HOUSE STYLE: FRANCIS SULTANA

FRANCIS SULTANA

The designer and tastemaker Francis Sultana lives between a “set” (apartment) in London’s iconic Albany, a palazzo in Malta and a Jacobean hunting lodge in Hampshire

I LOVED ALBANY from when I was a teenager, and was lucky to acquire the set that had belonged to Fleur Cowles [founder of the celebrated magazine Flair]. The Queen Mother used to visit her there every Friday for a G&T.

AS CONTEMPORARY ART plays a big part in my life, the bigger the walls and the higher the ceilings, the better.

MY HOUSE IN VALLETTA is baroque Mediterranean. It has Georgian and British inspiration and my continental fl air.

I HAVE LOVED THE BRITISH COUNTRYSIDE for a long time, but never found a house that was manageable until the Hunting Lodge [a National Trust-owned property, once home to the designer Nicky Haslam and, prior to that, John Fowler of Colefax and Fowler]. I didn’t want a bigger estate that would be a headache to run – I know how my life is.

I AM KEEPING some of Nicky’s vision but also restoring John Fowler’s interiors, as well as adding my own. I want John to be happy when he looks down and sees what I’ve done.

I’M IN THE MIDPOINT OF MY LIFE and I love learning. I want to manage my time and enjoy my life in a diff erent way now. I think houses can be catalysts for change.

I’VE HAD A LOVE AFFAIR with Capri for 25 years. The house I would most like to decorate would be the Villa Lysis, which I feel a great affi nity for. Looking down towards Marina Grande, it’s one of the most exquisite places in the world.

I DON’T HAVE FAVOURITE STYLES. I live in a Georgian home in London. In Malta I live in a baroque house. I love belle e´poque, I love deco, I love Jean-Michel Frank.

I THINK A HOUSE CHOOSES its owner. I believe that certain homes come to the right person who will love them in the right way. I’m a great romantic.

I GREW UP IN A VILLAGE so I love village life. But the city is the hub, the source of creativity. I need London for inspiration, for museums and galleries like the V&A and the Serpentine and my tailor, Anderson & Sheppard.

Clockwise from above: the art-fi lled entrance at Sultana’s Valletta home; the Hunting Lodge, Hampshire; a lamp and table by designer Jean-Michel Frank; Sultana; furnishings and living space at his Albany set; view over Capri from Villa Lysis; the late John Fowler at home at the Hunting Lodge

ORIGINALLY FROM MALTA, FRANCIS SULTANA IS ONE OF THE WORLD’S LEADING INTERIOR DESIGNERS, AS WELL AS CEO OF DAVID GILL GALLERY IN LONDON