his thoughtful, multi-layered approach to landscape design. On each project, he researches the history, ecology and associations of the land to create modern-day schemes that work with nature. He gave up his London office seven years ago to work from his Hampshire farm, where he has 40 acres and a herd of Longhorn cattle. ‘Increasingly, I’m interested in farmsteads and their relation to the wider landscape,’ he says. ‘In the seventeenth century, manor houses were laid out with
enclosures and forecourts beside them, which were full of animals, fruit trees and productivity, so I’m bringing these back into the design.’ Instead of ornamental parterres in front of the house, he is creating duck ponds and orchards. ‘Animals increase the microbial life of the soil, encourage insects and create a more balanced, natural environment.’ People say ‘Kim has the power to influence things. We don’t want him to spend all the time with his cows.’ Christopher Woodward, director, Garden Museum. kimwilkie.com e
ANDREW MONTGOMERY
I & J BANNERMAN GARDEN DESIGNERS
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top 2 5
LUCIANO’S CURRENT PROJECTS INCLUDE PRIVATE GARDENS IN FORMENTERA, DALLAS AND HIS BELOVED TUSCANY
MAZZULLO + RUSSELL LANDSCAPE DESIGN Emma Mazzullo and Libby Russell worked with Arabella Lennox-Boyd for many years before setting up their practice in 2014. The creators of many top-end London gardens, they are increasingly working on larger country designs. Emma oversees the hardlandscaping and Libby the planting. They say ‘It works well – we bounce ideas off each other. Horticulture isn’t a competitive sport: it’s about sharing.’ We say ‘Emma and Libby use their years of experience to produce highly tuned designs with feminine planting.’ mazzullorusselllandscapedesign.com
PIP MORRISON Previously partnered with Mary Keen, Pip is now working solo, with several interesting projects on the go. He is more comfortable, he says, in the larger-scale country landscapes of historic houses, where he can peel back the layers and pin down the essence of the place. Private projects include an early-eighteenth-century garden at Chettle House in Dorset and a new two-acre walled garden at Auckland Castle in County Durham. We say ‘Pip was a Christopher Lloyd protégé, working at Great Dixter in his holidays while studying landscape architecture at Edinburgh University. His intuitive way with plants shines in his work.’ pip@pipmorrison.co.uk
LUCIANO GIUBBILEI
Italian-born Luciano (above) rose to the forefront of garden design when still in his twenties by creating sleek, urban gardens known for their green structure in top London postcodes. In 2011, his design took a different turn. Feeling that he should expand his mind and repertoire, he went to see Fergus Garrett, the head gardener at Great Dixter, to learn more about plants. ‘I needed to progress and be challenged,’ he says. As a result, there has been a distinct shift in the type of gardens he is designing, with larger landscape projects in Europe and the US. Current work includes private gardens in Formentera, Dallas and his beloved Tuscany, and his f irst public project at Raby Castle in County Durham. We say ‘Almost a victim of his own success, Luciano was typecast for his minimalist London gardens, defined by clipped greenery and clean geometry, but his recent designs prove that he can be a master with plants, too.’ lucianogiubbilei.com 176 JUNE 2019 HOUSEANDGARDEN.CO.UK
Robert runs a busy landscape design practice with a team of 12 in Cambridge and Worcestershire offices. Working on about 30 projects at any one time, he juggles small-scale private gardens with high-profile public work, such as the award-winning children’s area, The Magic Garden, at Hampton Court. He has made his name with contemporary gardens for cathedrals (Hereford, Southwark and Exeter), colleges (Clare and King’s in Cambridge) and schools (Highgate and Uppingham). He says ‘Underpinning our work is the desire to deliver imaginative, innovative design that will benefit current and future generations.’ robertmyers-associates.co.uk e
ANDREW MONTGOMERY
ROBERT MYERS ASSOCIATES
Call 01420 588444
Fine settings for fine dining
info@gazeburvill.com
You are Seated at the Top Table www.gazeburvill.com
top 2 5 Based in north Oxfordshire, Rupert is a low-profile designer with highprofile clients who value his discretion. A protégé of Rosemary Verey, he studied at Wisley and Kew, and spent a year working in the Garden of Ninfa in Italy and a garden in Woodstock, before realising he preferred making gardens to maintaining them. A oneman band, he works closely with head gardeners to execute his plans, often reworking old gardens within their existing framework, imposing the lightest of touches on the landscape. He says ‘If someone went round one of my gardens I hope they wouldn’t know I’d been there.’ 07785-228384
SARAH PRICE LANDSCAPES Sarah (left) recently took time off to have children, but still managed to create a gold-medal-winning garden at last year’s RHS Chelsea Flower Show. Known for her high-profile work at the Olympic Park, she has a number of projects in the pipeline. The one she is most excited about is local to her Monmouthshire home: ‘A Tudor manor with a walled garden, a lake, beautiful outbuildings and amazing views. The clients want to open a nursery and art studios, and run courses.’ She is also designing a Maggie’s Garden in Southampton. She says ‘I have always loved perennials, but I’m becoming more interested in using trees and clipped, cloud-formed shrubs to create rooms and transitional spaces.’ We say ‘Sarah is one of the most sought-after garden designers in Britain, admired for her painterly, plant-filled landscapes that bridge the gap between wild and cultivated.’ sarahpricelandscapes.com
[1] Sarah Price’s landscapes bridge the gap between wild and cultivated. [2] Tom StuartSmith is an advocate of community engagement in horticulture
TODD LONGSTAFFEGOWAN
[2]
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As gardens adviser to Historic Royal Palaces, Todd has carved a niche in strategic planning for historic landscapes, but his work is not all about restoration. ‘Using history to inform the present gives us scope to invent as well as build on the legacy of the past,’ he says. ‘Planning for the future sometimes involves a 300-year
management programme for the landscape. It’s a pleasure to work in this way, over a period of many years.’ Todd recently won a competition to work at Burghley House in Lincolnshire, where he is developing a new garden area with ‘topiary inspired by the weird and wonderful roofscape of the house’. He is also working on a garden for the Morgan Library in New York. We say ‘Todd’s forte is designing gardens for places of outstanding historical and cultural importance.’ tlg-landscape.co.uk
TOM STUARTSMITH With a team of 15, Tom (left) has run a busy practice for 20 years and has an international reputation as one of the UK’s foremost garden designers. Current projects include a master plan for the new RHS Garden Bridgewater near Manchester (opening in 2020) and large public gardens for the David Chipperfield building at The Hepworth Wakefield art gallery in Yorkshire. Tom intends to move his studio to his home in Hertfordshire, where he will create a sustainable, mixed-use building and a new garden to form a centre for community and therapeutic gardening. He says ‘Community engagement in horticulture is something that interests me more and more. Gardening and the joy of working with plants is something that should be available to everyone and sharing this within a community can be transformational.’ We say ‘Tom combines a naturalistic style with a modern edge in creating gardens that are both beautiful and accessible.’ tomstuartsmith.co.uk
XA TOLLEMACHE Xa has been designing gardens since 1996. Over the years, she has created hundreds of private gardens, many for large country estates, but recently she was commissioned to design The Global Growth Vegetable Garden at RHS Hyde Hall in Essex, which includes edible plants from round the world. Her own garden at Helmingham Hall in Suffolk is well known and admired. She says ‘I’m not affected by fashion. What I’ve learned is that you need good structure in a garden, and good plants. Plants with an AGM (Award of Garden Merit) have earned that award for a reason.’ xa-tollemache.co.uk m
ANDREW MONTGOMERY
[1]
RUPERT GOLBY
EDIT
I n s p i ra t i o n a l I N T E R I O R S , b e a u t i f u l G A R D E N S , fascinating people, compelling stories
PAG E
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NGOC MINH NGO
The mown path along the crab apple walk in the private gardens at Petworth House in Sussex is flanked by hedges of fragrant Rosa banksiae var. normalis
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TEXT DAVID NICHOLLS | PHOTOGRAPHS PAUL MASSEY
telling storeys
With the help of interior designer Nicola Harding, a couple in London has united three flats in a nineteenthcentury house to create a family home, using atmospheric colours and a characterful mix of furniture
SITTING ROOM (both pages) Will Foster Studios applied a lacquer paint effect to the walls. A Sixties light from Original in Berlin hangs above the Howe table and ‘Camembert Chairs’. The artwork behind is Punctuation by Shahzia Sikander from Pilar Corrias Gallery. Motif as Transition by the same artist hangs above the chimneypiece. The Arts and Crafts sideboard is from Miles Griffiths Antiques
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W I T H I T S P I T C H E D R O O F, E X P O S E D B E A M S A N D PA N E L B OA R D I N G , T H I S R O O M HAS THE FEEL OF A BARN CONVERSION
FAMILY ROOM (both pages) Nicola has combined Farrow & Ball’s ‘Light Blue’ paint on the walls and panelling with a slightly darker shade – ‘Blue Reef ’ by Pure & Original – on the joinery. Cushions by Tobias & the Angel soften the look of a Howe armchair covered in antique overdyed linen. The wooden crafting table was made by Matthew Cox. Two Vanderhurd rugs help to define the different areas
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KITCHEN/DINING ROOM (both pages) Farrow & Ball’s ‘Elephant’s Breath’ paint was used on the walls, with ‘Dimity’ on the ceiling and ‘Dove Tale’ on the skirting. The painting is A Floating Soul by Koo Jeong A from Pilar Corrias Gallery. Matthew Cox made the bespoke tables. The Plain English units are painted in ‘Aubergine’ eggshell by Pure & Original, with a gloss finish on the matching cupboards.
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N I C O L A’ S P R O J E C T S A R E K N O W N F O R THEIR JUDICIOUS USE OF COLOUR, PAT T E R N A N D W E L L - C H O S E N A N T I Q U E S
SPARE ROOM (opposite) This bedroom features Galbraith & Paul’s ‘Lattice’ wallpaper in baby blue/kiwi. The armchair is from Dean Antiques. The blind is made from a printed linen by Tobias & the Angel, trimmed with a Claremont velvet. BATHROOM (this page) Farrow & Ball’s ‘Setting Plaster’ paint picks up on pink tiles by Emery & Cie. Howe’s ‘Mark Chair’ is covered in green towelling fabric
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W
hat is the point of form if it’s at the expense of function?’ The rhetorical question is posed by one of the owners of this west London maisonette. He is paraphrasing a maxim of modernist architecture – ‘form follows function’, the belief that the purpose of a building or object should be the determining factor of its look. Out of context, the owner’s comment might suggest a rather cold approach to the idea of ‘home’ – utilitarian spaces created without the joys of expression or ornamentation. But, as the photographs on these pages illustrate, this is not the case. How could it be, when the interior designer whose help he and his wife sought was Nicola Harding? The Harding & Read founder’s projects are known for their atmospheredefining approach to colour, judicious use of pattern and well-chosen antiques. More importantly, says the owner, ‘Nicola understands that family life is messy. You can’t have a home that fights against the way you live.’ The North American owners first moved to London from New York 16 years ago. In 2008 they bought the raised ground-floor f lat in a nineteenth-century stucco-fronted house on a pretty garden square. They later acquired two other flats in the same building to accommodate their growing family – they now have two children. The newly rejoined f loors provided plenty of space for Nicola to work with, including three bedrooms. The owners brought to the equation an impressive art collection, a love of travel and a sense of family history: he is Canadian of Indian descent and she is an American whose family is Burmese. Antique dealer and decorator Robert Kime has said that, for him, the starting point for the decorating scheme in any room is a good rug. In the case of the sitting room at the front of the building, the rug was one that the couple already owned: a large Arabesque design made by The Rug Company in collaboration with Designers Guild. Nicola has built a moody, grown-up space around it, with a bespoke lacquer paint effect applied to the walls. This frames a mix of new and antique furniture, from French Revival to Arts and Crafts to Fifties; the pieces sit together as though the room has been filled over a lifetime, if not generations. This sense of being built up over time is something that was important to the clients. ‘Like so many of the houses in the area, ours had been chopped about over the years,’ says the wife. ‘But some of our neighbours’ houses have been in their families for years and have a sense of character. They are playful and a bit bohemian.’ It is a notoriously difficult look to achieve from scratch. ‘When people walk in, they get a sense that it is our place,’ says the husband. ‘That is down to Nicola’s art of listening and understanding.’ Helping to re-infuse the space with a sense of history was Nicola’s network of specialist artisans. ‘She introduced us to a brilliant cast of characters,’ says his wife, referring to blacksmiths and lacquer experts, furniture makers and
antique dealers. ‘The beauty comes from the handmade nature of everything,’ says her husband. ‘Things were crafted with such quality that their beauty is astounding.’ Extending from the front to the back of one side of the double-fronted house is an open kitchen and dining area. It is voluminous and purposeful – the pièce de résistance of the project. Above a sweep of dark Shaker-influenced base units along one side, zellige tiles climb up the wall until about a metre from the high ceiling. This faces a wall of nearly full-height Plain English cabinetry in the same style and colour, although here in a glossier finish. Between the two is a refectory table, which Nicola designed to rise when needed to the height of a work surface. It is a clever alternative to an island. When it is at its lower level, the owners can combine it with a crafting table from the family room at the back of the house to seat 30 for dinner. Howe ‘Camembert Chairs’ – seen throughout the house in different colours – are brought together for these parties: an impossibility in most London kitchens. ‘We immediately loved Nicola’s colour schemes,’ explains the wife. This is most evident in the family room, where vibrant blues dominate. With its pitched roof, exposed beams and panel boarding, it has the feel of a barn conversion. The sofa is comfortable and the open fire inviting; the crafting table looks as though it sees plenty of action; and, along one wall of a built-in bookcase, a hidden projector screen can descend at the press of a button. ‘The rhythms of a house change throughout the day,’ the wife says. Her husband continues the theme: ‘Our home has to work really hard. It’s filled with kids after school, there are friends round for dinner, grandparents visit regularly. It’s not very big for what we put it through, but it works brilliantly’ m Harding & Read: hardingandread.com
GIRLS’ BEDROOM (both pages) ‘Sakura’ wallpaper in sky by Galbraith & Paul and a Vanderhurd rug provide a foil for a dark pink ‘St Bernard’ armchair from Howe and custom-made headboards covered in a matching fabric from Claremont. The curtain fabric is by Tobias & the Angel, which also made the shade seen on the Pooky table lamp. Felix Lighting Specialists made the wall lights
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New for old
A cottage in a Sussex village has been transformed into a distinctive family home by the designer Beata Heuman, who has given the interiors a bold update with her confident use of colour and playful blend of styles TEXT ELFREDA POWNALL | PHOTOGRAPHS PAUL MASSEY | LOCATIONS EDITOR ELIZABETH METCALFE
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DINING ROOM (opposite) A bespoke light designed by Beata hangs above a walnut table and set of Biedermeier chairs, with loose covers in ‘Legacy’ by Sheila Combes echoing the blue in the kilim. SITTING ROOM (this page) A Matisse-style throw from BFGF hangs on the wall behind an antique sofa with cushions in ‘Victor Hugo’ linen mix by Le Manach
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ike many House & Garden readers, the owner of this charming cottage saw an article on Beata Heuman’s London f lat in the magazine (in the September 2014 issue), loved what she saw and decided: ‘That’s the person who I’d like to design my house.’ Unlike some of us, though, she followed through: she contacted Beata and commissioned her – and she now considers herself the happiest homeowner in Sussex. Together with her husband and their two sons, she had downsized from a large, but inconveniently located barn conversion to this smaller house in a village. The late David Myers of Adam Architecture – ‘Big hitters for our small project,’ she explains – had designed an elegant extension, and he and Beata worked amicably together from the start. Though the mid seventeenth-century cottage has a front door on to the village street, many visitors prefer to use the back door, which is painted a strong raspberry red. This opens into the boot and laundry room, with its cleverly concealed storage, including twin blue cupboards with seagrass façades, which f lank a central sink with a tall, scallop-edged marble splashback. ‘Curves bring movement and make things more dynamic and less rigid,’ enthuses Beata. There is a pair of curved wall brackets in the teal blue dining room next door, though here it is the mix of eras and colours that is most striking: a set of early nineteenth-century Biedermeier chairs surrounds an antique walnut table; there is a bespoke rattan sideboard by Soane painted bright orange; and the central light fitting was designed by Beata in the style of Victorian billiard-room lights. A narrow painted frieze along the top of each bookcase was inspired by patterns the owners
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OPPOSITE FROM TOP RIGHT White cabinets and polished Esmeralda marble worktops reflect light back into the kitchen. A ‘Giraffe Runner’ from Christopher Farr and a Danish Bornholm clock add graphic elements to the hall. The smart utility room has brass wall lights from Visual Comfort and cupboard façades in Pierre Frey’s ‘Aquila’ wallpaper. SNUG (this page) Botanical prints make a striking display
MAIN BEDROOM (both pages) Seagrass wallpaper from Abbott + Boyd creates a subtle backdrop for linen curtains by John Boyd Textiles in the chirp colourway, an armchair in ‘Greenbrier’ linen by Nicky Haslam Design and Vaughan’s ‘Compiegne Leaf Chandelier’. A cushion in orange velvet, a headboard in Le Manach’s ‘Mortefontaine’ in bleu vert, both from Pierre Frey, and a silk lampshade by Pooky add colour
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‘CURVES BRING MOVEMENT AND MAKE THINGS MORE DYNAMIC AND LESS RIGID’
had seen at Charleston, the Bloomsbury Group’s Sussex house. They also collect works by Duncan Grant – one of its residents. The owner had stressed that she did not want the house to be too ‘of the moment’, so it wouldn’t feel dated in years to come. Beata agreed and they both rejected a conventional cottage-kitchen look. ‘I wanted the kitchen to be fresh – kind of Forties and Fifties in feel, as though the house had evolved over time,’ Beata says. The cupboard fronts are plain and she has used a subtle ribbed wooden finish, painted a strong green, for the central island, which has a copper work surface. The lights, too, are copper, while the Swedish cupboard handles, in several different shapes, are brass. ‘People become obsessed about every metal finish in a kitchen being identical. It’s much less rigid to mix it up a bit.’ The looseness of this approach is balanced by Beata’s meticulous approach to planning, which included photographing and measuring the owners’ favourite possessions before designing clever ways to display them. There are still plenty of opportunities for fun: in the sitting room a Matisse-like throw, on the wall above the sofa, provides an unexpected centrepiece for the room. ‘It’s fresh and makes the feel of the room younger,’ Beata says. A gloomy inglenook fireplace opposite was cheered up with patterned handmade tiles, which reflect light back into the room. Hand-painted versions from Balineum feature in the pretty cloakroom across the hall while, in the snug next door, hand-painted tiles from Norton Tile Company are used to create a flat, modern take on a Delft chimneypiece. Here, vintage finds including a pair of cheap and cheerful pine chests of drawers and botanical prints in extravagant Eighties-style frames bought at auction create an inviting space for the owners’ sons to relax in. Things are grander in the double-height main bedroom, part of the new extension, with grasscloth wallpaper on the walls and ceiling, and a sophisticated Elsie de Wolfe-style headboard in a bold chintz, which makes a bright focus in this calm room. The bathroom next door mixes rustic and sophisticated elements, its ceiling of rough painted planks and beams providing a contrast with the smooth marble used to create a surround for the bath and splashbacks for the two basins. His is pared-back on nickel legs, while hers rests on a curved vanity unit, creating a corner of Forties chic. Storage with added glamour is the key to the dressing room, with cupboards curtained in Beata’s orange and inky blue ‘Palm Drop’ fabric, its deep blue motif picked up in the built in-drawers with their mirrored fronts. In here, as elsewhere in the house where many of the windows are small and low, Beata has taken the roman blinds up to the ceiling to make the room appear taller. The bold originality of Beata’s designs earned her the title of House & Garden Interior Designer of the Year in 2018. This characterful house proves, once again, what a worthy winner she was m Beata Heuman: beataheuman.com 198 JUNE 2019 HOUSEANDGARDEN.CO.UK
DRESSING ROOM (above) Walls in Farrow & Ball’s ‘Stiffkey Blue’ pick up on the inky blue motif in Beata’s ‘Palm Drop’ linen mix fabric. Her ‘Dodo Egg’ pendant light adds a playful touch. EN-SUITE BATHROOM (below) Pale Arabescata marble has been used for the elegant bath surround and splashback. The distinctive coral-themed hanging light is a design by Vaughan
‘Long-Twigged Broom’ (left) and ‘Enchanter’s Nightshade-like Cuphea’ antique engravings, by S Curtis, both 23 x 15.5cm, from £45, from Sotheran’s
Handpainted Swedish ‘Mora Clock 28-4’, 202 x 58 x 20cm, £1,200, from Gustavian Lamp made from ‘Plaster Urn’, 44 x 38 x 23cm, £600 for a pair of urns, from In Da Cottage; with silk shade (salmon/ rose pink), 40cm diameter, £230, from Nushka
LEFT Hand-painted blue ‘Flowers One’ Delft wall tiles, 12.7cm square, £15 each, from Norton Tile Company BELOW ‘Library Standing Lamp’ (polished brass), 145 x 45cm reach, £1,410, from Paolo Moschino for Nicholas Haslam*
get the look
*PRICE EXCLUDES LAMPSHADE
I like to mix things up a bit with quirky pieces that keep the look fresh and original
RIGHT Wooden ‘Octagonal Star Table’ with inlaid decoration (small), 46 x 46cm diameter, £990, from Vaughan. FAR RIGHT ‘Palm Drop’ (squid ink/ brick), viscose/linen, 135cm wide, £100 a metre, from Beata Heuman HOUSEANDGARDEN.CO.UK JUNE 2019 199
KITCHEN AND DINING ROOM (both pages) A contemporary chandelier with vintage glass globes and industrial-style metal pendant lights complement a bespoke kitchen by Jack Trench, which includes tall oak cupboards, an island in Fior di Pesco marble and a patinated smooth-finish concrete floor by Mass Concrete. A Joseph Goody painting presides over an antique Irish dining table, Oswald Haerdtl chairs upholstered in a Robert Allen cotton velvet and a vintage armchair covered in Scalamandré’s ‘Paradise Velvet’ from Stark
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AS FATE WOULD H AV E I T
An instinct for recognising talent paid off handsomely for the owners of a Victorian house in north London when they selected the decorator Rachel Chudley to shake up its interiors with her exuberant approach TEXT EMILY TOBIN | PHOTOGRAPHS MICHAEL SINCLAIR
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n this corner of north London, the streets are lined with doll’s-house-like villas with handsome Victorian façades – the sort of places in which characters from an Oscar Wilde play might happily reside. But the traditional exterior of one house in particular belies the offbeat rooms within. Lucy and Adam Tudhope’s home is a far cry from nineteenth-century England; conjured from the imagination of Rachel Chudley, it is an exuberant hymn to daring design. In 2013, Rachel spent a month touring the US with the British band Mumford & Sons, sourcing props and creating costumes for their stage shows alongside the immersive theatre specialist Reuben Feels. It was then that she met Lucy and Adam – the band’s manager. ‘I can’t tell you why, but I remember thinking even then that this was a fateful moment,’ she recalls. Two years passed before she set up her interior-design practice and it was not long after this that Lucy spotted her on Instagram. ‘We were looking to redecorate our old house, so I called her and we clicked instantly,’ says Lucy. ‘The design process had already begun when we then decided to buy our current house, so the project turned from a revamp into a head-to-toe refurbishment.’ Rachel attributes the Tudhopes’ decision to hire her to their instinct for nurturing young talent – Adam’s line of work being a case in point. ‘They were some of the first people to believe in me,’ she says ‘They wanted an interior that would bring delight to their lives on a daily basis, and I think they enjoyed the rawness of the experience.’ As a fledgling interior designer, this was Rachel’s biggest job to date but, as she is the first to point out, it was a collaborative process with the architect Duncan Woodburn and the builder Matt Elgood, who helped provide solutions for some of her wilder ideas. ‘The project was such a pleasure to be a part of because no one was precious about their role in it,’ says Lucy. Notably, it was Duncan who came up with the Heath Robinson-style laundry chute from the children’s bedrooms to the utility room below, as well as the button-activated bookcase that retracts to reveal a secret set of stairs to a playroom in the attic – surely the stuff of dreams for the Tudhopes’ two young sons. However, examples of Rachel’s design bravura are also plentiful throughout. Should you decide to chop off the top three f loors of the house, remove the interior walls and peer down to the ground floor, you would see a map of the Catskill Mountains in south-eastern New York state, where the family has a cabin, denoted by different shades of concrete and slices of brass inlay. A small brass dot in the floor of the kitchen marks the exact location of the cabin. It is a wonderfully thoughtful and highly original
DINING ROOM (above left) Three sets of ombré linen curtains were hand-dyed a subtle pinkish apricot by Lucy Bathurst of Nest for the Crittall french windows. SITTING ROOM (above right and opposite) The curved sofa was designed by Rachel’s studio so that all four family members can curl up on it at the same time. Its rich teal velvet upholstery, red hand-dyed velvet curtains, also by Lucy Bathurst, which hang from a bespoke copper rail, and a velvet ottoman pick up on the colours of the ‘Verdure’ wallpaper in tapestry green by Melissa White for Zoffany 202 JUNE 2019 HOUSEANDGARDEN.CO.UK
concept, which, given the fact the map cannot be seen even when you are inside the house, hints at the unconventional brilliance and boundlessness of Rachel’s imagination. Meanwhile, in the bedroom, exaggerated strips of diagonal moulding run up the walls and continue across the ceiling, delineating the path of the morning sun. Combined with the art deco-inspired headboard designed in Rachel’s studio with Betina Røge Jensen and walls painted the palest shade of powder pink, the room is every inch a Forties Hollywood boudoir. ‘We asked Rachel to push us as far as she could – and she did. The ideas she came up with were wonderful,’ enthuses Lucy. As with all her projects, Rachel worked closely with the paint specialist Donald Kaufman, her fatherin-law, to create bespoke colours. The walls in the spare room are a seaweed hue, while the hall is a stormy grey – a backdrop against which several works of art, sourced by Victoria Williams and Cassie Beadle of The Cob Gallery, sing. ‘It’s such a deep and unusual colour, which magically transforms each area it is used in,’ explains Rachel. ‘On the staircase, it’s dark and moody, but in the entrance it’s almost green.’ Building the art collection was a year-long process, with a number of pieces providing a springboard for Rachel’s schemes. A large painting by Joseph Goody anchored the colour palette for much of the kitchen and was referenced by Lucy Bathurst of Nest, who hand-dyed three sets of ombré curtains for the Crittall french windows. Lucy was responsible for all the window dressings in the house, including the translucent voile blind consisting of prettily stitched modernist shapes in the main bathroom. ‘She has an incredible instinct for colour and an artistic approach to textiles,’ says Rachel. The bathroom is Lucy’s favourite room: ‘It’s one of the calmest and most beautiful spaces I’ve had the luxury of being in.’ This is a jewel box of a house, created by clients who were instinctively confident in the people they hired. ‘Rachel oozes enthusiasm in everything she does, which is very infectious,’ says Lucy. ‘I thought the process of doing up a house would be much more practical, but it was like working with an artist’ Rachel Chudley: rachelchudley.com
‘WE ASKED RACHEL TO PUSH US AS FAR AS SHE COULD. THE IDEAS SHE CAME UP WITH WERE WONDERFUL’
HALL (opposite) Walls in a stormy grey created by paint specialist Donald Kaufman creates an atmospheric backdrop for artworks from The Cob Gallery, including an abstract painting by Joseph Goody (left). The simple, elegant ‘Luxor Lantern’ is from Pooky. STUDIO (above left) Oak cupboards open to reveal a pull-down desk, a sink and a craft table. A vintage ‘Ellipse’ rocking chair by Renato Zevi makes a stylish statement. BATHROOM (above right) Black walls and concrete tiles from Mosaic del Sur set off a basin and taps from Aston Matthews HOUSEANDGARDEN.CO.UK JUNE 2019 205
MAIN BEDROOM The Forties-style headboard was designed by Rachel’s studio to line up with the strips of diagonal moulding that delineate the path of the morning sun. A Woodstock landscape photograph taken by Lucy hangs over an art deco fireplace from a reclamation yard
get the look
Hand-spun aluminium ‘Portobello’ pendant light (gloss black), by Assemblyroom, 13.5 x 49.5 diameter, £400, from Innermost
In the bathroom, walls in a bespoke Donald Kaufman paint colour contrast with the dark stained iroko bath surround ‘Stone Marble – 16 Lampshade’, 30.5 x 41cm diameter, £155, from Pentreath & Hall ‘Maya Linen Towel’ (charcoal), 170 x 90cm, £22, from Hammam & Home ‘Hermann Vintage’ armchair (mustard yellow), 83 x 66 x 82cm, £354, from Maisons du Monde
‘Jersey Standard Pillowcase’ (white), cotton, £10 for a pair, from Marks & Spencer
‘Viggo’ (from top: mordoré, canard), cotton/silk velvet, 142cm wide, £192 a metre, from Pierre Frey
I use colour and texture to create distinctive interiors that reflect the passions of their ınhabitants
King size ‘Manette Bed’ (platinum velvet), 152 x 210 x 160cm, £2,195 (excluding mattress), from Soho Home. For suppliers’ details, see Stockists page m HOUSEANDGARDEN.CO.UK JUNE 2019 207
D u c hy o r i g i n a l With inviting new interiors by Annabel Elliot, Prince Charles’s sixteenth-century house in Cornwall is at the centre of a community regeneration project that includes a sustainably designed plant nursery TEXT FIONA GOLFAR | PHOTOGRAPHS PAUL MASSEY
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OPPOSITE Built in the 1540s and restored in the eighteenth century, Restormel Manor is an elegant house with a crenellated façade. It is divided into a central hub and two outer wings, each with its own entrance. THIS PAGE The dining room in the central area features pale blue ‘Egerton’ wallpaper from Cole & Son. A nineteenth-century pine bookcase from Old Palace Antiques in the nearby town of Lostwithiel has been painted in ‘Shaded White’ by Farrow & Ball. The dining chairs are from Oka, and the tablecloth and curtains by Volga Linen
The manor house and cottages are furnished with an eclectic mix of British brands, market finds, country antiques and vintage textiles
MAIN SITTING ROOM Walls painted in a light blue by Sanderson are a calming backdrop for textiles in a variety of colours and patterns. These include ‘Merino Wool’ in turmeric by Lewis & Wood on the armchair and ‘Kentmere Check’ by Colefax and Fowler on the ottoman. The antique rug was bought at auction. The sofa on the right is covered in a Welsh blanket, with cushions in a selection of fabrics from Bennison. The large blue lamp on the table was originally a Spanish painted terracotta oil jar. Annabel found the painted panel behind, featuring f lowers and birds of paradise, at an antique fair in Bath HOUSEANDGARDEN.CO.UK JUNE 2019 211
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n Cornish, Restormel means ‘king’s tower hill’, a place where one might imagine a king could sit at the summit of his estate, surveying his subjects below. Not so the present Duke and Duchess of Cornwall, who have made Restormel Manor – nestled in the heart of the Fowey Valley and their official Cornish residence when they visit the county – into the hub of a thriving local concern, restoring business, hospitality and a spirit of community to the town of Lostwithiel. The thirteenth-century Restormel Castle is now a magical ruin that rests upon on a Norman mound. It overlooks the manor, an elegant 1540s house that was restored in the eighteenth century. The River Fowey weaves its way past the crenellated façade and landscaped deer park. Restormel Manor itself is very inviting. It does not feel grand – rather, the intimate sitting rooms are filled with comfortable sofas strewn with blankets, bookshelves bursting with novels waiting to be read and puzzles to be assembled. This is a house that has grown into itself. Wood-fired, salt-glazed vases made by local potters John Webb and Chris Prindl are filled with branches of oak found in the woods. Burnt red and moss green kilims made by Weaver Green are laid throughout. Based in Devon, this forward-thinking company has devised a technique of weaving from recycled plastic bottles that is in keeping with Prince Charles’s interest in sustainability; the result feels remarkably like wool. In the pretty wallpapered bedrooms, toes can sink into sheepskin rugs from Cornish specialists Celtic & Co. ‘His Royal Highness was extremely keen that this estate should be brought into the twenty-first century,’ says Annabel Elliot, the interior designer who is responsible for the relaxed yet refined decoration of the manor house and the cottages in the grounds. All have been furnished with an eclectic mix of British brands, stylishly combined with market finds, country antiques and the odd armchair upholstered in a vintage Moroccan textile. Annabel has the inside track on the royal couple’s taste, as she happens to be the Duchess’s sister. Such is the house’s place at the heart of the community that, when the Duke and Duchess are not in residence, the manor – which has both an indoor pool and a tennis court in its grounds – is available to rent as part of the Duchy Estate. The clever part is that the nine-bedroom manor – which sleeps 18 people – encompasses three separate wings and can therefore be divided into three parts, each with its own kitchen and entrance. The central part of the building is the most formal, with an airy sitting room and a large, elegant pale-blue dining room. The two outer wings have smaller sitting rooms. It allows the house to be transformed in a number of ways depending on what is required by each set of occupants. Follow a Tolkien-esque lane out of Lostwithiel – the go-to town in south Cornwall for antique shops – its hedgerows bursting with honeysuckle, hawthorn, fennel, bluebells and buttercups, and you arrive at the Duchy of Cornwall Nursery. The beautifully designed barn-like building bears the Duke’s coat of arms, and
TOP LEFT The furniture in this sitting room and study in the eastern wing of the house came from antique dealers across the West Country. The sofa is covered in a striped vintage Moroccan blanket. LEFT Annabel also furnished the cottages on the estate. In this kitchen, the English painted dresser is from Déjà-Vu Antiques in Lostwithiel. The Emeco ‘111 Navy Chairs’ are made from recycled Coca-Cola bottles
LEFT Locally cultivated plants for sale at the Duchy of Cornwall Nursery near Lostwithiel include roses, cypresses and hydrangeas. RIGHT A path leads to one of the stone cottages on the Restormel estate. BELOW Visible from both the manor house and the nursery, Restormel Castle is a picturesque thirteenth-century ruin on a Norman mound
The reinvigoration of the estate has been a stylish twenty-first-century success for the Duke of Cornwall and a breath of fresh air for the county LEFT Marguerite daisies, penstemon, trailing ivy, Japanese anemones, heather and grasses are displayed in crates on a cart outside the nursery, a building constructed using timber from the Duchy Estate. BELOW A secluded outdoor dining area at one of the cottages in the grounds of the manor house
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is made from cob, oak and timber sourced from the Duchy Estate. Although the nursery had existed for around 50 years, it had to be rebuilt after the fire that destroyed the original building in 2005. Prince Charles’s intention was to build a place that would inspire and educate, as well as being ecologically sound. So, when it did reopen its doors in 2011, there was rainwater harvesting for the loos, biomass heating and natural springs for irrigation. In addition to supporting the local economy and providing much needed jobs, the aim is for the nursery to be inclusive – not just a shop and café but also a hub for the community. As well as horticultural workshops, there are talks on local history, a programme of children’s activities and, in summer, barbecues and weekend jazz festivals on the terrace. Its entrance porch, overflowing with plants in terracotta pots, is enough to make anyone want to start shopping. The interior is a barn-like space with high ceilings and cross beams with baskets hanging from them. Below these, a gift shop offers everything from children’s toys, Cornish produce and gardening tools to lightweight bamboo plates perfect for taking to the beach. Before reaching the terraces of locally grown plants, there is a café where visitors can enjoy locally sourced food – homemade bread, scones and cakes, fish pies and crab salads made from the daily catch. This is a thriving and evolving eco-system: the nursery is also working on a kitchen garden that will supply the café. The room opens onto a terrace lined with lavender, which looks out over the new bumble bee garden and across the valley to the castle. A pleasant 45-minute walking trail links the two spots. As Karl Taylor, the Nursery’s general manager, observes, ‘There is a strong connection here between the landscape, the heritage, the plants and the food and drink we offer. Cornwall has to remain at the heart of what we do. The county is the epicentre of British horticulture, thanks to its temperate climate. No other county can quite compete with the garden riches of Cornwall.’ He cites the classic kitchen gardens at Heligan, re-created by the visionary Sir Tim Smit, or the grandeur of the Victorian planting at nearby National Trust house Lanhydrock. ‘Rather than competing with local growers, we are now increasingly supporting them by stocking as much as we can from the excellence around us.’ Indeed, there is a treasure trove of local plants and trees to be found here, from 10ft tree ferns to around 200 varieties of camellia, all grown in the county. The reinvigoration of the Restormel estate has been a stylish twenty-first-century success for the Duke of Cornwall and a real breath of fresh air for the county. I should know, as I live five minutes away and am a regular visitor to the nursery, and friends of mine often rent the cottages with their families in the summer holidays. When my train from Paddington chugs its way slowly through the valley that leads up to the manor and I look out of the window at the familiar view welcoming me home, it occurs to me that this is indeed a jewel in Cornwall’s crown m For details of Restormel Manor and the cottages available to rent, visit duchyofcornwallholidaycottages.co.uk. For information on the Duchy of Cornwall Nursery, visit duchyofcornwallnursery.co.uk OPPOSITE In this cottage bedroom, a headboard from a local salvage yard is paired with a quilt from The Romantic Englishwoman in Lostwithiel. TOP RIGHT In a bedroom in the main house, Cole & Son’s ‘Sweet Pea’ wallpaper complements a vintage bedcover. The sheepskin rug is from Celtic & Co. RIGHT Annabel chose Farrow & Ball ‘Cooking Apple Green’ paint for this bathroom, which overlooks the Fowey Valley
REVAMP, RE CYCLE , REUSE
GABBY DEEMING and RUTH SLEIGHTHOLME create low-cost schemes with high impact, combining high-street finds with affordable antiques, repurposed objects and unique handmade pieces PHOTOGRAPHS KRISTIN PERERS
THIS PAGE WALLS ‘Washed Linen’ (light blue), £28 a metre, from The Hackney Draper. FURNITURE Screen made from three stretched artist’s canvases, made to order, £37.97 each, from Russell & Chapple; with brass hinges, £2.46 each, from Ironmongery Direct; inner frame painted in ‘Lemon Punch’, £16.42 for 500ml eggshell, from Dulux. ‘Rustic Iron Round Tray Side Table with Paw Feet’, £95, from Rockett St George. ACCESSORIES Painted papier-mâché bowls, made using tissue paper, from £1.50 for five sheets, from Paperchase; attached with wallpaper paste, from £2.50 for 150g, from B&Q. Ceramic traditional glazed rice bowl (red), £36, from Native & Co. Glass candlestick, £9.99, from H&M Home; with dinner candle, 25p, from Flying Tiger Copenhagen. Rayon and cotton dip-dye tassel (royal blue), £10.50; ‘Thelma’ rayon, cotton and wood tieback (sherbet yellow), £56; both from Jessica Light. OPPOSITE PAGE WALLS Curtain in ‘Washed Linen’ (light blue), £28 a metre, from The Hackney Draper. ‘Tidpunkt’ steel curtain rail, £25; with ‘Syrlig’ steel curtain rings with clips and hooks, £3.50 for 10; all from Ikea. Primed cotton canvas, cut and stitched into 216 JUNE 2019 HOUSEANDGARDEN.CO.UK
panels, £14.70 a metre, from Russell & Chapple. FLOOR ‘Jacquard Weave’ cotton bath mat (dark green), £12.99, from H&M Home. FURNITURE Acrylic ‘Barmby Round Standard Soaking Bathtub’, by Premier, £175.99, from Wayfair. MDF bath plinth, custom made, painted in ‘First Dawn’, £16.42 for 500ml eggshell, from Dulux; fitted with panel of pre-woven natural cane, 45cm wide, £5.50 a foot, from Seat Weaving Supplies. Oak folding chair, £70, from The Futon Company. ACCESSORIES ‘Jacquard Weave’ cotton hand towel (orange), £3.99, from H&M Home. Granite bottle balusters, £114 each, from Retrouvius. ‘Aura Brass Mirror’, £225, from Cox & Cox; hanging from cotton grosgrain tape (khaki/aqua), £4.25 a metre, from Merchant & Mills. Antique wooden washboard (used as bath bridge), £65, from Llewelyn & Company. Bath brush, £9, from The Body Shop. Vintage brass candlestick, £30 for a pair, from Tat London; with dinner candle, 25p, from Flying Tiger Copenhagen. Acrylic frame, £16.95, from Muji; with scrapbook images, stylist’s own. Ceramic traditional glazed rice bowl (green), £36, from Native & Co. ‘Glass bottle’ (white), by Serax, £15, from The Conran Shop HOUSEANDGARDEN.CO.UK JUNE 2019 217
WOR K I NG T O A BUDGET NEED NO T R E SU LT I N BLAND, UNIF ORM S PAC E S – H E R E , C U S T O M I S E D PA P E R LANTERNS ADD HINTS OF BOLD COLOUR TO A NEUTRAL SCHEME
WALLS ‘Olive Grove’ and ‘Jasmine White’ paint, both £29.16 for 2.5 litres matt emulsion, from Dulux. ‘Paper Backed Hessian’ wallcovering, 90cm wide, £47.94 a five-metre roll, from TTS; trimmed with cotton ‘Natural Webbing’, 3.5cm wide, £3 a metre, from Merchant & Mills. Curtains in ‘Linen’ (french clay), £19.50 a metre, from Merchant & Mills. FLOOR ‘Lohals’ jute rug, 80 x 150cm, £20, from Ikea. FURNITURE ‘Rex’ plywood folding chairs (matt black painted), £250 for a pair; and £1,000 for four unpainted; all by Niko Kralj, from Punch the Clock. ‘Etta’ oak extending dining table (black), £750, from Habitat. Plywood and Formica ‘Step Shelf Square’, £190, from Unto This Last. ACCESSORIES Paper hanging lanterns (white), £6.95 each, from The Paper Lantern Company; decorated with tissue paper, from £1.50 for five sheets, from Paperchase; attached with wallpaper paste, from £2.50 for 150g, from B&Q. Vintage glass vase, £36 for a pair; Swedish early nineteenth-century brass sconces, £130 for a pair; all from Tat London. Painted cement ‘Bowl Planter’, by Willy Guhl, £195, from Punch the Clock. ‘Glass carafe No 2’, by Anita Le Grelle for Serax, £32, from The Conran Shop. ‘Bianca’ white wine glasses, £12 each; and red wine glasses, £15 each, from Habitat. Cotton ‘Antibes Storage Baskets’, £6 each, from Futon Company. Vintage French rattan plant stand, £165 for a pair, from Stowaway London 218 JUNE 2019 HOUSEANDGARDEN.CO.UK
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THIS PAGE FURNITURE ‘Rex’ plywood folding chair (matt black painted), by Niko Kralj, £250 for a pair, from Punch the Clock. ‘Vittsjo’ metal and glass coffee tables, £45 for set of two, from Ikea; topped with clay tiles, clockwise from top: ‘Anita’ (blue), 75p a tile; ‘Primrose Yellow’, 65p a tile; ‘Black’, 65p a tile; and ‘Lace’ (blue and terracotta), 75p a tile; all from Milagros. ACCESSORIES Twentieth-century painted fabric design, £45, from Tat London. ‘Grid Print Earthenware Dessert Plates’, £5.99 each; borosilicate glass cup and saucer, £15.99; and teapot, £19.99; all from Zara Home. ‘Chrysanthemum Porcelain Plate’, £14; ‘Octagonal Petal Porcelain Plate’, £35; both from Native & Co. Bamboo fibre ‘Baño Small Tray’ (lemon), by Ekobo, £12, from The Conran Shop. OPPOSITE PAGE WALLS ‘Lemon Punch’ paint, £29.16 for 2.5 litres matt emulsion, from Dulux. ‘Paper Backed Hessian’ wallcovering, 90cm wide, £47.94 a five-metre roll, from TTS. FURNITURE ‘Aneboda’ particleboard and fibreboard wardrobes, £60 each, from Ikea; painted in ‘Napoleonic Blue’, £19.95 for 1 litre chalk paint, from Annie Sloan; with curtains in ‘House Velvet’ (navy), cotton, £32 a metre, from The Hackney Draper. 220 JUNE 2019 HOUSEANDGARDEN.CO.UK
Plywood pediments, cut to order, £43 each, from Aqua Dynamics; painted in ‘Oxford Blue’, £16.42 for 500ml eggshell, from Dulux; with 12mm ‘Soft Lay Pure Cotton Three Strand Rope’, from £1.31 a metre, from Arthur Beale. Iron and beech ‘Antelope Chair’, by Ernest Race, £275, from Punch the Clock. MDF headboard, cut to order, £59, from Cut Laser Cut; with 16mm ‘Soft Lay Pure Cotton Three Strand Rope’, from £1.92 a metre, from Arthur Beale. Ash and wool-mix ‘The Bed Frame’, £449, from Eve. ‘Bergen Oak Bench’, £275, from Cox & Cox. Table made from ‘Diabolo’ painted concrete and fibre planter, by Willy Guhl, £195, from Punch the Clock; with Perspex top, cut to order, £54, from Cut Laser Cut. ACCESSORIES ‘Griffin’ metal pendant shades, £30 each, from Habitat. Birch frames (white, natural), by Moxon, from £20 each, from The Conran Shop. Nineteenth- and twentieth-century painted fabric designs, from £40 each, from Tat London. Bolster and bedcover in ‘Glacier’ (navy, blue), cotton, £14 a metre, from Merchant & Mills. Opal glass and wood lamp, £59.99; stoneware pot (green), £9.99; and vase (cream), £12.99; all from H&M Home. For suppliers’ details, see Stockists page m HOUSEANDGARDEN.CO.UK JUNE 2019 221
Stately seclusion
On the south lawn, sweeping circles of long grass planted with ox-eye daisies and native pignut are centred around an elegant eighteenthcentury stone urn
Petworth is known for its Capability Brown parkland, open to the public, but in the private gardens, Caroline Egremont has created an exquisite and intimate sanctuary within a series of garden rooms TEXT VIRGINIA FRASER | PHOTOGRAPHS NGOC MINH NGO
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t was on the west coast of Scotland, where Caroline Egremont spent her childhood roaming free among the soft landscapes and fleeting mists, that she developed her affinity with nature: a love of trees, the rustle of leaves, the smell of the earth, the cry of the seabird. ‘My father didn’t believe children should be indoors during daylight hours,’ she explains. ‘I was outside the whole time, often barefoot, building huts in mossy woods and making bonfires. We used to visit neighbours’ gardens to admire their hybrid rhododendrons and I remember thinking how much more beautiful were the natural woods, with their lichen, ferns and bluebells.’ The belief that you have to be careful what you impose on a landscape – that there should be nothing alien or jarring in any planting scheme – has been the guiding principle of Caroline’s work as a garden designer. In 1978 she married the writer Max Egremont and found herself at the helm of National Trustowned Petworth House, with its 700-acre Capability Brown park. The park is untended – fallow deer mow the grass and trim the trees – and comes right up to the great house, a scene immortalised by JMW Turner in his painting Dewy Morning. The family lives in the south end of the house. It is here, on the south lawn and in the walled garden, that Caroline set to work creating her own private sanctuary. The south lawn sits between the park and the walled garden and, at that time, consisted of a large expanse of close-mown lawn, interspersed with wide gravel paths. Caroline boldly swept these away, replacing them with sweeping curves and circles of long grass, centred around three eighteenth-century urns; one, by the architect and designer of that era, William Kent, is encircled by a ring of crab apples. Mown paths meander softly through, creating a soothing interplay of mown and unmown grass. Great drifts of bulbs and wild flowers come up in spring: snowdrops, aconites, camassias and Narcissus ‘Pheasant’s Eye’. Native oaks, horse chestnuts and limes were planted to harmonise with those introduced to the park by Capability Brown in the 1730s. ‘When I married, I knew little about horticulture. But I realised how lucky I was to inherit an abandoned six-acre garden, surrounded by centuries-old 12-foot-high walls that would offer shelter – a wonderful canvas on which to start,’ says Caroline. ‘Fred Streeter, the head gardener at Petworth in the Thirties and legendary BBC broadcaster – the Monty Don of his day – had arranged for the topsoil to be double dug. I realised this when I put my spade in and it didn’t stop.’ The structure of the derelict walled garden was still in evidence: a curved doorway led to three large spaces linked by enfilades of arches, opening up into long vistas. Caroline’s
OPPOSITE TOP The west façade of Petworth House, built in the late seventeenth century in local sandstone with Portland stone framing the windows. A seat below a sycamore on the bastion that projects into the park offers views across the ha-ha to the Capability Brown landscaping. BOTTOM Pergolas swathed in Wisteria floribunda ‘Alba’ create a backdrop for Iris pallida var. dalmatica in the cloister garden. THIS PAGE TOP A plaque in the wall is inscribed with Caroline’s initials and the words ‘Fair Quiet, have I found thee here’ from Andrew Marvell’s poem The Garden. BOTTOM Hornbeam hedges surround the old sunken garden HOUSEANDGARDEN.CO.UK JUNE 2019 225
OPPOSITE The pergola above a walkway at the side of the cloister garden becomes a tunnel of fragrant Wisteria floribunda ‘Alba’ in early summer. The path is edged with camassia, Euphorbia polychroma, dicentra and Digitalis purpurea ‘Camelot Queen’ in a restful cream and green scheme. An arch leads to the south lawn. THIS PAGE White Japanese wisteria cascades over a wall in the magnolia garden, where a line of Magnolia grandiflora on the east side faces a dramatic 14-foot-high yew hedge planted 35 years ago. The sides of the topiary yew obelisks have been squared off in keeping with the distinctive architectural form of the hedge
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first task was to cover the weathered walls with climbing roses in shades of cream, white and buff, including Rosa ‘Paul’s Lemon Pillar’, ‘Gloire de Dijon’ and ‘Alister Stella Gray’; they still thrive today. She then created a series of garden rooms. The cloister garden, once a tennis court, was conceived as a place for reading. ‘My mentor, the garden designer John Brookes, encouraged me to plant iris, cistus, lavender, yucca and Gallica roses here – loosely in gravel,’ she explains. ‘The idea was that the plants would have space to develop their own particular shapes and you could walk among them. Some have self seeded, creating a pleasing air of asymmetry.’ Two sides of the garden are formed by pergolas of white wisteria. The Japanese Wisteria floribunda ‘Alba’ was chosen, as it flowers in stages down the panicle, adding a glorious extra three weeks of bloom. Scented evergreen Trachelospermum asiaticum winds its way up supporting columns. The magnolia garden is dominated, on one side, by vast architectural yew hedges, planted 35 years ago. They conceal the swimming pool and create two changing rooms open to the skies. Opposite, on the east wall, is a row of magnificent Magnolia grandiflora. Vestiges of the old sunken garden, created by Fred Streeter, were resuscitated and four ziggurats of box bring geometric grandeur to the entrances. The raised borders on all four sides, framed by hornbeam hedges, flower in June in unfolding waves of pink, purple and silver: artemisias, cerastiums, lychnis and oreganums are punctuated by the velvety crimson ‘William Shakespeare’ rose. A square, black mirror pool at the centre of the garden occasionally catches the reflection of the moon. Native apple trees are the focus in the orchard. Brownlees and Egremont Russets were chosen for their blossom, the latter raised at Petworth in the nineteenth century. They flower at the same time as the buttercups in the grass beneath. Mown in mid June to 10cm, the grass recovers quickly and the buttercups bloom again. Beyond, a small flock of woolly Southdown sheep grazes on half an acre, eating the spare apples and snoozing under the trees. A split-oak fence forms one side of the rose walk, covered in a profusion of the rare white Rosa banksiae var. normalis. Ethereal grasses sway along the verges. With the sense of enclosure provided by the walls, the subtle changes of light, shadows and reflections, and the occasional hint of windblown scent, Caroline has created a timeless atmosphere in these intimate spaces. ‘I invariably set out into my garden with a feeling of excitement,’ she explains. ‘Although the major work has been done, I will always continue planting bulbs and nurturing the wild flowers’ m Petworth House and Park, Petworth, West Sussex. For opening times, visit nationaltrust.org.uk/petworth-house-and-park. The private gardens are open to horticultural groups and students, by appointment only: send a written request to Lady Egremont, Petworth House, Petworth, West Sussex GU28 0AE THIS PAGE TOP Leading into the orchard, wooden gates crafted on the estate are set into an eighteenth-century wall covered in cascades of the vigorous climber Clematis montana var. rubens ‘Tetrarose’. BOTTOM An antique statuary urn creates an elegant focal point at the end of a mown grass path, framed by an arch in one of the high brick walls. OPPOSITE Rustic split-oak fencing marks the boundary of the orchard, where the native apple trees include Brownlees and Egremont Russets 228 JUNE 2019 HOUSEANDGARDEN.CO.UK
THIS PAGE Polly with an armful of freshly picked blue Delphinium ‘Faust’. OPPOSITE At the front of her house, plants such as erigeron, verbascum and salvias are allowed to self seed to soften the terrace
Tak i ng her pick An interest in cut f lowers has developed into a successful artisan floristry business for Polly Nicholson, who makes excellent use of the blooms she grows and forages for at her Georgian house in Wiltshire TEXT CLARE FOSTER | PHOTOGRAPHS BRITT WILLOUGHBY DYER
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OPPOSITE PAGE, TOP ROW FROM LEFT Cornflower Centaurea cyanus ‘Blue Boy’. Verbascum chaixii ‘Album’. Clematis ‘Arabella’. MIDDLE ROW Phlox drummondii ‘Crème Brûlée’. Polly picking sweet peas. Antirrhinum Chantilly Series. BOTTOM ROW One of Polly’s mixed arrangements. Sweet pea ‘Nuance’. Primula bulleyana. THIS PAGE Paeonia ‘Coral Charm’ with Valeriana officinalis
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P
olly Nicholson is a self-confessed workaholic. ‘I have overly perfectionist tendencies,’ she says with a laugh. ‘It’s utterly exhausting, but I love what I do. This second career has been a happy coincidence.’ Polly runs an artisan cut-flower business, Bayntun Flowers, from her home in Wiltshire (featured in the September 2015 issue of House & Garden). Starting a business was never in the grand plan, but after a first career as an antiquarian book specialist at Sotheby’s, she found herself with young children yearning for another challenge, and took herself off to Chelsea Physic Garden to do a year’s diploma in Practical Horticulture. By the end of the course, she and her husband Ed were beginning to set their sights on a house in the country and it was the discovery of Blackland House just outside Calne that sent her on a new, exciting trajectory. Blackland, it turns out, is appropriately named. ‘We have the most extraordinary black alluvial soil here,’ explains Polly. ‘It was unadulterated pasture before we arrived – and the ground is free draining – so the growing conditions couldn’t be better.’ The place was crying out for a new garden so, after they had renovated the Georgian house, the couple commissioned Arne Maynard to redesign the areas immediately around the house, including a new walled garden making use of existing outbuildings along one side. ‘Arne put in the framework and I have been filling in the plants,’ she explains. Wanting to put into practice what she had learned at the Chelsea Physic Garden, she started growing annuals, which gave gratifyingly instant results. ‘I wanted to have flowers to cut and bring into the house,’ she says. ‘I’ve always foraged for f lowers – even when very young, I would pick whatever I could find to make little bunches.’ Soon her friends were asking her to make hand-tied arrangements for them and, as her confidence grew, she started doing flowers for funerals and other events. Polly now employs three part-time gardeners and the growing beds have spilled out of the garden into a designated cut-f lower field, with a polytunnel for early and late crops. ‘My f loristry is entirely led by what’s in season,’ says Polly. ‘We have 100 acres, so I harvest from the hedgerows and trees as well as what we grow. In fact, I cut from the whole garden – practically everything is planted and designed with that in mind.’ The walled garden near the house is the powerhouse of the business, with a huge Victorian-style Foster & Pearson glasshouse and rows of cold frames to house the constant traffic of seedlings throughout the growing season. Pristine beds are planted with rows of campanulas, foxgloves and other perennials for cutting. Topiary forms give the walled garden elegant structure, and self-seeding flowers and herbs colonise the gravel, softening the rows of blooms. In other parts of the garden, things are left looking more natural, which suits the setting overlooking the River Marden and the fields beyond. ‘We’ve deliberately left large areas undesigned,’ says Polly. ‘I think it’s important to keep wild spaces, otherwise the garden just feels like a modern extension to the house.’ Having
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‘My floristry is entirely led by what’s in sea son. We h ave 1 0 0 a c r e s so I harvest from the hedgerows and trees as well as what we grow’ said that, she is constantly developing the space to create more possibilities for cutting, working with talented head gardener Hannah Gardner. Last year, they planted fritillaries and species tulips in the lawn that slopes down to the river. On the other side, they are creating a river walk with hundreds of candelabra primulas, which Polly is visualising in arrangements mixed with cowslips. They are also making a new woodland bed with shrubs for cutting. This is a productive garden, then, but it is also very beautiful, with the practical always balanced by the decorative. Aside from the drive for aesthetic perfection, the most important part of the whole enterprise for Polly is that it is as self-sustaining and organic as possible. ‘We’re under conversion for organic status with the Soil Association,’ she says. ‘We use companion planting methods, keep bees, coppice our hazel to make plant supports and use our own compost and manure. We also put in a borehole and harvest rainwater for irrigation.’ This meticulous, almost academic approach is typical; Polly does not do things by halves. One of her passionate interests is in historic tulips. She is not only researching and growing some incredibly rare varieties, but also trying to increase her crop by growing her own bulbs, an endeavour that takes skill, knowledge and time. She and her team also trial different annuals every year, keeping their finger on the pulse of what’s in vogue and what’s new. The results of all this hard work are the f lower arrangements that Polly assembles in the Coach House, a stone outbuilding adjacent to the walled garden. Her creations are loose, naturalistic and romantic, with foraged branches alongside ornamental blooms displayed in vintage jugs or glass medicine bottles. ‘My arrangements are very gathered, textural, scented. I’ve never been taught, so they aren’t formulaic.’ She describes her displays as ‘maximalist’. ‘I hate being mean – I have so many f lowers out there, so why not use them? More is more – that’s my motto’ m Bayntun Flowers: bayntunflowers.co.uk. On July 4, Polly will hold a flower tutorial day, 10.30am-3pm, at Blackland House, Calne, Wiltshire, with Clare Foster, garden editor of House & Garden, in aid of cancer support charity Maggie’s Oxford centre. Tickets cost £195, including lunch, from pollynicholson.eventbrite.co.uk
OPPOSITE Polly in the doorway of her greenhouse, where she sows most of the seeds for her cut flowers. THIS PAGE Rows of tall Delphinium ‘Strawberry Fair’ tower above a sea of annuals, including mixed cornflowers and antirrhinums in the cut-flower field
T H E D I A RY O F A N E W G A R D E N : PA RT T H R E E
More is more
Continuing her series about her plot in rural Berkshire, CLARE FOSTER is tempted to buy more plants as old favourites respond to a midsummer heatwave in their new setting ILLUSTRATION VANESSA BOWMAN
JUNE 6 I finished planting my garden last month and, in theory that should be that – or, at least, until the autumn. But I am constantly seeing new gardens and new plants, visiting nurseries and shows, and researching plants on the internet – in other words, opening myself up to further temptations. For the past couple of days, I have been at the RHS Chatsworth Flower Show and, egged on by a friend who clearly wanted to make herself feel less guilty about her own plant-buying habit, I returned home with a new hydrangea and a £30 peony (the most beautiful one I’ve ever seen, called ‘Kopper Kettle’), as well as a few other interesting things for pots. I’m trying not to be that person who stuffs single specimens willy-nilly into a border, but it’s proving to be difficult. I’m getting round it by telling myself that the border in the back garden is the ‘designed space’, while the front garden can be more of an experimentation ground with a hotchpotch of colours and shapes. It’s also somewhere I can put things that people give me – the plants that can tell stories and bring back memories. The two Hebe salicifolia on either side of my front gate, for example, were grown from cuttings given to me by the former head gardener of Monet’s garden at Giverny.
JUNE 14 My Rhaphiolepis indica has started to flower, happy in the heatwave we’re experiencing. It is a lovely evergreen shrub with pretty, pale apple-blossom-pink flowers and rounded leaves, which I had spotted in a garden in Morocco but had never come across in the UK before. It’s called the Indian hawthorn, though it originated in China and Japan. I think it is slightly tender, which is why we don’t often see it here, but I’m giving it a go in a sheltered sunny spot at the back of the garden near the greenhouse, where it has space to spread out. As I worked on the planting plan for this garden, I kept 236 JUNE 2019 HOUSEANDGARDEN.CO.UK
JUNE 26 thinking of the first time that I went to Denmans Garden in West Sussex, owned by the late John Brookes, about 10 years ago. At that point, all I could think about were naturalistic herbaceous plants and grasses à la Piet Oudolf and the New Perennial movement. But John took us round and talked about the importance of ‘bones’ in a garden, with shrubs forming the framework to his planting, and it made so much sense. In my new garden, the skeleton is created by evergreens like this rhaphiolepis, as well as euphorbias, hebes and loose, cloud-pruned box.
JUNE 22 After a visit earlier this week to Sarah Raven’s garden at Perch Hill in East Sussex, my vegetable garden suddenly looked a little inadequate, so I’ve been weeding and thinning lettuce seedlings today to neaten things up. Sarah had the most immaculate rows of emerald-green ‘Descartes’ lettuces, which are multi-leaf butterhead types with dense rosettes of leaves that make them really ornamental (and delicious). Definitely one to add to my seed list for next year. I’m also growing salad mixes in my raised cattletrough planters and cut my first leaves this evening to go with a paella cooked on our outdoor burner. The ‘Cupidon’ dwarf beans in one of the other planters are also doing well. I’ve grown this variety (bought from the Real Seeds website at realseeds.co.uk) for a few years now, and it is always successful, with tender, slim beans that crop over a long period if you keep picking them. I’m really pleased with the extra space these 2.4-metrelong planters give me – they’re ideal for small, quick-growing crops like radishes, spinach or chard, and I think they would even be deep enough for potatoes. And because the compost in them warms up more quickly than the soil in the beds, you can plant things out earlier, covering them with fleece if the temperature drops.
It’s the perfect midsummer weather – still very warm – but my enjoyment of the sun is tempered by my anxiety about all my new plants. We haven’t had proper rain for at least a month now, so I’m having to water constantly. To encourage the roots to reach deeper into the ground, it’s better to give the plants a thorough soak every few days rather than watering them little and often, so I’m somewhat guiltily using the sprinkler at dusk, moving it round the garden to water each bed. It’s interesting to note the plants showing the most stress – the Sanguisorba ‘Tanna’ brought from my old garden is definitely unhappy, yellowing at the edges of the clumps, and the rudbeckias are sulking, too, their leaves curling up at the edges in protest. On the other hand, perhaps predictably, the three sun-loving silverleafed Teucrium fruticans are doing well here, revelling in the heat and throwing out stems in random directions. I’ve been lightly clipping them into balls since they stopped flowering, and they seem to be responding well to being trimmed.
JUNE 29 I picked my first proper bunch of flowers for the house today: centaurea, marigolds, nigella, airy dianthus and a couple of pale yellow foxgloves, with a sprig or two of lime green alchemilla to set everything off. As I was cutting them, I realised that they had all been brought in some form or another from my previous garden: the centaurea and alchemilla were dug up and split in October; and throughout the summer I collected seeds from Digitalis grandiflora, Calendula officinalis ‘Indian Prince’, Dianthus carthusianorum and Nigella damascena, stashing them in brown envelopes to bring with me. I love that slightly crazy colour-clash look of early summer, shoved artlessly into a junk-shop jug to brighten up the kitchen table, and picking flowers from the garden makes me feel completely at home here now m
Trimmed plant compositions are the building blocks of green architecture in the Jardin La Manche
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LIVING ARCHITECTURE Il Nature’s landscape designer Alexandre Grivko has undertaken a bold experiment – applying parametric architectural design to the plant compositions of Les Jardins d’Etretat
D
uring the Renaissance gardens were organised according to precise architectural rules. Leon Battista Alberti believed that gardens should be exposed to the sun and the wind and reflect the ideas of unity underlying architectural structures. While the great Italian Donato Bramante designed the Belvedere garden for the Pope, French architect Louis-Martin Berthault created the garden at Malmaison for the empress Joséphine. History knows many such cases when architects turned landscape designers. But what about today? What if a contemporary architect like Zaha Hadid had designed a garden? Such were the questions besieging Alexandre Grivko, Il Nature’s art director and designer, who is responsible for around 500 large-scale private and public gardens worldwide. After working as a landscape architect for 25 years, he grew increasingly intent on pushing horticulture in new aesthetic directions. One key signpost was Vito di Bari’s ‘Neo-Futuristic City Manifesto’ (2007), the bible of contemporary urban architects, which advocates combining art, technology, nature and ethical values. A comfortable human life is only possible, the architect argued, in just such an imaginative, well-maintained environment. Les Jardins d’Etretat in Normandy, France, have become Alexandre’s testing ground, promoting these principles since 2016. The sinuous, futuristic line of Grivko’s plantings has an architectural quality. That is no coincidence. He has always admired the pioneering vision of the late Zaha Hadid, in particular her universal approach to parametric modelling – that is to say the application of algorithms and special software to manipulate equations in the creation of complex architectural forms. This Renaissance woman developed a creative method that can be applied to everything from furniture and shoes to sports arenas. And now, it seems, to gardens. Grivko employs the technique not merely to accurately map overall landscaping: unlike building materials, plants are both inherently fragile and continually changing according to season and their growth cycle. So mathematical principles are also used to gauge the height, width and volume of flora, estimate their future proportions and develop innovative plant-care systems. The Etretat complex is divided into seven gardens that tumble romantically down to the shore. What is extraordinary is that computer programming (so often seen as a soulless and robotic affair) underpins a rich sensory experience that appeals to the emotions and produces a very pacifying, harmonious effect. In the labyrinthine Jardin La Manche, large trimmed plants, many with silvery leaves, evoke the roaring surf of the English Channel below. The Jardin d’Emotions alludes to Marie-Antoinette’s historic oyster farm, once sited at the bottom of a nearby cliff. Calling to mind the creatures’ underwater terrain, box hedging has been sculpted – with computer-aided mathematical precision – into mollusc-like forms. Meanwhile, the Jardin d’Aval offers a cybertastic riff on Alice in Wonderland, while its hoops of yew mimic the stone arches standing sentinel along the Normandy coastline. Les Jardins d’Etretat pay homage to their indigenous setting, their royal, artistic and thespian past and their links to Impressionism. But Grivko believes that this futuristic cross-pollination of art, cutting-edge technology and (let’s not forget) some 150,000 evergreen plants provides the ideal template for a pervasively higher quality of life for all and paves the way to a better, orchid-strewn future m Les Jardins d’Etretat. Visit etretatgarden.fr
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OPPOSITE Computer models showing different zones of Les Jardins d’Etretat. Note that art installations have been picked out in copper. THIS PAGE TOP Fanciful yew hoops against green ‘waves’ at Jardin La Manche echo the stone arches that punctuate the Normandy coastline. BELOW LEFT At Jardin d’Amont, nature, art and architecture work in concert. RIGHT Tightly terraced box hedging evokes cliffs
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F O O D & T R AV E L R E C I P E S | TA S T E N O T E S | G R E N A DA | P O R T U G A L | G R E E C E Recipe for courgette, broad bean, sheep’s cheese and mint risotto overleaf
R e c i p e s b y B l a n c h e Va u g h a n
THE SIMPLE LIFE PHOTOGRAPHS SIMON BAJADA | FOOD STYLING ROSIE RAMSDEN | PROP STYLING BLANCHE VAUGHAN
Vegetables take centre stage in my cooking at this time of year. The shops are filled with summer produce from France and Italy and in my garden the first courgettes, baby broad beans and green leaves are starting to ripen. When I am cooking for friends, especially if it is warm enough to eat outside, I like to make a single dish for the main part of the meal. It makes life simpler and we can all help ourselves from a plate in the middle of the table. These recipes, which incidentally are all meat free, are substantial enough to serve as a lunch or, in the case of the lasagne and risotto, a main course – with or without accompaniments. All recipes serve 6 e
HOUSEANDGARDEN.CO.UK JUNE 2019 243
FOOD & TRAVEL | RECIPES
GREEN LASAGNE A good lasagne has small amounts of filling between numerous layers of pasta, adding to the texture and flavour. This may seem like a faff to make, but it can be done in advance and is easier than a meat lasagne. There is a lot of room for alternatives, too, depending on what is available – you could try kale, beetroot tops or other brassicas. 650g
‘LINEN TABLECLOTH WITH MACRAME' (CREAM), €490, FROM ONCE MILANO (ONCEMILANO.COM)
broccoli 1kg mixed chard and spinach 4tbsp olive oil 1 white onion, finely chopped 1 leek, finely chopped 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped 1tsp fennel seeds, crushed
Butter,
for greasing 15 lasagne sheets 200g parmesan, grated For the béchamel 700ml milk Bay leaf 50g butter 4tbsp flour Few grates of nutmeg ½tsp cayenne pepper
1 Cut the broccoli into small florets. Strip the chard and spinach from the stalks and keep the leaves. Fill your largest pan with water (about 5 litres) and add 1tbsp sea salt. Bring to the boil and cook the broccoli for about 4 minutes, or until completely tender. Remove with a slotted spoon and lay flat on a tray to cool while you cook the green leaves. Cook these for 2-3 minutes, remove, drain and lay on a tray to cool. Keep the pan full of water for later use. 2 Heat 2tbsp oil in large pan and sweat the onion and leek, with a good pinch of salt, until soft but not coloured, for about 10 minutes. Add the broccoli, more salt and some pepper, and stir well. Fry for a minute, then tip into a food processor and blitz briefly to make a semi-smooth but still chunky mixture. Scrape into a bowl and set aside. You will use the food processor again, so do not wash it up. 3 In the same frying pan, heat the remaining 2tbsp oil and fry the garlic and fennel seeds until the garlic begins to brown. Add the cooked leaves, with salt and pepper, and fry for a minute. Briefly blitz in the food processor, then add to the bowl and stir. 4 For the béchamel, put the milk and bay leaf in a pan and heat to just below boiling. In another pan melt 50g butter, add the flour and stir. Cook for 1 minute, then add all the milk, stirring briskly. Bring to the boil, stirring. Add the nutmeg, cayenne pepper and salt and pepper. Remove the bay leaf. 5 Preheat the oven to 170°C/fan oven 150°C/mark 3. Boil the pasta sheets in the greens water until al dente (following the packet instructions) and drain, leaving just enough water to stop them sticking together. Butter a 30 x 20cm baking dish. Cover the base with a layer of pasta, dot with vegetables, pour over a ladle of béchamel, season and scatter over 2tbsp parmesan. Repeat for another four layers and for the fifth layer spread with béchamel and parmesan only. Bake in the oven for 40 minutes.
ROAST AUBERGINE , TOMATOE S AND FRE G OLA This is a robust salad with f lavours reminiscent of a caponata. Fregola are small pearls of semolina flour dough, which are a speciality of Sardinia. If you cannot find fregola, you could use giant couscous, orzo or other small pasta shapes. 450g
cherry tomatoes, halved 4-6tbsp olive oil 1 large aubergine, cut into cubes 3 sticks celery,
½tbsp red cut into batons 150g fregola wine vinegar 2tbsp extraFor the dressing 20g parsley, chopped virgin olive oil 20g basil, chopped Pinch of 10g mint, chopped chilli flakes
1 Heat the oven to 180°C/fan oven 160°C/mark 4. Lay the tomatoes in one layer on a roasting tray, pour over 1tbsp of the oil and season well with salt and pepper. Roast until they slightly collapse – about 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and carefully spoon onto a plate. 2 Increase the temperature to 200°C/fan oven 180°C/mark 6. Using the same tray, lay the aubergine cubes in a single layer. Drizzle with 2-3tbsp oil and add plenty of salt. Roast for about 20 minutes, until soft and coloured, and then remove. Using the same tray, roast the celery with most of the rest of the oil and some salt at the same temperature, for about 15 minutes, until soft and starting to colour. 3 Boil the fregola in well-salted water for 7 minutes. Toss in a bowl with a splash of olive oil. Mix together all the dressing ingredients. To serve, add the vegetables to the pasta and then the dressing. e HOUSEANDGARDEN.CO.UK JUNE 2019 245
FOOD & TRAVEL | RECIPES
C OURGET TE , BROAD BEAN, SHEEP ’S CHEE SE AND MINT RIS OT TO
40g butter 1tbsp olive oil 1 white onion, finely chopped 1.5 litres vegetable stock 700g risotto rice, such as Vialone Nano Glass of white wine 400g courgettes, sliced very finely, preferably using
P OTATOE S, GREEN BEANS AND PE STO This mixture of beans, potatoes and pesto is a classic Ligurian dish, usually served with pasta. I like to use a variety of long beans, which ripen at this time of year – yellow, green, purple and even runner beans – for added colour and varied shapes. Homemade pesto tastes so much better and I urge you to try making it with a pestle and mortar. 2 cloves garlic, crushed 60g pine nuts 100g basil 25g parmesan, grated 2tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1.5kg small waxy potatoes, halved 600g green and runner beans, mixed Large handful rocket
1 To make the pesto, put the garlic, pine nuts and a large pinch of salt in a pestle and mortar, and pound until almost smooth. Strip the basil leaves from the stalks and roughly chop. Add the leaves to the mortar in stages, pounding and grinding around the sides of the bowl. When the texture is fairly smooth, add the parmesan and olive oil, and stir to combine. Taste for salt and add more if necessary. 2 Put the potatoes in a pan, cover with cold, well-salted water and bring to the boil. Cook for 10-15 minutes, or until tender. Top the beans and cut any large ones into smaller pieces. Steam the beans for 3-4 minutes (either over the potatoes as they cook, or separately) until they are soft, but still al dente. 3 Drain the potatoes and put them into a large salad bowl. Add the beans and pesto, and mix while warm. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Just before serving, stir in the rocket leaves. 246 JUNE 2019 HOUSEANDGARDEN.CO.UK
a mandolin 300g shelled broad beans, with any large ones peeled 150g sheep’s or goat’s cheese, cut into cubes 2 large sprigs mint, leaves only roughly chopped 6 courgette f lowers, torn into strips ½ lemon, zest only
1 In a large, heavy based saucepan, heat 20g butter and the oil. Add the onion and a generous pinch of salt. Cook gently, for about 10 minutes, until soft but not coloured. Meanwhile, in a separate pan, heat the stock to boiling and then turn off the heat. 2 Add the rice to the onion, increase the heat slightly, stir well and then fry for a minute before adding the wine. 3 When the wine has been absorbed, add a ladle of hot stock and stir. Continue to do this, stirring regularly and always keeping the rice liquid enough so that it does not stick on the bottom. When it is starting to look creamy but the rice still has a chalky bite, add the courgettes, broad beans and a good pinch of salt. 4 Continue adding the stock and stirring. When the rice is soft with a bit of bite but no chalkiness, turn off the heat – this will usually take about 20 minutes. Cube the remaining 20g butter and beat in – with a little more stock, if needed – to make a creamy texture that is loose enough to drop from a spoon. Taste for seasoning and add salt and black pepper if required. Finish by gently stirring in the cheese and the chopped mint leaves. Sprinkle over the courgette flowers and the lemon zest to serve.
FURTHER READING Homemade vegetable stock is so simple and tastes infinitely better than cubes. For my recipe, visit houseandgarden.co.uk e
‘SCALLOP EDGE RAFFIA TABLE MAT', £16, FROM MATILDA GOAD (MATILDAGOAD.COM). 'CONTRAST EDGED LINEN NAPKIN' (WHITE & GREEN), £15, FROM THE CONRAN SHOP (CONRANSHOP.CO.UK)
Every summer, I grow courgettes and broad beans, especially to make this risotto. I pick the f lowers from the plants, too, to scatter over the top. At this time of year, the vegetables are so tender and small that they barely need any cooking, but if you are using larger beans, peel them first. Try to find courgettes that have their f lowers still attached, or buy the flowers separately, as they make the dish look so pretty. Use any firm and creamy feta-style sheep’s or goat’s cheese.
FOOD & TRAVEL | RECIPES
WINE N OTE S
The roast aubergine, tomato and fregola salad is matched admirably by the tangy citrus notes of Sardinian Vermentino di Gallura 2016 from Vigne Surrau. Vermentino also f lourishes in Liguria, home of pesto, and will marry well with the potatoes, green beans and pesto (£15.25; ocado.com).
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ORANGE , YO GURT AND OLIVE OIL CAKE I first ate this cake in Greece. I was intrigued by the soft, layered texture, then discovered it is made with yogurt, eggs and olive oil, rather than butter and flour. The result is like lightly set custard held together with soft filo. I like to eat it warm, with crème fraîche and summer berries. For the syrup 150g caster sugar 120ml water 1tsp ground cinnamon 1 orange, halved and juiced
For the cake 100g olive oil, plus extra for greasing 150g filo pastry (5 sheets) 2 oranges, zest and juice
300g yogurt 80g caster sugar 3tsp baking powder 6 eggs, whisked until bubbles appear
1 Preheat the oven to 180°C/fan oven 160°C/mark 4. Put all the syrup ingredients into a saucepan (including the squeezed orange halves). Heat slowly to dissolve the sugar, then boil briefly to make a thin syrup. Remove and discard the orange skins and leave the syrup to cool. 2 Oil a 30 x 20cm baking tin. Tear the filo into pieces about the size of a business card, scrunch them up to make an airy pile, then put in a bowl. Put all the other ingredients in another bowl and whisk. Scatter a quarter of the filo over the tin bottom, then add a quarter of the mixture. Repeat with the rest of the sheets and batter until all the filo is covered. Bake for 30-40 minutes, until puffy and browned. Remove, pour over the syrup and leave to soak in for at least 30 minutes before serving. 248 JUNE 2019 HOUSEANDGARDEN.CO.UK
Inama Vigneti di Foscarino Soave Classico 2016, from the Veneto, provides the ideal mix of creaminess and crisp acidity to partner both the lasagne and the risotto, particularly as Vialone Nano rice is a local speciality (£19.99; waitrosecellar.com).
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As the idea for the orange, yogurt and olive oil cake came from Greece, I recommend Vinsanto 2010 from Estate Argyros on the island of Santorini. Its luscious, dried-fruit f lavours complement the orange and cinnamon, while the lemony acidity balances the cake’s creamy texture (£33 for 50cl; tanners-wines.co.uk) m
‘ROUND PLACEMAT' (AGAVE BLUE), £10; 'CONTRAST EDGED LINEN NAPKIN' (WHITE & GREEN), £15; BOTH FROM THE CONRAN SHOP (CONRANSHOP.CO.UK). 'CITRUS SAUCER', £90; 'MARGUERITE DESSERT PLATE', £60; 'SIMPLE SIDE PLATE', £55, ALL BY ASTIER DE VILLATTE, FROM LIBERTY (LIBERTYLONDON.COM)
Master of Wine Anne Tupker’s choices are inspired by the regional origins of the recipes
FOOD & TRAVEL | NEWS
Taste Notes
Our food editor BLANCHE VAUGHAN shares her recipes and tips for food lovers Having planted artichokes in my garden some years ago, I find they are the most productive and easiest of vegetables to grow. Once a stalwart of English gardens, these specimens of the thistle family are often now eschewed for things that are simpler to prepare. I suggest boiling them whole so your guests can peel off the leaves and dip them in vinaigrette. It makes the cook’s job easier, and guests will enjoy working their way into the prized heart. ‘Violet de Provence’ artichoke seeds cost £2.45 a packet from seedsofitaly.com.
ARTICHOKES VINAIGRETTE
ANDREW MONTGOMERY
4 large artichokes Small bunch of thyme Bay leaf For the vinaigrette 1 garlic clove, crushed 1tbsp Dijon mustard 1tbsp red wine vinegar 8tbsp extra-virgin olive oil. Serves 4 Put the artichokes in a saucepan large enough to fit them with room for plenty of water. Cover generously with well-salted water, add the thyme and bay leaf and bring to the boil. (You may need to place a plate on top to stop them bobbing to the surface.) Boil for around 25 minutes, or until a skewer inserted through the top of the stalk into the heart meets no resistance. Drain and set aside. To make the vinaigrette, put the garlic and mustard in a bowl, whisk in the vinegar and add the oil, drop by drop, whisking to create an emulsion. Once it thickens, you can continue to add the oil in a steady stream. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper. Serve the artichokes with individual bowls of the vinaigrette for dipping. When you reach the choke, you need to cut out the hairy centre before eating the heart. e
HOUSEANDGARDEN.CO.UK JUNE 2019 249
FOOD & TRAVEL | NEWS
IN THE PINK
Babylonstoren’s Mourvèdre Rosé, made from grapes grown on South Africa’s Simonsberg mountain, is worth stocking up on. With strawberry notes balanced by fresh acidity, this delicious wine can be drunk as an aperitif or with a summer meal. You could even go a step further and visit the Babylonstoren vineyard and its award-winning Farm Hotel, where eight acres of gardens supply its restaurants with produce. Mourvèdre Rosé costs £16 a bottle from babylonstoren.com.
Food glorious food
Green scenes
Gazelles, lions and monkeys roam beneath palms in an exotic paradise on the charming hand-decorated ‘Sultan’s Garden’ bone-china tableware range from William Edwards Home. Designed in collaboration with Sam De Teran, the collection, with its stylised lines and strong motifs, would look wonderful displayed as a set or individually. From £14 for a mug. williamedwardshome.com
I am looking forward to the exhibition Food: Bigger than the Plate, from May 18 at the Victoria & Albert Museum, SW7. It will be a multi-sensory journey through the food cycle, asking questions about the relationship between consumers and producers using examples of gastronomic experiments and urban farming, as well as objects from the V&A’s collection, such as this advertisement from 1905. The exhibition will address the politics and pleasure of food and how we can build a more sustainable future. Tickets cost £17. vam.ac.uk m
For fans of the health benefits of fermentation, Willy’s apple cider vinegar can be used in cooking as well as taken for medicinal purposes. Made from the fruit of organic, 300-year-old apple trees, this raw, unpasteurised vinegar contains probiotic bacteria and is thought to produce alkalinity in the body. Most importantly, it tastes delicious and I will be using it for dressings, adding a splash to perk up cooked lentils or beans, or to balance richness in pork dishes. From £6.95 for 500ml, from willysacv.com. 250 JUNE 2019 HOUSEANDGARDEN.CO.UK
© VICTORIA AND ALBERT MUSEUM, LONDON
NATURAL TONIC
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In the spirit British spirits brand Sapling is as easy on the environment as it is on the palate with a tree-planting programme focused on benefiting the local community
A
recent study from a leading vodka company found that it takes 2.8 kilograms of carbon to deliver a single bottle to its customer. Distributed across thousands of bars and supermarkets around the UK, the industry starts to look incredibly energy intensive. Spirits company Sapling is on a mission for change: it plants a tree for every bottle sold, which can absorb up to 1.5 tonnes of carbon in its lifetime, leaving a bottle of Sapling significantly carbon positive. The tree projects that Sapling embarks on are geared towards benefiting the local communities that surround the planting. These range from planting fruit trees in inner-city parks to help reconnect communities with nature to planting argan trees in Morocco that can be harvested by farmers and sold to stimulate rural economies. Sapling is also partnering with House & Garden on the upcoming 100 Top Designers party to celebrate the June issue, in which 162 trees will be planted. Distilled from British wheat, Sapling vodka is wonderfully smooth on the palate. The high starch content of the wheat leaves it with a natural sweetness that lends itself beautifully to martinis and a range of other vodka-based cocktails. With Sapling, you can drink with a conscious and help restore the worlds forests. saplingspirits.com ABOVE LEFT Loch Moidart off Eilean Shona. ABOVE RIGHT FROM TOP A bottle of Sapling vodka. English Flat White cocktail made with Sapling vodka
FOOD & TRAVEL | CARIBBEAN
spice up your life
THOUGH A NEW HOTEL HAS PUT GRENADA FIRMLY ON THE MODERN LUXURY MAP, PAMELA GOODMAN IS BEGUILED BY THE ISLAND’S VIBRANT LANDSCAPE
G
renada, mercifully located outside the belt of destruction that followed hurricanes Irma and Maria, stayed firmly under the radar when the Caribbean grabbed the headlines in 2017. But that is much the way the island has always been – never a glamorous celebrity magnet of the likes of, say, St Barths, Barbados or Mustique, and never much of a destination for garnering column inches. In fact, more often than not, mention Grenada and most people think you are going to Spain. But the island – one of the most southerly in the Caribbean – has suddenly come into focus, principally because a new hotel, Silversands (see below), funded by an Egyptian billionaire with an ongoing love affair with Grenada, has upped the ante in delivering a suave, modern showstopper right on the pearly sands of Grand Anse Beach. There are Teslas to whisk guests around the island, apps to control all manner of technology and a beautiful crowd that gathers in the beach club on Friday evenings to sip Provençal rosé and dance to the beat of a live DJ. It is a world away from the laid-back, rustic, charming, old-school Grenada, which, traditionally, has thrived on rum and reggae, its character defined by a seriously hilly topography. The island's steep rainforests are a lush Eden of fruits and spices (cocoa and nutmeg in particular) sloping down to a coast serrated by pretty inlets, bays and beaches. For the young – and Grenada has an extremely youthful population, mainly accounted for by its huge medical school that draws students from all over the world – the arrival of Silversands is a boon. And locals, especially those in the tourism industry, are delighted that the island has something new and upmarket to shout about. They want to be back on the map. From a personal perspective, however, it is the wild, authentic, low-key Grenada that draws me in and I find myself loving the place – in contrast to the way many other Caribbean islands have left me cold. Whether walking to uncrowded waterfalls and deserted beaches with naturalist Simon Green – the island’s answer to Bear Grylls – or sailing along the coastline with Danny Donelan aboard his restored wooden sloop, Savvy, Grenada reveals herself in a broad sweep of vibrant colour saturated in intense tropical heat. As Independence Day approaches, the island is dressed to the nines in the national colours of gold, red and green, flags and bunting draped over every porch and garden gate, every lamp post and roundabout. The talk is of ‘oil down’, the one-pot stew of breadfruit and salted fish, liberally feasted on at the annual celebration and washed down with lashings of rum. It is going to be one hell of a party and I am sad to miss it, though carnival in August, I am told by way of consolation, is apparently just as crazy should I decide to come back. If there is one thing that will stay with me after my brief infatuation with Grenada, it is the rum – so strong, you need only sniff it to be turned upside down, and so lethal it is banned for air travel unless it is under 70 per cent proof. Island-only rum, produced at one of Grenada’s three distilleries, is a massive 75 or even 80 per cent. Lunching with the British ex-pat Leo Garbutt, owner of beautiful Calabash, one of the island’s other premier hotels, I decline rum in favour of wine, not quite trusting myself otherwise to see out the afternoon. Married to a Grenadian, Annie, and having lived here for three decades, Leo talks about the island with truly infectious glee. The ‘real’ Caribbean, he calls it, and I think he’s right.
Where to stay SPICE ISLAND BEACH RESORT is the grande dame of Grenada, with a prime spot on Grand Anse Beach (the opposite end to Silversands). This hotel is favoured by a gentrified British market and, in season, those of an older persuasion. Some guests go year after year and it is not hard to see why. Most rooms open onto the beach; the hotel operates on an all-inclusive basis, including alcohol; the food is good; the cocktails flow; and the facilities include a spa and tennis court. SILVERSANDS is the shiny new kid on the block. Aimed at a younger, cooler crowd (deep pockets required) who like cutting-edge design and a party vibe, the resort has four villas right on the beach, with hotel rooms in two buildings behind. The boldest design statement is the 100-metre swimming pool – the longest in the Caribbean – which stretches from the lobby to the beach. LALUNA is the hippy-chic retreat – rustic, bohemian in an Indonesia-meets-the-Caribbean style, with a dash of Italy (from where the owners hail) thrown into the mix. Its cottages – thatched and painted in vibrant colours – are positioned on a steep hillside, so the clientele tends towards a more agile set. Yoga is de rigueur and while there is only a small pool, the beach is picture perfect m 252 JUNE 2019 HOUSEANDGARDEN.CO.UK
Ways and Means Pamela Goodman travelled as a guest of Elegant Resorts (01244-897991; elegantresorts.co.uk). Seven nights at Spice Island Beach Resort costs from £2,980, all inclusive; seven nights at Silversands costs from £3,600, B&B; seven nights at Laluna costs from £2,640, room only. All prices are based on two sharing and include flights and transfers. For information about Grenada, visit puregrenada.com.
ALAMY; GETTY IMAGES/MATT ANDERSON; ORLANDO ROMAIN; DIETMAR DENGER; MAGDA BIERNAT; ISTOCK
TOP ROW FROM LEFT Grenada is famous for its nutmeg. The pool at Spice Island Beach Resort. A Grenadian woman. A veranda at Laluna. MIDDLE ROW FROM LEFT Colourful houses in the capital, St George’s. Silversands’ 100-metre pool. A mona monkey. BOTTOM ROW FROM LEFT Savvy is a traditional sloop. One of the Seven Sisters Falls. Independence Day banners in St George’s. Grand Anse Beach
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FOOD & TRAVEL | PORTUGAL
little gems
DÁ LICENÇA
MARY LUSSIANA IS ENCHANTED BY AN ART AND CRAFT-FILLED HOTEL AMONG THE OLIVE GROVES AND HILLTOP TOWNS OF THE ALENTEJO REGION
S
ome two hours east of Lisbon, the landscape of open plains is dotted with olive groves and ancient, whitewashed, hilltop towns graced with nesting storks. The recently opened Dá Licença has brought a completely new level of lodging to this raw and authentic corner of Portugal’s Alentejo region. Converted nineteenth-century farm buildings, scattered across ground that was originally cultivated as an organic garden by local nuns, are at the heart of more than 300 acres of land. Here, some 13,000 olive trees flourish and outcrops of the area’s underlying marble – in soft pink and luminous white – push through the ground like snowdrops in springtime. In the main house, there are three spacious suites, one of which opens out onto an emerald green infinity pool. Four more suites – two standing independently with private pools and two more forming a huddle with rooftop terraces and large courtyards – run from the house in between fig, olive and cork trees down towards Estremoz. An imposing town with medieval ramparts and a 28-metre-high keep, wrought entirely in the local marble, Estremoz stands high on the horizon dominating the surrounding countryside. It is more than worthy of a day’s wandering (stop for lunch at Gadanha Mercearia and try hearty local dishes, such as braised black pork cheeks). There is a wealth of historical monuments to visit, from
Ways and Means Mary Lussiana visited Dá Licença as a guest of Cox & Kings (020-3642 0861; coxandkings.co.uk), which offers three nights, B&B, from £1,650, based on two sharing, including British Airways f lights and transfers m
FRANCISCO NOGUEIRA
FROM TOP The veranda at Dá Licença. In one of the suites in the main house, furniture from the Anthroposophical design movement is partnered with a painting by the Danish artist Ejnar Nielsen. The circular pool is backed by citrus trees
churches to castles and cloisters, as well as a rich regional tradition of handicrafts to discover, from weaving to colourful ceramics and clay figurines. It is appropriate, then, that Dá Licença’s owners – Portuguese Vitor Borges and French Franck Laigneau – have created this little gem in order to pay homage to arts and crafts. They have drawn widely on the skill of regional artisans, with woven rugs from Mizette Nielsen – long a figure of note in the Alentejo’s weaving industry. The omnipresent marble features in side tables and lamps designed by Vitor and made by local craftsman Francesco Pluma; there are also tactile green-veined white marble bath tubs and hand-carved basins in Estremoz’s palest pink marble – what the Italians call pelle d’angelo. Granite floors provide welcome cool in the intensely hot summers here. Overlaying these interiors are artworks from the Jugendstil and Anthroposophical design movements – which Franck championed in his Paris gallery in a previous life – as well as many contemporary pieces, such as ceramics by Susana Piteira and a metal chimney by Ico Parisi, shaped like a drop of water. Each bedroom has been carefully appointed with furniture and paintings that echo the rural simplicity outside. And it is the outside that left me with my overriding memory of Dá Licença: the red Alentejan sun setting over a round pool backed by slabs of marble and trees of orange, lemon and tangerine, through which the wind whistles in the silence.
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FOOD & TRAVEL | GREECE
The Zagorohoria is known for its picturesque eighteenth- and nineteenth-century stone footbridges. Seen here is the Noutsos Bridge, which dates from 1750 and spans the Vikos Gorge near the village of Kipi
Five reasons to visit
zagorohoria Hotel hideaway
Historic villages
Outdoor activities
The delightful Aristi Mountain Resort & Villas has just 24 rooms, suites and villas perched above Aristi village, with glorious views over Mount Tymfi, the Astraka Towers rock formations and lofty Gamila Peak. The hotel is built entirely of stone in the local tradition and – unusually for this part of Greece – there is a fine-dining restaurant, serving modern Greek dishes as well as the best saganaki I have ever tasted. Rooms are simple and comfortable – wooden ceilings and exposedstone walls – and many have lovely fireplaces. There is also a pool and a small spa, and the delightful staff can help to organise activities in the region. Doubles from £133; aristi.eu/en
The 46 stone settlements of the Zagorohoria (‘villages beyond the mountains’) have remained almost unchanged since the nineteenth century. Each one centres around a main square, usually with a church and fountain, and the traditional houses are built of limestone and flysch rock. This is a rare unconquered corner of Greece: it was once a centre of learning, sponsored by monasteries such as Aghia Paraskevi in Monodendri and the now-abandoned Panagia Spiliotissa, near Aristi (the Aristi Mountain Resort has the key). Do not miss Dilofo – an almost entirely unrestored village – and Papigo with its hexagonal bell tower.
With breathtaking mountains, gorges, rivers and streams, national parks and a Unesco Global Geopark, this area is all about the great outdoors. Bears roam the forests, as do wild boars and chamois. More than 1,800 plant species, many of them endemic, as well as astonishing limestone formations, make this fabulous hiking territory. The stretch along the Voidomatis River is relatively easy – for a more strenuous hike, head through the Vikos Gorge (from Monodendri to Vikos village takes around six to seven hours), or up to the ethereal Dragon Lake on Mount Tymfi (overnighting in a refuge). You can raft the icy, transparent Voidomatis River, ending with an exhilarating descent of the weir at Kleidonia Bridge; indulge in tranquil fly fishing downstream, where brown and rainbow trout are plentiful; take an easy trek on local ponies; or have a rock-climbing adventure, from beginner to expert. If all this sounds too effortful, drive through the surreal Stone Forest of karst limestone towers to the Oxia viewpoint and contemplate the sheer walls of the Vikos Gorge below. It has a maximum depth of 900 metres, so the view is not for the faint of heart. Trekking Hellas offers a variety of activities in the region. trekking.gr/en/location/epirus m
Creative cuisine A visit to the village of Vitsa is a must, if only for Kanela & Garyfallo (cinnamon and carnation). This quirky restaurant devises dishes of mouthwatering creativity based on wild mushrooms. There are more than 30 varieties in the region, from ‘chicken of the woods’ to ‘Caesar’s amanita’, and the dessert of caramelised chanterelles on sheep’s yogurt is something you simply have to try. As a bonus, there is a cellar of rare and excellent Greek wines. kanela-garyfallo.gr 256 JUNE 2019 HOUSEANDGARDEN.CO.UK
Scenic stone bridges A network of shepherds’ trails links the villages, crossing the eighteenth- and nineteenth-century stone footbridges for which this area is famed. They were built by masons from nearby Mastorohoria, who communicated in code so the locals could not steal the secrets of the sophisticated structures. Many of the original 160 still remain, the best examples being around Kipi. At 20 metres high, Konitsa’s may be the largest single-arched bridge in the Balkans. The bell under the bridge rings in high winds to warn that crossing is unsafe.
COSTAS ZISSIS
TERESA LEVONIAN COLE EXPLORES THESE BEAUTIFULLY PRESERVED GREEK VILLAGES, UNTOUCHED BY MASS TOURISM AND SURROUNDED BY DEEP GORGES, TUMBLING RIVERS AND ANCIENT BRIDGES
FOOD & TRAVEL | COMPASS
On the grapevine
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three by the sea
LAURA HOULDSWORTH RECOMMENDS EUROPEAN HOTELS FOR FAMILIES, COUPLES AND CULTURE LOVERS
atching your toddler enjoy a treasure hunt in the gardens at Marbella Club is just one highlight of its new Tiny Tots package. Created for families travelling with children under the age of five and not yet restricted by school holidays, the package includes baby essentials, such as a pram, high chair and cot, as well as two hours of babysitting each day. A long-time favourite of royals and celebrities, the legendary Spanish resort is situated between the Sierra Blanca mountains and the soothing waters of the Mediterranean. The region enjoys its own microclimate, making it a year-round destination. The Kids’ Club provides daily activities, which include pizza making, painting and short tennis. Abercrombie & Kent offers four nights on the Tiny Tots Programme in a Garden Suite for two adults and one child, B&B, including flights and transfers, from £2,950 per family. 01242-547760; abercrombiekent.co.uk. Andronis Arcadia, the latest addition to the Andronis collection of Greek boutique hotels, opens this summer in Santorini. On the peaceful fringes of picturesque Oia, the modern hotel makes the most of the island’s dramatic sunsets – all the 53 suites with private pools are positioned for the best views. Large windows flood the rooms with light, and the minimal, contemporary design sets the hotel apart from the whitewashed casitas for which the island is known. Aside from enjoying the views, you can take a swim in the largest pool on the island (450 square metres), relax in the spa or on the man-made beach (a rarity on the cliff-dominated island). And from June to September, the Andronis Gastronomy Festival hosts world-renowned chefs. Doubles cost from €660. 00-30-22860 72041; andronisarcadia.com. A century ago, an English aristocrat and his family built their dream villa on the Bay
of Mazzarò in Taormina, Sicily. Now known as the Belmond Villa Sant’Andrea, the elegant beachside property opened as a hotel in 1950. To celebrate its 100th birthday, the hotel is launching a number of exclusive excursions. These include a boat trip to the scenic fishing village of Aci Trezza, with one of the last traditional boat yards in the region, and on to Catania for a private lunch in a palace. Alternatively, take one of the regular shuttles to sister hotel Belmond Grand Hotel Timeo. In the heart of Taormina, it is next to the Greek Theatre, where Englishspeaking tours can be arranged. Back at Belmond Villa Sant’Andrea, you can enjoy the private beach or fresh seafood in the hotel’s Oliviero restaurant overlooking the Ionian Sea. Elegant Resorts offers seven nights from £2,150, based on two sharing a Double Classic Room, B&B, including flights and transfers*. 01244-897514; elegantresorts.co.uk m
*IN THE MID-SEASON PERIOD SEPTEMBER 27-OCTOBER 17, 2019. PHOTOGRAPH: STOCKSY
The Greek island of Santorini is known for its whitewashed villages, with windmills and houses clustered on hillsides
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OCEAN ODYSSEY VIKING’S OCEAN CRUISES OFFER ENRICHING JOURNEYS IN ULTIMATE SCANDINAVIAN STYLE
THIS PAGE A stylish seating area. OPPOSITE LEFT Room service on a private veranda. OPPOSITE RIGHT The Explorers’ Lounge
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Light-filled Nordic interiors contrast with a curated collection of Scandinavian art, creating a serene setting
W
ith destination-focused journeys to choose from all around the world, sailing in areas ranging from the Caribbean, the Americas, Asia and Australia to the Mediterranean, the Baltic and Scandinavia, a Viking cruise is no ordinary cruise. Recognised internationally for its elegant fleet of small ships, Viking offers a choice of itineraries for up to 930 guests, and the climate on board is one of laid-back luxury. Light-filled Nordic interiors, a mix of polished natural materials and pastel hues, contrast with a curated collection of
Scandinavian art (Edvard Munch, Nikolai Astrup and Adelsteen Normann to name but a few) creating a serene setting. Staterooms and suites come with their own private verandas and 24-hour room service, but for something extra-special, treat yourself to the luxurious experience of a two-room Explorer Suite or the Owner’s Suite (the largest). Foodies will be in their element: each of the restaurants has its own distinct feel with fare ranging from rustic Tuscan favourites at Manfredi’s to waffles and gjetost (Norwegian goats’ cheese) at Mamsen’s or, for the ultimate dining experience,
five-course wine-paired feasts are served at The Chef ’s Table (at no extra cost). And you can rest assured that Viking’s itineraries also allow for plenty of time on shore. Guests are encouraged to fully immerse themselves in each destination with the help of included tours led by local guides. There are also optional Privileged Access excursions, taking guests behind the scenes at world famous cultural institutions, or to get an authentic view of local life with visits to families in their homes. Intimate, relaxing, horizon-expanding and unquestionably special, is there any better way to see the world?
THIS PAGE The Wintergarden. OPPOSITE LEFT Afternoon tea is served in The Wintergarden. OPPOSITE RIGHT Sushi in The World Café
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UNFORGETTABLE JOURNEYS Viking’s stylish ships take travellers to all corners of the world, with enriching journeys that allow guests to explore multiple destinations while only having to unpack once. Here are three immersive itineraries to consider
West Indies Explorer (11 days, nine
Viking Homelands (15 days, 11 guided
Alaska & The Inside Passage (11 days,
guided tours) This round-trip voyage from San Juan, Puerto Rico, allows travellers to immerse themselves in the colours and cultures of the Caribbean. Dropping anchor in some of the tropics’ most picturesque isles, including St Lucia, St Martin, Barbados and the lesser-visited Tortola in the British Virgin Islands, this cruise is a photographer’s dream. Guided excursions include climbing peaks to see spectacular Caribbean vistas, strolling through colourful fishing villages and seeking out the finest in British colonial architecture and plantation homes. Departing January, February and OctoberDecember 2020, from £2,990pp
tours) There are few better ways to appreciate the calm, clear waters of Scandinavia than by signing up for this 15-day cruise, which takes in such highlights of Northern Europe such as Sweden, Finland, Russia, Estonia, Poland, Germany, Denmark and Norway. Sailing across the Baltic Sea and around the fjords of Norway, this scenic journey delivers a broad mix of fascinating cities, including Stockholm, Helsinki, St Petersburg, Tallinn, Berlin, Copenhagen, and Bergen among them. Palaces, cathedrals and ancient Viking sites make this carefully curated itinerary a journey to remember. Departing April-September 2020, from £4,790pp
seven guided tours) Few expeditions can rival a visit to the pristine wilderness that is Alaska. Starting either in Vancouver on the west coast of Canada, or in Seward on the Kenai Peninsula, this once-in-a-lifetime trip takes in soaring snowy mountains, gleaming glaciers and an abundance of wildlife. You will want to spend as much time on deck as possible. Gold-rush ports, historical frontier towns and protected national parks are among the highlights, alongside the salmon-fishing capital of the world, Ketchikan. Further stop-offs include Alaska’s capital Juneau, Skagway, Sitka and Valdez. Departing June-August 2020, from £5,040pp m
Viking’s 2019-2021 ocean cruises are now available to book. For more information, call 020-8780 6533 or visit vikingcruises.co.uk
Women carrying pots of water on their heads in Rajasthan. See ‘Spirit of India’ in the following pages
Special Occasion
TRAVEL From anniversaries and birthdays to journeys of a lifetime, be inspired by our travel guide for the ultimate celebration
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SPECIAL OCCASION | NEWS
ARTA GHANBARI presents ideas for memorable holidays – perfect for special celebrations
River of gold
SANDRA RACCANELLO/4 CORNERS
Portugal is as popular a destination as ever. There are exciting hotels and villas opening across the country, unspoilt villages to be explored and journeys to be enjoyed along its wine-rich Douro Valley. Viking’s 10-day ‘Portugal’s River of Gold’ cruise along the Douro, starting in hip capital Lisbon (pictured), is a good way to take in many of the country’s highlights. Coimbra, Porto, Régua and Barca d’Alva near the Spanish border are also on the itinerary, as well as Spain’s historic university city of Salamanca. vikingrivercruises.co.uk
SPECIAL OCCASION | NEWS
HIGH SPIRIT
I s l a nd e s c a p e The retreat of leading set designer Oliver Messel and his affluent circle of friends, Barbados remains a glamorous Caribbean holiday choice. Having transformed his own house in St James from ruins, Messel was then approached to redesign several impressive properties on the island, including eighteenth-century Fustic House (pictured). Laid out across 11 acres, it has seven bedrooms, sea views, magnificent gardens and a lagoon-like swimming pool. Perfect for multi-generational family holidays, it is available to rent through Luxury Retreats. luxuryretreats.com
Tucked between China and India, Bhutan remains a place of mystery and charm. Its dramatic landscapes and majestic fortressmonasteries (dzongs) positioned along the Himalayas stir the soul, and great hiking trails around Jomolhari and Paro offer the chance to explore this ancient Buddhist kingdom. Luxury hotels, such as Como, Aman and Taj, all have outposts here, and a new Six Senses is on the way. Enjoy a once-in-a-lifetime trip to magical Bhutan with Original Travel. originaltravel.co.uk
COUNTRY RETREAT
Cruises provide a wonderful way to see many places on one trip, often including otherwise inaccessible destinations. Seabourn’s ‘39-Day World Cruise: Atlantic & African Landfalls’, leaving on January 4 next year, takes in the Caribbean and Africa’s Atlantic coast. Alternatively, Uniworld’s 14-day ‘China, Tibet & the Yangtze’ itinerary combines land and cruise travel, with departures from May to September. seabourn.com | uniworld.com
Contemporary chic in Mexico On Mexico’s Riviera Maya on the north-eastern Yucatán Peninsula, the tranquil atmosphere at Nizuc Resort & Spa feels a world away from the party scene of Cancún. Book into one of the stylish contemporary suites or villas, and spend blissful days relaxing on one of the resort’s two private beaches. And in the evening, enjoy Nizuc’s recently launched private dining experiences, which include a special wine-pairing dinner in a Dom Pérignon wine cellar. nizuc.com
LUXURY RETREATS; ISTOCK
V O YA G E S O F D I S C O V E R Y
Set in the heart of the Cotswolds, Calcot & Spa offers an idyllic haven closer to home. It has over 35 comfortable, individually designed rooms and its stylishly renovated, fourteenth-century barn, surrounded by meadows, is available to hire for celebrations and weddings. calcot.co
SPECIAL OCCASION | NEWS
ISLAND HOPPING
The Maldives is all about first impressions. Nothing can quite prepare you for the intense beauty of the hundreds of unspoilt islands and sleepy lagoons set in a sparkling ocean. There’s no shortage of five-star hotels, with new openings this year from the likes of Lux*, Waldorf Astoria, JW Marriott, Raffles and Baglioni. Then there’s the impressively designed Joali and the all-villa retreat The Nautilus, ideal for families and groups who wish to stay together. These palm-covered islands with their white-sand beaches and turquoise waters are the ideal setting for honeymooners and romantic getaways.
FIRAT MERIC; CHRIS MCLENNAN; SANDRO BRUECKLMEIER; PAUL THUYSBAERT
TOP FROM LEFT The Mura Bar and a bedroom at Joali. MIDDLE FROM LEFT The pool at Vakkaru Maldives. Water bungalows at newly refurbished Sheraton Full Moon Resort. BELOW FROM LEFT A relaxation area at Vakkaru. One of Soneva Fushi’s luxurious beachside villas
HOUSE & GARDEN PARTNERSHIP
Island life
Indulge in a blissful break on Vakkaru Maldives, a luxurious island hideaway where you can enjoy sunbathing, swimming, snorkelling and stargazing in beautiful natural surroundings
I
n the UNESCO-protected Baa Atoll in the Maldives – a 30-minute scenic seaplane journey from the capital Malé – you will find an intimate hideaway offering relaxed luxury that draws on the natural beauty of the island and its surroundings. Vakkaru, which means ‘coconut timber’ in Maldivian, is an independently run hotel and home to over 2,300 coconut trees, which provide shade, cast elegant shadows across the white sands and are harvested for use in the cuisine at the hotel’s four restaurants and two bars. Accommodation comes in the form of 125 beach and over-water villas and suites. The design, which is inspired by the hotel’s idyllic setting and local Maldivian architecture, blurs the lines between inside and out. Generous beachfront and over-water private terraces, outdoor showers and
floor-to-ceiling windows make the most of the beautiful uninterrupted views. Vakkaru is surrounded by a diverse and lively reef, which is perfect for snorkelling and diving. Guests can go on an expedition with a marine biologist or take goggles and explore on their own. After a day outside in the water, unwind on the terrace or in one of the restaurants and bars – many of the ingredients used are from the island’s own organic garden and dishes range in style from European to Asian. In addition to the restaurants, various dining experiences can be arranged in complete seclusion – be it on your terrace, the beach or beneath the palms in a hidden corner of the island. And the Maldives is one of the best places in the world for star-gazing due to the lack of light pollution, so you can enjoy wonderful views by day and night m
READER OFFER Book your Maldives family holiday for at least seven nights and enjoy free
stay, meals and transfers for up to 2 children 12 years or below. Offer is valid for stays until December 19, 2019. To book, visit vakkarumaldives.com
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CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT Icebergs off the coast of Antarctica. Rockhopper penguins in The Falklands. A Deluxe Cabin on Le Lyrial
Force of nature
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hen it comes to exploring the world, the most valuable asset you can have is a trusted guide by your side, and no one has more knowledge and experience than the team at National Geographic. Its relationships with scientists, museums and active researchers in the field have deep roots that extend across continents. Having operated for more than 30 years, the leading French cruise line Ponant understands this more than anyone. Recognising National Geographic’s ability to unlock special access to remote places, a recent partnership allows travellers an up-close view of destinations and conservation projects operating on the ground – everything from the plight of elephants in Kenya to protecting ice tunnels in Iceland. For a special occasion, look no further than Ponant’s ‘Antarctic Odyssey With National Geographic’ voyage: an extraordinary 21-day polar expedition that takes in the wild majesty of the
Falkland Islands, South Georgia, the South Orkney Islands and the Antarctic Peninsula, where, weather permitting, one can encounter icebergs, glaciers, penguins and humpback whales. Travel is aboard one of Ponant’s seven environmentally-certified ships (with Alain Ducasse inspired dining) which are small enough to access off-the-radar pristine places but large enough to feel totally safe and secure. Having a National Geographic expert on board fosters a much deeper understanding of a destination, while access to a National Geographic photographer helps one capture those ever-shifting landscapes on camera. Plus, by taking a trip of this kind, one is automatically giving back; supporting a worldwide network of explorers and researchers to protect our planet for future generations m For information about Ponant’s National Geographic cruises, call 0800-223 0681 or email reservation@ponant.com
MINDEN PICTURES/ALAMY; PONANT/NATHALIE MICHEL
Ponant’s unique cruises, designed in partnership with National Geographic, bring the wonders of the world into sharp focus for environmentally conscious travellers
HOUSE & GARDEN PARTNERSHIP
MAYAN MARVEL
On Mexico’s Caribbean coast, Nizuc Resort & Spa is a stylish beach-side escape that blends perfectly into a secluded nature reserve
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any beach resorts have a distinct feeling of anonymity, as if they could be anywhere in the world. Not so Nizuc Resort & Spa, a luxurious retreat which taps into Mexico’s ancient heritage, blending other-worldly Mayan elements with a contemporary aesthetic. Perched on the southern tip of the Cancun region, in a secluded nature reserve, Punta Nizuc is where Mayan astronomers used to come and gaze at the stars, looking out over the limitless sea and the spectacular Mesoamerican Barrier Reef beneath. The resort blends gracefully into nature, with expansive views from its rooms and calming
earth tones in its interiors. It is also vast, with 274 sprawling suites, two glittering white beaches bordered by mangroves, five swimming pools and six restaurants offering the best of Mexican and world cuisine. This is a place full of possibilities, where days can be equally happily spent visiting the archaeological sites nearby, snorkelling on the reef, or kayaking on the tranquil ocean. All kinds of travellers are catered for: couples will certainly make the most of the extensive spa, Dom Pérignon wine cellar and adults-only areas, but the kids’ club and teenagers’ lounge are there to keep energetic families well entertained. For more information and to book, visit nizuc.com
QUENTIN BACON
MAIN PICTURE The swimming pool overlooks the beach beyond. BELOW FROM LEFT Ni Peruvian restaurant. Paddleboarding on Nizuc’s private beach. The Presidential Villa
HOUSE & GARDEN PARTNERSHIP
ABOVE LEFT An Alaskan moose silhouetted against the still waters of a lake with snow-capped Denali mountain in the background. ABOVE RIGHT View towering walls of ice formed by awe-inspiring glaciers at close quarters on special guided tours
INTO THE WILD
Ancient glaciers, snow-capped peaks, taiga forest and grizzly bears. Holland America Line’s journeys in Alaska take travellers to the very edge of the world
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ravel enriches us. It takes us to new territories and introduces us to new cultures and perspectives. It helps us to see the world with fresh eyes and to appreciate the infinite variety and beauty of nature. Nowhere is this more apparent than in Alaska. Home to North America’s highest mountain, largest freshwater lake and the densest concentration of glaciers, this remote region offers adventure without limits. Nothing quite prepares you for the spectacular scenery and majesty of this other-worldly land, but in order to fully understand the history, wildlife and customs of Alaska, an experienced tour guide is essential. Enter Holland America Line. For more than 70 years, it has been leading expeditions in Alaska on land and sea. Board one of its elegant ships and you’ll enjoy dining rooms filled with crystal and china, panoramic views and award-winning service. Highlights of a Holland America Line trip include hiking through taiga forests searching for caribou and grizzlies, laying fresh tracks on the untouched Yukon territory, catching and cooking Alaskan salmon, taking to the sky for amazing views by helicopter or seaplane, and watching orcas and sea lions frolic in the wake of your elegant hotel at sea. Experts in all things Alaska, Holland America Line gives you privileged access to all Alaska and Canada’s Yukon has to offer, while travelling in impeccable comfort and style. Are you ready for the experience of a lifetime? For more about Holland America Line, call 0344 338 8605 or visit hollandamerica.com
HOUSE & GARDEN PARTNERSHIP
Beyond the beach There is more to Barbados than white sand and blue skies – from thrilling encounters with the local wildlife to lush tropical gardens and gourmet food, this is an island with something for everyone
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NICK SMITH PHOTOGRAPHY; MIKE TOY
tropical island unquestionably needs to offer a few essential things: year-round sunshine, white sand, turquoise blue seas and gently waving palm trees. It goes without saying that Barbados has all these in abundance, but it also offers so much more. Those who come to the island to relax in idyllic surroundings can easily do so, but for those who like to explore, there is plenty to see and do during your stay. Barbados teems with wildlife, which means a swim with turtles in the Caribbean Sea, or a safari in the hinterland, can easily be arranged. For visitors who prefer a more tranquil encounter with nature, Barbadians take their gardens very seriously – the island’s horticultural society won its 19th gold medal at last year’s RHS Chelsea Flower Show. Barbados’ must-see landmarks for plant lovers include the enchantingly tamed rainforest at Hunte’s Gardens and the vast collection of tropical flowers at Orchid World. Once you come to rest, there are restaurants here to satisfy the choosiest of gourmands, from romantic clifftop dining with spectacular views, to casual beach bars serving up the catch of the day, as well as a wealth of food festivals throughout the year. Barbados is also widely believed to be the birthplace of rum, so a stop into one of the island’s many rum shops, or a rumtasting tour of the plantation at St. Nicholas Abbey, is a must. This is an island full of life, where everyone, whether couples, families, friends or solo travellers, are sure to find something to their taste. To learn more about Barbados, call 0207299 7175 or go to visitbarbados.org m ANTICLOCKWISE FROM TOP One of the many great beaches on Barbados. Shaded by palm trees, the swimming pool at Cobblers Cove hotel offers a cooler spot for relaxation. Barbados is known for its brightly painted chattel houses. A fisherman brings in the day’s catch
HOUSE & GARDEN PARTNERSHIP
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT Gourmet menus feature the freshest ingredients and seasonal local specialities. Destinations such as Portofino in Italy are visited on Mediterranean cruises. Guests can go shopping to local markets with Seabourn’s executive chef. Spacious ocean-front suites are available on all routes, each with its own stylish living area and most with a private veranda
Perfect moments
With its luxurious all-suite ships and wonderfully planned itineraries, a Seabourn cruise is the definition of travelling well
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o travel is to create lifetime memories, and those rare experiences reserved for special occasions can be the most important. Seabourn’s fleet of intimate ships have the atmosphere of a private club at sea and offer the perfect setting for such a trip. Each cruise visits a host of carefully chosen ports and lesser-travelled destinations from the Arctic to Southeast Asia and the Greek islands. Because of their size, Seabourn’s ships are able to sail right to the heart of a place, into picturesque harbours most other larger vessels cannot enter. However, on board, they offer guests more luxurious space than many boutique hotels. Most of the ocean-front suites come with private verandas, walk-in wardrobes and attentive
stewardesses, and the service is as sincere as it is intuitive. Names and preferences are remembered. Many menus, including those at the speciality Grill by Thomas Keller, are by the Michelinstarred chef of the same name. Seabourn’s guest speakers are the best in their fields, be it art, history, conservation or ecology. An ongoing alliance with UNESCO delivers privileged access and insight into some of the world’s most fascinating places, and with Seabourn’s new polar-class ‘Expedition’ ships (the first due in June 2021), travellers will be able to visit some of the most remote off-grid global destinations. Innovative, luxurious and exceeding expectations – Seabourn is the obvious choice. For more information, call 0344-338 8615 or visit seabourn.com
SPECIAL OCCASION | INDIA
SPIRIT OF INDIA From the ancient temples and colourful markets of Delhi to the romantic ruined forts of Rajasthan and the wildlife of Ranthambore National Park, this mesmerising country offers a wealth of experiences for the senses
LUCAS VALLECILLOS/ALAMY
TEXT ARTA GHANBARI
S PREVIOUS PAGE Diwan-i-Am, or Hall of Audiences, in the Red Fort of Old Delhi ABOVE Women in vibrant saris by ruins near Ranthambore National Park OPPOSITE TOP ROW A seating area outside one of the 10 tents at Aman-i-Kas camp. Worshippers at Jama Masjid mosque in Delhi. An abandoned temple near Amanbagh OPPOSITE MIDDLE ROW The scenery in Ranthambore National Park, which is dotted with thirteenth-century architecture. Women from the Meena tribe in Rajasthan. Early morning traffic at Connaught Place in New Delhi OPPOSITE BOTTOM ROW The doorway at the front of the Jama Masjid mosque is swept by a cleaner. A tiger reclines beside an ancient palace in Ranthambore. Amanbagh is built in pink sandstone
BOOK IT Abercrombie & Kent (01242 547 755; abercrombiekent.co.uk) offers a 7-night trip to Delhi and Rajasthan from £4,350pp, based on two sharing, including stays at The Imperial, Amanbagh and Aman-i-Kas, flights, transfers and selected meals and guided excursions
tanding on the terrace of Humayun’s Tomb, a red-stone mausoleum for India’s second Mughal emperor, my breath slows to the pace of that of the birds up above, wings spread and hanging still in the air like black silhouettes against the orange evening sun. Designed in the sixteenth century by Persian architects, this is the first example of a garden tomb in India – symbolising the emperor’s place in paradise – and is said to have been the inspiration for the Taj Mahal. Whereas in most parts of the world, pigeons are often perceived as a pest, here they add to the beauty of each and every view – circling Mughal monuments and perched on Hindu temples, soaring above the hectic markets of Old Delhi and sharing branches with eagles, parrots and vultures along the wide, tree-lined streets of New Delhi. The British planted about five million fruit and medicinal trees here, which sustain their immense population. Similarly, at Qutub Minar, with its 73-metre-high minaret built after the defeat of Delhi’s last Hindu kingdom, the birds majestically cross the sky in flocks between the 40 or so ruins that make up this complex, including a mosque and tombs. In New Delhi, they circle the India Gate war memorial and rest on grand parliament buildings designed by British greats Edwin Lutyens and Herbert Baker. Delhi lures you into its past and leaves you entangled in its present. It is essentially a meeting of eight of cities – each built, destroyed and rebuilt under a new dynasty – and an important destination in understanding India’s long and turbulent history under Islamic, Hindu and British rule. Today, the old walled city’s impossibly busy markets are alive with colours, sounds, smells and people in daily exchange. This is known as Shahjahanabad, the seventh city named after the Mughal emperor at the time. Much of the action sprawls from the main market Chandni Chowk, with few ruined havelis (traditional mansions) remaining within the twists and turns of winding alleys. Delhi City Walks offer excellent private walking tours – highly recommended as this area can be hard to navigate. The ‘Old Delhi Food and Heritage’ walk takes in the seventeenth-century Jama Masjid, one of the country’s largest mosques, with its impressive arches and red stone, as well as markets like Khari Baoli for spices and Kinari Bazaar for wedding finery. We try Punjabi delights like paratha flatbreads stuffed with mint and paneer, mango lassis and jalebi (deep-fried flour pretzels soaked in sugar syrup). Back at The Imperial, my hotel by happening Connaught Place, the focus is on art. Nearly every wall in its over 200 rooms, several restaurants, staircases and corridors is lined with colonial and post-colonial artworks and artefacts. Its South-East Asian restaurant The Spice Route, is as pleasing to the eye as it is to the palette, and covered in murals by painters from Kerala’s Guruvayur temple, taking seven years to complete. It doesn’t take long for the scenery to change once out of Delhi. Past Ajabgarh with its abandoned fort deep in the cliffs of the Aravalli Range, we arrive at Amanbagh – a luxurious lodging built in pink sandstone in the style of grand havelis. Days here begin and end with the sound of music: we are serenaded by flute over breakfast, while at night a duo plays the tabla and harmonium on the lawn by the ridiculously photogenic pool. There are just 37 rooms, and I stay in a domed villa, taking dips in both my private pool and bath carved from a single slab of local green marble. We enjoy a candlelit dinner in a seventeenth-century chhatri in Ajabgarh, do yoga in the ethereal morning light and visit the abandoned village of Bhangarh on the edge of the Sariska Tiger Reserve, where the archaeological remains are still being excavated. Beyond a 450-year-old Banyan tree, decorated with langur and macaque monkeys, and several impressive temples is the haunted palace. Local legend tells the tale of a tantric who tried to win the love of a princess living here using black magic – it ended badly and, with his last words, he cursed the village to be destroyed overnight, which is was. Aman’s second post in Rajasthan is a camp on the edge of Ranthambore National Park, with 10 spacious, Mughal-style draped tents. Formerly the private game reserve of the maharajahs, the park’s resident tigers, leopards, crocodiles and sloths attract crowds and tourist establishments unseen in Ajabgarh. But on arrival at Aman-i-Kas, everything disappears but nature. We have sundowners on the Aravalli Hills nearby, overlooking a village and Jainist temple. The morning’s game drive in the tiger reserve, past ancient ruins, brings us to a cub of Noor, queen of Ranthambore, lying in the bush by the river and clearly annoyed by our presence. Tigers are solitary animals after all. In India, spirits can be found in surprising places, and rituals run deep. Between holy cows, black-magic curses and parrot astrology, there are all kinds of fortune tellers. I decide to leave mine to fate m
STOCKSY; PRILL MEDIENDESIGN; ADITYA SINGH; ALAMY; SHUTTERSTOCK
SPECIAL OCCASION | INDIA
Before sunrise
A cruise along the Mekong River reveals everyday life unfolding in ways that no other form of travel can offer – let Avalon Waterways be your guide
HOUSE & GARDEN PARTNERSHIP
OPPOSITE A flower seller along the Mekong. ABOVE LEFT The golden Buu Long temple in Ho Chi Minh City. ABOVE RIGHT FROM TOP Angkor Wat temple in Siem Reap, Cambodia. A Panorama Suite on Avalon Saigon
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nyone who has experienced the thrill of travel to Southeast Asia will tell you there’s no limit to the number of places to see, but a journey along the mighty Mekong River showcases the region in a whole new light. Avalon Waterways’ ‘Fascinating Vietnam, Cambodia and the Mekong’ cruise takes in the legendary sights of Ho Chi Minh City, Phnom Penh and Siem Reap, culturally rich in more ways than one can count, but it is the bits in between that really touch the soul. Everyday life takes place on the banks of the river: school children at play, fishermen casting their nets at sunrise and ox carts laden with rice from a hard day’s work on the paddy fields. This ever-changing kaleidoscope has the power to transport visitors back in time to a world where ancient traditions are proudly upheld. With Avalon Waterways, these scenes can be observed from an environment of uncompromised luxury. Suites are spacious with beds facing the glorious views through wide panoramic windows that open fully to create an open-air balcony. Expect the finest local dishes, firstclass service and thought-provoking educational talks in the evenings. There’s also a spa to unwind after a day of exploring, offering an extensive menu of treatments. Avalon Saigon, one of the newest additions to the fleet, provides the ultimate in relaxed luxury with its colonial good looks mixed with contemporary style and amenities. The ship carries just 36 passengers, creating an intimate feel but with plenty of space on board to relax. From historical landmarks to ancient traditions and enriching encounters, Avalon Waterways has the know-how to bring you closer. To find out more about exploring the mighty Mekong with Avalon Waterways, visit avaloncruises. co.uk/mekong or call 0330-058 8257 m READER OFFER Receive five per cent off the price of any Avalon Waterways cruise.
Simply call 0330-058 8257 or visit avaloncruises.co.uk and use the code HGFIVE.
EXPLORING THE MEKONG: Included onshore excursions A walking tour of Ho Chi Minh City’s historic landmarks includes a visit to the Rex Hotel’s rooftop bar, where the US military held the infamous ‘Five O’Clock Follies’ during the Vietnam War, followed by a visit to the War Remnants Museum and Ben Thanh Market. Enjoy a drive out of the city for a guided tour of the Cu Chi Tunnels. This extraordinary underground network extends more than 120 miles and was used as a hideout by the Viet Cong during the war. A trip to Cu Lao Gieng Island in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta starts with a visit to the home of a local family making non la (Vietnamese conical hats) from palm leaves and bamboo. Then head to a local workshop to see wooden sampan boats being crafted by hand. Visit Wat Hanchey, an eighth-century hilltop temple just outside Phnomh Penh, the capital of Cambodia. Climb or be driven to the summit, where you can enjoy glorious views of the surrounding area and participate in a traditional water blessing with local monks m
STOCKISTS
Merchandise from these companies is featured editorially in this issue. Information is checked at the time of going to press, but House & Garden cannot guarantee that prices will not change or that items will be in stock at the time of publication 1882 020-3002 8023; 1882ltd.com A ALETA 020-7228 9676; aletaonline.com AND OBJECTS 020-7427 6059; andobjects.com ANNIE SLOAN 01865-247296; anniesloan.com AQUA DYNAMICS 01727-844077; aqua-dynamics.co.uk ARTHUR BEALE 020-7836 9034; arthurbeale.co.uk A RUM FELLOW 020-8245 6779; arumfellow.com B B&Q 0333-014 3098; diy.com BEATA HEUMAN 020-8741 0102; beataheuman.com THE BODY SHOP thebodyshop.com BOMBAY SPROUT 07980-655570; bombaysprout.com C CAVE INTERIORS 020-7722 9222; caveinteriors.com CHELSEA TEXTILES 020-7584 5544; chelseatextiles.com CLOTH HOUSE 020-7437 5155; clothhouse.com THE COLD PRESS 01692-409976; thecoldpress.com THE CONRAN SHOP 0844-848 4000; conranshop.co.uk COX & COX 0330-333 2123; coxandcox.co.uk CUT LASER CUT 020-3490 9886; cutlasercut.com
D DEDAR 020-7351 9939; dedar.com DULUX dulux.co.uk E EVE evesleep.co.uk F THE FABRIC COLLECTIVE 020-7384 2975; thefabriccollective.com FERMOB fermob.com FERREIRA DE SÁ ferreiradesa.pt FLYING TIGER COPENHAGEN f lyingtiger.com FOREST & FOUND forest-and-found.com FUTON COMPANY 0345-609 4455; futoncompany.co.uk G GARDEN TRADING gardentrading.co.uk GEORGE SPENCER DESIGNS 020-7584 3003; georgespencer.com GRAHAM & GREEN 0845-130 6622; grahamandgreen.co.uk GUY GOODFELLOW COLLECTION 020-7352 9002; guygoodfellowcollection.com
JESSICA LIGHT 020-7256 1157; jessicalightshop.com JIM LAWRENCE 01473-826685; jim-lawrence.co.uk JULIAN CHICHESTER 020-7622 2928; julianchichester.com JUPE BY JACKIE jupebyjackie.com K KNOWLES & CHRISTOU 020-7352 7000; knowles-christou.com L LAURENCE BRABANT laurencebrabant.com LES INDIENNES 00-1-518-537 3735; lesindiennesshop.com LIGNE ROSET ligne-roset.com LLEWELYN & COMPANY 01497-821880; llewelynandcompany.com LOAF 0845-486 0667; loaf.com
I IKEA ikea.com
M MADE 0344-257 1888; made.com MAISON DADA maisondada.com MAISON NUMEN maisonnumen.com MARK LABAN 07931-715134; marklaban.com MASSANT massant.com MERCHANT & MILLS 01797-227789; merchantandmills.com MILAGROS 020-7613 0876; milagros.co.uk MINT 020-7225 2228; mintshop.co.uk MUJI muji.eu
J JAMES BOWYER FURNITURE 07920-400976; jamesbowyerfurniture.co.uk
N NATIVE & CO 020-7243 0418; nativeandco.com
H H&M HOME 0344-736 9000; hm.com HABITAT 0844-499 1122; habitat.co.uk THE HACKNEY DRAPER 020-3583 8485; thehackneydraper.co.uk
THE NEW CRAFTSMEN 020-7148 3190; thenewcraftsmen.com NICHOLAS HERBERT 020-7376 5596; nicholasherbert.com P PAOLO MOSCHINO FOR NICHOLAS HASLAM 020-7730 8623; nicholashaslam.com PAPERCHASE 020-7467 6200; paperchase.co.uk THE PAPER LANTERN COMPANY 01245-363315; paperlanterncompany.co.uk PARNA parna.co.uk PERCH & PARROW 020-8629 1166; perchandparrow.com POOKY 020-7351 3003; pooky.com PUNCH THE CLOCK 07904-661811; punch-the-clock.myshopify.com R RETROUVIUS 020-8960 6060; retrouvius.com ROCKETT ST GEORGE 01444-253391; rockettstgeorge.co.uk ROGER OATES DESIGN 020-7351 2288; rogeroates.com RS BARCELONA 00-34-93-658 9503; rs-barcelona.com RUSSELL & CHAPPLE 020-7836 7521; russellandchapple.co.uk S SAMUEL & SONS 020-7351 5153; samuelandsons.com SCP 020-7739 1869; scp.co.uk SEAT WEAVING SUPPLIES 01202-874737; seatweavingsupplies.co.uk
SEBASTIAN COX 020-8316 5679; sebastiancox.co.uk THE SHOP FLOOR PROJECT 01229-584537; theshopf loorproject.com SOHO HOME 020-3819 8199; sohohome.com STOWAWAY LONDON 07834-457369; stowawaylondon.com STUDIO FOUR NYC 00-1-212-475 4414; studiofournyc.com STUDIOILSE studioilse.com T TAT LONDON tat-london.co.uk TISSUS D’HÉLÈNE 020-7352 9977; tissusdhelene.co.uk TTS 0800-138 1370; tts-group.co.uk U UNTO THIS LAST 020-7613 0882; untothislast.co.uk THE URBAN ELECTRIC CO urbanelectricco.com UTOPIA & UTILITY utopiaandutility.eu V VANDERHURD 020-7313 5400; vanderhurd.com VOLGA LINEN 01728-635020; volgalinen.co.uk W WAYFAIR 0800-169 0423; wayfair.co.uk WEST ELM 0800-404 9780; westelm.com WILLER 020-7937 3518; willer.co.uk Z ZANAT zanat.org ZARA HOME 0800-026 0091; zarahome.com
Below are The List members who have appeared in this issue. Go to houseandgarden.co.uk/the-list to see their complete profiles BEATA HEUMAN | CHARLOTTE CROSLAND INTERIORS | CHESTER JONES STUDIO | COLLETT-ZARZYCKI | DANIEL PETTENO ARCHITECTURE WORKSHOP | EDWARD BULMER | GUY GOODFELLOW INTERIORS & ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN | HARDING & READ | K&H DESIGN | LEVESON DESIGN | LOUISE BRADLEY | LUKE IRWIN | MARTIN HULBERT DESIGN | MATTHEW COX PAOLO MOSCHINO FOR NICHOLAS HASLAM | RACHEL CHUDLEY INTERIOR DESIGN | RETROUVIUS | RITA KONIG THE RUG COMPANY | SALVESEN GRAHAM | SPENCER & WEDEKIND | SUZY HOODLESS | TURNER POCOCK | VANDERHURD m
280 JUNE 2019 HOUSEANDGARDEN.CO.UK
BRITAIN PROPERTY
IN FULL BLOOM
As summer approaches, Rosemary Brooke uncovers properties with glorious gardens
DUNSBOROUGH PARK, RIPLEY, SURREY
Elegant, 18th-century grounds imbue this estate with character – its mix of extensive formal gardens and parkland sets it apart. The main house is Grade II listed and has seven bedrooms, with numerous secondary dwellings and outbuildings. £17 million. Savills: 020 7016 3780
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very May, the crowds at the Chelsea Flower Show are a reminder of the national love with horticulture. Little wonder, then, that a beautiful garden is a strong selling point for a property. It may be hard to measure its material worth, but there’s no mistaking its ability to capture the hearts of potential buyers.
to fin ,’ ‘A truly perfect garden is says Jonathan Bramwell, head of buying consultancy The Buying Solution. ‘In the Cotswolds, for example, if you’re spending £3 million or up, you may see only three houses with a really special garden come to market every year.’ Dunsborough Park in Ripley, Surrey,
is one of those elusive houses with really spectacular grounds. Laid out in the 18th century, they are enclosed by a ha-ha, with views of the parkland beyond. The walled gardens are divided into sections, which are resplendent with English roses, mature topiary and a colourful Dutch garden, with box-edged borders brimming with brightly coloured tulips. The rest of the grounds are equally charming, with Edwardian greenhouses, a grotto and a stone bridge, topped with a picturesque pavilion. The 108-acre estate is only 26 miles from central London, and includes 10 cottages, substantial equestrian facilities, an outdoor swimming pool and two tennis courts. The extensive range of outbuildings even include a concert hall, a perfect location for celebrations and parties.
WOODSTOCK ROAD, OXFORD
Located in the centre of Oxford, Summertown Villa certainly possesses a substantial city garden, occupying nearly two acres. The Regency villa has six bedrooms and a separate coach house, while the gardens are wonderfully private, thanks to the mature trees. POA. Knight Frank: 020 7861 1065 or 01865 790077
ADDISON ROAD, W14
A country house in the heart of London – this 19th-century detached house has green space to the front and rear, spans 6,020 square feet, and includes an extraordinary triple-height former artist’s studio. POA. Russell Simpson: 020 7225 0277
RECTORY GROVE, SW4
This six-bedroom, semidetached property in Clapham comes with a 55-foot landscaped garden, with a patio area and lawns. The large kitchen has marble worktops and a range, and the house has been tted to an exceptional standard. Available to rent at £4,000 a week. Knight Frank: 020 3667 6755
For those who want to live in a country house but without the responsibility of maintaining an estate, 4 Burton House in West Sussex might provide the ideal solution. The four-bedroom apartment forms part of a Grade II-listed manor, which is surrounded by 100 acres of parkland, designed by Capability Brown, and available for residents’ use. Gardens are rare in central London, but a house in Holland Park, currently on the market with Russell Simpson, has an unusually large plot. The detached property dates from the 19th century, and has a former artist’s studio, now a spacious living area. Surrounding the house is the greatest asset of all – a tranquil oasis of greenery. In the midst of a city, there is no keener pleasure than spending a sunny day out in the garden.
BURTON HOUSE, WEST SUSSEX
Surrounded by rolling parkland, this four-bedroom apartment occupies part of a Grade II-listed mansion in the heart of the South Downs National Park. 4 Burton House has its own entrance, with shared use of the formal gardens and 100-acre estate. £1.475 million. Strutt & Parker: 01243 832611
Well-connected community by boat, car and train. Two bed riverside apartments from ÂŁ755,000
To register for the new Riverside Apartment Launch please visit: RIVERSIDEQUARTER.COM 020 8877 2000
1 K E Y. 2 5 0 H O L I D AY H O M E S
Why own a second home when, for a fraction of the cost, you can flit between 250 luxurious and personally managed properties in the world’s finest locations? Call +44 (0)20 7824 9949 or visit thehideawaysclub.com/cn
This investment carries the risk of potential loss of capital. The Hideaways Club investment property portfolio includes 36 owned and 4 leased properties in the Classic Collection, 7 owned and 3 leased properties in the City Collection plus access to reciprocal partner properties worldwide. Investment in this scheme is restricted to certified high net worth individuals or sophisticated investors. Evidence of the certification will be required before detailed information can be provided to you. The price or value of, or income from, investments can fall as well as rise. This investment carries a risk to your capital and an investor may get back less than the sum invested. You may have difficulty selling this investment at a reasonable price and in some circumstances it may be difficult to sell at any price. Do not invest in this unless you have carefully thought about whether you can afford it and whether it is right for you. This financial promotion has been approved by Velay Financial Services Limited, 210 Neptune House, Marina Bay, Gibraltar which is licensed by the Gibraltar Financial Services Commission as an external alternative investment fund manager under the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Regulations 2019 (licence no. FSC0103AIF).
BRITAIN PROPERTY
HOT PROPERTY
Two former fi e stations feature among London’s latest launches. Claire Pilton reports
BELSIZE PARK FIREHOUSE, NW3
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ive years after Belsize Fire Station was shut down and sold off for £7.8 million, this listed landmark is once again making headlines by virtue of its residential revival. Designed in 1915 by Charles Canning Windmill of the London County Council Architects Department, the station was awarded a Grade II* listing by English Heritage for its ‘high architectural quality’ and ‘in the wider context of Edwardian architecture… as an exemplar of the use of a domestic idiom, the Arts and Crafts style, in a municipal building’. Sensitively designed to blend into its residential location (the name Belsize comes from the French ‘bel assis’, meaning well situated), the station’s elevation to Eton Avenue ‘could be mistaken for a terrace of cottages with its tiled roof and tall chimneys’, while ‘the elevation to Lancaster Grove accommodates the three appliance bays in a similarly rustic
Eighteen apartments embrace the heritage of this evocative former re station and its extraordinarily ne Grade II*-listed Arts and Crafts architecture. Ranging from one to three bedrooms, the ats start from £650,000. Ideally placed for the delis, cafes, restaurants and shops of Belsize Village, they are also just a short walk from Belsize Park and Swiss Cottage tube stations. Knight Frank: 020 3826 0673
design.’ Architectural attributes aside, fi e crews from this station worked tirelessly during the two world wars and kept the service running through the London Blitz. Small wonder the station’s closure proved contentious. Today’s distinctive redevelopment and residential conversion into 18 apartments serves to extend the building’s heritage and preserve its exemplary design. In Victoria, on Greycoat Place, SW1, the former Westminster Fire Station is being converted and extended to provide a mixed-use ‘boutique’ development. Prices start through CBRE from £850,000 for the 11 fl ts in the new-build Station House that is linked via a private courtyard to the original Grade IIlisted Edwardian building. This will house six apartments over four floo s and a destination
restaurant at street level, which will be entered through the Fire Station’s carriage doors. Much of the building’s original character is being retained and refurbished, including the fi eman’s pole and watch room. In Knightsbridge, a stone’s throw from Harrods, the world’s most famous ‘corner shop’, three 19th-century townhouses on Beaufort Gardens, SW3, that were latterly home to a 33room hotel, have been redeveloped to provide nine ever-so-exclusive apartments. Exuding what interior designer Pierre Yovanovitch describes as ‘luxury without ostentation’, you need only walk through the scene-setting entrance lobby to know you’ve arrived. Launching this month through Beauchamp Estates, prices start from £2.75 million for a 600-square-foot onebedroom apartment with the benefi of a private gym, sauna and treatment room… and bags of retail therapy on the doorstep.
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1. 250 CITY ROAD, EC1
This summer sees the unveiling of Ian RankBroadley’s statue of the Princess of Wales at Kensington Palace and his bronze artwork at 250 City Road that depicts scenes of the area’s industrial history. A short walk from the Square Mile and Silicon Roundabout, ats in 36-storey Valencia Tower start from £870,000. www.250cityroad.co.uk
2. SOUTH QUAY PLAZA, E14
Fluttering a £2.875 million price tag from the 65th storey of this 220-metretall tower, the third and nal penthouse (a dentist and money trader have bought the other two) has three bedrooms and views east over the Thames and Greenwich. The interior scheme is curated with high yers in mind. www.southquayplaza.london
3. OVAL VILLAGE, SE11
Set to transform Oval into a top commuter hotspot, this ve-acre scheme will see the iconic Oval gasholders and generator regenerated into a cultural hub, community centre, cafe and commercial space. With 1,350 homes in the pipeline, prices in the rst phase start from £538,000 for a studio at. Knight Frank: 020 3826 0673
4. REGENT’S CRESCENT, W1
Launching this month, but originally built in 1820 by the Prince Regent (later King George IV), CIT’s development affords the opportunity to reside in a ‘re-imagined John Nash masterpiece’. It comprises 67 apartments and nine garden villas; a three-bedroom at that overlooks Park Crescent gardens costs £7.8 million. www.regentscrescent.com
5. BEAUFORT GARDENS, SW3
Bang in the hedonistic heart of Knightsbridge, the eight apartments and duplex penthouse at this desirably discreet development offer a new level of design for 21st-century living. Interiors by Paris-based Pierre Yovanovitch are teamed with 24-hour concierge and price tags of £2.75 million plus. Beauchamp Estates: 020 7499 7722
* TIME
QUOTED ANGEL TO MOORG ATE , SOURCE : TFL . CGI FOR ILLUSTR ATIVE PURPOSES
MOMENTS AMONGST GREAT HISTORY
ONE-BED SUITES FROM £685,000 | ONE-BED APARTMENTS FROM £725,000 | TWO-BED APARTMENTS FROM £1,050,000
Find your home away from home in a selection of beautifully-designed apartments within an Edwardian masterpiece in vibrant Islington. Explore local boutiques, discover new restaurants, and unwind with friends and family at Maggie & Rose. All just five minutes from the heart of the City.* TO MAKE AN APPOINTMENT CALL 020 3409 2287 VISIT US AT WWW.ISLINGTONSQUARE.COM
condenastjohansens.com De.light Boutique Hotel, Mykonos, Greece
Rental Revolution Looking for ways to monetise your wardrobe while helping to save the planet? MY WARDROBE HQ is the pioneering new fashion rental app that promises both…
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Itʼs no surprise that people donʼt wear every item in their wardrobe, however recent studies reveal weʼre wearing under 50% of our wares over and again while the remaining items sit and gather dust. Not only are we out of pocket, but the over consumption is putting Mother Earth under unnecessary stress. MY WARDROBE HQ is the revolutionary wardrobe sharing app that allows you to earn an income from renting out your own clothes and accessories, whilst also renting great looks from other users at a fraction of the cost of buying. Extending the product lifecycle of each garment reduces the need to consume new product and instead offers a more sustainable way to tap into the seasonʼs latest looks. “If we can monetise our assets, weʼll enjoy extra income. Weʼve known about the rental opportunities with property for a while, but now you can treat your unused wardrobe items in the same way”, confirms founder and CEO Sacha Newall. Weʼve teamed up with UnderTheDoormat, a new, London-based, luxury short-let rental company who will rent out your home for you and fully manage every step of the process. If you are visiting the city, why not get one of the MY WARDROBE HQ stylists to order you a capsule wardrobe for your stay? Guests receive a personal welcome, a team on hand 24/7 and a dedicated concierge service - the perfect solution for a hotel quality experience in the comfort of a home. From Zuhair Murad gowns and Balenciaga crystalshowered shoes to Hermès Kelly and Gucci Marmont
Alexander McQueen Clutch Rent £200 Buy £1600
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bags, think of MY WARDROBE HQ as your ondemand dressing up box. Better still, all items are fully protected with MY WARDROBE HQʼs unique payment protection that protects both the renter and the owner of the items. Similarly, UndertheDoormat offers the best insurance cover in the market and manages every part of the process from maintenance, to house styling, even down to changing the linens. Home owners make on average £10,000 annually from their properties; if you are interested in renting out your home (even just for while you are on holidays), contact them below. For more information about how to rent out your own wardrobe or to rent some beautiful designer pieces at a fraction of the usual retail price, please contact us on the details below. www.underthedoormat.com 02079521650 @underthedoormat www.mywardrobehq.com 02073419000 @mywardrobe_hq To join MY WARDROBE HQʼs pre-launch invitation only user group, email admin@mywardrobehq.com
BRITAIN PROPERTY
NOTEBOOK A monthly round-up of property news, at home and abroad BY ROSEMARY BROOKE ARTY PARTY
Since 1991, Marie Curie has held an annual private view of the Royal Academy’s prestigious Summer Exhibition, to raise funds for the charity. This year’s champagne reception takes place on Tuesday 9th July, 7–9pm, where guests will have exclusive access to the exhibition. Curated by the celebrated British painter Jock McFadyen, it features works by artists including Ken Howard, Edmund de Waal and Maggi Hambling, to be auctioned on the night. To book tickets, visit mariecurie.org.uk/royalacademy LAKESIDE LOVELINESS
Located in Wilder Kaiser, one of Austria’s most beautiful mountain
Notable guests from last year’s event included, from left: Imelda Staunton, Sophie Thompson, Jim Carter, Mel Giedroyc and Rupert Young
regions, this magni cent chalet is perfectly positioned for winter sports or summer holidays. Die Kaiserquelle has ve bedrooms, four bathrooms and geothermal heating, which also heats the sauna. Upstairs, there is a state-of-the-art kitchen and an openplan living area, with a traditional replace and panoramic views of the Hintersteiner See, a vast glacial lake famed for its beauty. POA. For more information, visit www.fi stkitzbuehel.com
THE JOY OF THE SEARCH
Buying agents Delphine Colombo and Lucie Hirst have a refreshing philosophy – to make the process of purchasing a property as enjoyable as possible for their clients. Whether it’s the perfect one-bedroom at or a townhouse in prime central London, Colombo Hirst’s boutique service offers invaluable assistance, enabling buyers to get their ideal home for the best possible price and with minimum stress. For more information, visit www.colombohirst.com
BELGRAVIA BEAUTY
Moments from Harvey Nichols and Harrods, this townhouse on Wilton Place in Belgravia spans six oors and is opposite the historic church of St Paul’s, Knightsbridge. A stone- agged entrance hall creates a ne rst impression, while upstairs is a double drawing room and a roof terrace. With ve bedrooms and self-contained staff accommodation, this is a glamorous family home in the heart of London. £10.95 million. For more information, contact Dexters on 020 7590 9590
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SUPERIOR HOMES FOR A S P I R I N G L I F E S T LY E S Designed and built by premier luxury housebuilder Octagon, Broadoaks Park is soon to launch its magnificent mix of family homes set in approximately 25 acres of green space. Connecting city and country lifestyles, this unique and exclusive development will offer a range of beautiful homes, from stylish apartments to spacious detached family houses. Centred around a Grade II Listed mansion alongside original lodges, a coach house and ornamental gardens, Broadoaks Park offers a blend of heritage and modernity to create a one-of-a-kind community.
R E G I S T E R YO U R I N T E R E S T T O DAY B R O A D O A K S PA R K . C O . U K
020 8481 7500 | OCTAGON.CO.UK
SELF PORTRAIT I find travelling to JAPAN a wonderful experience. They’ve developed a totally different way of living in the First World; it’s so thoughtful and elegant.
Lately, I’ve been reading George Nakashima’s THE
I collaborated with Eric Charles-Donatien, a Parisian PLUMASSIER (feather worker), on this ‘Tiffany’ chair. Feathers may seem an unusual thing to combine with metal furniture, but we hit it off after meeting at Decorex. We’ve also made a table together.
SOUL OF A TREE*. Written
by a maker of wood furniture, the book explores his spirituality and respect for the trees he uses. I aspire to be more like him.
In the showroom, we have a CHINA BIRD that sits on a beam and watches what’s going on. I bought it in Woolacombe, in Devon, where my siblings and I have a holiday house. I was going to throw it away, but then I dipped it in blue paint and it was transformed.
When I was eight years old, I painted my bedroom in a NAVY BLUE GLOSS (I didn’t know at the time that there were other kinds of paint). It was the Seventies and I wanted to fill my room with white furniture. My mother was quite tolerant about it.
Tom Faulkner THE FURNITURE DESIGNER PAINTS A PICTURE OF HIS LIFE, WORK AND INSPIRATIONS
I admire the work of BAUHAUS designers, including Mies van der Rohe and Marcel Breuer (‘Wassily Chair’, right). They spread modernism worldwide when they fled Germany in the Thirties.
I have quite catholic tastes in art, but one modern artist I love is the sculptor RICHARD SERRA. His gigantic installation at Dia:Beacon in New York state (above) is so absorbing m
AS TOLD TO VIRGINIA CLARK. PHOTOGRAPHS: LARS STEPHAN; DPA PICTURE ALLIANCE/ALAMY. *THE SOUL OF A TREE: A MASTER WOODWORKER’S REFLECTIONS (KODANSHA USA, £42)
One of the last things I bought was a piece by my sister-in-law, Nel Faulkner. She is a POTTER and makes everything from large pots to tiny bowls with a Japanese aesthetic.
Most people don’t know that I once tap-danced on the London stage. A friend of mine had written a play, which was put on at the Soho Theatre, and I had to train for a month to do it.
NEW CHELTENHAM SHOWROOM OPENS JUNE 2019
tomhowley.co.uk ALDERLEY EDGE ESHER
ALTRINCHAM
GUILDFORD
call 0161 848 1200 for a free brochure
BEACONSFIELD
HARROGATE
BRENTWOOD
ISLINGTON
BRISTOL
LEAMINGTON SPA
CAMBRIDGE LONDON W1
BRITISH DESIGN & CRAFTSMANSHIP
CHELSEA
EDINBURGH
TUNBRIDGE WELLS CODE K-HG95
Design Centre Chelsea Harbour | London SW10 0XE | Tel 020 7351 5153 | samuelandsons.com