Anouska Hempel : The Original Kelly Wearstler

I've always liked Anouska Hempel and her extraordinary taste. A friend of mine calls her "The Original Kelly Wearstler" and I can see the link. Both have slightly racy pasts, having showed off their bodies to get ahead in the design world. (Ms Wearstler did a Playboy spread – a tasteful one, mind you – to pay her way through college, while Ms Hempel did a few David Hamilton-style films, which she's since bought the rights to stop distribution.) Both have drive, and ambition. And both have developed their own individual, highly recognisable decorating styles.

Kelly Wearstler was one of the first to celebrate the Hollywood Regency look, and has since developed it into her own high-glam Hollywood style. While Anouska Hempel was one of the first to identify that black was fabulous in interiors, and went onto to make the all-black look famous in places such as her Blakes Hotels in London and Amsterdam, above. (Which has now been sold and renamed The Dylan.)

But of the two, it is perhaps Anouska that I most admire. {Image via FT; see link below.} You have to like a woman whose biography reads like a Colleen McCullough novel.

Born on a boat en route from Papua New Guinea to New Zealand, Anouska Hempel and her family settled in a town called Lower Hutt, then moved to the Outback to find their fortune, and then to Sydney, before Anouska decided to make her way to London with just ten pounds in her pocket. She appeared in a James Bond film, then another couple of dubious movies, before deciding there were better ways to forge a career. Two years later, she married Constantine Hempel, a journalist and property developer who died. There was another marriage, then a divorce, and then, finally, marital bliss (and financial comfort) with financier Sir Mark Weinberg.

The girl from Lower Hutt had finally became a London aristocrat.

Along the way she took a run-down guesthouse in South Kensington that she had purchased and turned it into, as she stated (and she's right) "the world's first boutique hotel". Blakes is now something of a legendary hideaway, especially among the celebrity crowd.

One reviewer wrote: “its beautifully stylish black setting is as dark as eyeliner, and that’s why this intimate South Kensington hotel is an old standby for illicit rendezvous and discreet business meetings."

However, it has been 20 years since Blakes first opened its glamorous doors and so this year, it was given a little decorating nip and tuck. It has just re-opened and the spaces are more beautiful than ever. Room prices have also become more reasonable, so many of us may even be able to afford to stay there now!

But while interior design is Ms Hempel's métier, perhaps her greatest strength is her horticultural prowess. Sure, she creates memorable rooms, but her gardens are truly works of art. The newly revived Blakes features a remarkable conservatory and garden that is reason enough for checking in, but her other gardens, including her own at Cole Park and one she designed for Princess Margaret, are just as sublime on the eye.

Here's a glimpse at the extraordinary design aesthetic of a woman who's certainly come a  long, long way. Oh – and there's another great article from the Wall Street Journal here, and another here from the Financial Times.

www.anouskahempeldesign.com
www.blakeshotel.com

{Via Robb Report}

{Via Anouska Hempel Design}

Cole Park, Anouska Hempel's Wiltshire estate. {Images via Daryl Wark}

The Dylan Hotel Amsterdam (formerly Blake's). {Via Blakes/The Dylan}

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A Picture-Perfect Country House, Part 1

Many years ago, I photographed a country house for a book; a country house cast entirely in black and white.

It was love at first sight.

This house, which was co-owned and decorated by the lovely Melbourne-based designer Jane Charlwood, was located down the end of an enchanting, holly-covered lane, in a pocket of countryside known for its grand homes and spectacular formal gardens. (The village of Mt Macedon.) The house wasn't grand, or formal; in fact, it was the very opposite: compact, cosy and set in a garden that showed impressive design restraint. But that's precisely why it stood out from the architectural crowd. It was a pearl among all the flashy diamonds.

A month or so ago, I noticed that Fern Vale Farm was on the market. Then last week, I noticed it had been sold. Snapped up by a sophisticated city buyer ( a city buyer with a spare $3 million for a weekender!) who recognises understated elegance when he/she sees it.

I will always have a soft spot in my heart for this house. It is one of the most beautiful country retreats I've ever seen.

I will try and post more images of it tomorrow, once I find them in my archives. (These are from the real estate agent's website). I'll reveal a little more about the interior design too.

It's beautiful. You'll love it.

{Images via RT Edgar}

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Extraordinary Homes of 2011

I should have perhaps said 2010 and 2011, as these were all homes I've come across in the last 2 years. These were all extraordinary places for many reasons, but I've chosen them because – unlike some professionally decorated places that can see slightly "staged" – they all felt very much like cosy, comfortable, put-your-feet-up-and-read-the-Sunday-papers type homes. I like houses that aren't too pretentious: houses that allow for the flotsam and jetsam of everyday life – kids, dogs, stressed-out partners, people traipsing in and out with gardening wellies, in-laws dropping by. And these were very much wonderfully practical, family-friendly places.

Furthermore, they all showed that you don't need a big budget to create an inviting home. Sure, some of the houses may have been expensive, but the interiors weren't jammed with pieces from Sotheby's or the Attic Sale at Chatsworth. They weren't from the Hearst Castle School of Decorating. They were full of elegance, sophistication, imagination, a little whimsy and a whole lot of creativity. Just the kind of homes I love.

THE GATSBY MANSION, LONG ISLAND

(Designer: Jeffrey Bilhuber)

Interior designer Jeffrery Bilhuber's house at Oyster Bay is a grand affair, it has to be said. It's a mansion that would rival Jay Gatsby's. Inside, however, it's far from being a Rothschild-esque mish-mash. Bilhuber (who is Anna Wintour's designer) has used startling colour to create a glamorous but gorgeously cosy home out of this old boarding school. Plum, tangerine, pale turquoise,  lime, pink, granny-smith-apple green... Who would have thought these colours would all go so beautifully together? Yellow umbrellas for the guests? Inspiring. A kitchen and laundry in black and tiffany blue? Unexpectedly elegant. And look at the kitchen garden! Just stunning. The house is as lovely as its owner.

THE BOAT HOUSE, NANTUCKET ISLAND

(Designer: Gary McBournie)

This was a tiny home; a boat house that was converted to an waterside escape for a client and his family. Interior designer Gary McBournie (another lovely man) took his cues from the harbour setting and designed a space that was unusual but quietly inviting. The kitchen floor was painted in marine blue and then splattered with tiny dots of other colours, so it didn't show the sandy footsteps and salt flecks, and its roof was left in its beautifully aged state. The chaise lounges were made to resemble ship's bunks. And the living room was decked out with marine-inspired items, from flags to vintage ships. Just sublime.

THE FARMHOUSE, SHELTER ISLAND

(Designers: Steven Schappacher and Rhea White)

Now these two are a designing duo to watch. Steve Schappacher and his wife Rhea White took a run-down old farmhouse on Shelter Island (now being dubbed "the new Hamptons") and with nothing more than some clever designing and some great flea-shop finds turned it into a chic island hideaway. Look at what a simple coat of black and white paint can do. Rhea found the old French garden chairs in a secondhand barn on the island, the sofas are simple, white slipcovered ones, the poolhouse bedroom was given a lift with some imaginative fabric styling, and the rest of the house is a gallery of whimsical finds. The pool was perhaps the most expensive addition. The house is now worth over a $1M. What a clever couple.

THE BARN-STYLE BEACH HOUSE, LONG ISLAND

(Designer: Rick Livingston)

A truly extraordinary place, this barn-style beach house sits right on the sand at Long Island's charming village of Quogue  and is the weekend escape of New York designer Rick Livingston and his partner. They rented it for 10 summers before deciding to finally buy it. But instead of knocking it down, they simply updated the simple timber dwelling with some imaginative decorating. Vintage ladders, white shutters for wardrobe doors, a fabulous rope chandelier from Mexico, inspiring artwork, cosy seating, a restrained colour scheme, and of course the all-important deck for luncheons overlooking the sea. Down to earth decorating, indeed.

THE FAMILY HOME, MARTHA'S VINEYARD

(Designer: Paula Perlini)

From the outside, this house seems enormous – intimidating even. On the inside, however, interior designer Paula Perlini has worked magic to create cosy, intimate, human-scaled rooms out of enormously-proportioned spaces. And surprisingly, much of it has been achieved with oversized pieces, which seem to draw the rooms in while providing eye-catching focal points. The folk art mermaid on the stairs, the vintage Orangina poster, the antique bird houses and the Bloody Mary-red library (which elegantly showcases the owner's photographs of Africa) are just a few of the dazzling ways Perlini has carved an intriguing home out of a beachfront mansion. I always love red in a beach house, and this shows why it looks so fabulous.{Image at the very top is also from this residence}

[Images from my book Coast: Lifestyle Architecture]

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Christmas from NY to Savannah

I love seeing how other people celebrate Christmas. Many years ago I lived in Denmark in Scandinavia, where Christmas is cherished as an annual event. Imagine real trees, cut down from yours or a neighbour's forest and then dragged home through the snow; endless feasts of fabulous Scandinavian food; gallons of home-made schnapps (some of them with names that reflect their high-alcohol potency, such as "Grandpa's Underpants"), and a lot of dancing around trees, singing, laughing, and toasting each other with the word "Skål" – many, many times. Nothing has ever compared to those extravagant Christmases experienced in Denmark, but it's still lovely seeing how others accessorise their trees, decorate their homes, dress their pressies and generally gear up for this wild, cypress-lined end-of-year celebration. {Top image via Tricia Foley's book White Christmas}

Christmas in Savannah, Georgia, USA

Well, it's actually Christmas on a tiny island off the coast of Savannah, called Tybee Island, which has to be one of the prettiest islands in America. These Christmas images (below) come from my friend Jane Coslick, who is not only one of the country's most creative designers (her work is on the front cover of Coastal Living this month) but one of the funniest and loveliest. Her decorations are always bright, colourful and a little whimsical, which is just what you want in a beach house! {Via janecoslick.blogspot.com}

Christmas on Long Island, New York, USA

Christmas at the home of another friend, interior designer, stylist and bestselling author Tricia Foley. Nobody does Christmas like Tricia (below). Her decorations are simple, natural and beautiful. As she says, she simply buys green wreaths and roping at the local farmstand and then adds lots of berries and branches to add texture. She'll also harvest privet berries from the hedges, plus snips of cypress, and tuck them into the wreaths or baskets for the doors. The scent, she says, is as much a part of Christmas as the sight. And she should know – she's published a book on Christmas style! {Via www.triciafoleyinthecountry.blogspot.com}

Christmas in Washington D.C., USA

Christmas decorations in the countryside are always special, but these are particularly lovely (below). They're from one of the most charming homes in America's Pacific Northwest; the gorgeous country farmhouse featured on the equally gorgeous blog acountryfarmhouse.blogspot.com. Take a look at Trine's blog for some of the most beautiful images of rural life (and Christmas) you're likely to see.

Christmas on Harbour Island, Bahamas

The Landing hotel and restaurant on Harbour Island is one of the most atmospheric little boutique hotels I've ever stayed in. Owned by a lovely Australian and a Bahamian I know and decorated by India Hicks, it's a sublime slice of tropical delight that's equal parts chic and casual. I haven't spent a Christmas or even a New Year on Harbour Island (when the Junkanoo parade brings the streets to life), but I'd love to one day.  It would be the perfect place to put your feet up, drink some of the hotel's Afro Head rum, read a good book and go for long swims in that stunning blue sea. {Via www.harbourislandlanding.com}

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