When your local store is Harrods, Hollywood A-listers and a Duke or two make up your neighbours and the Queen of England is within cup-of-sugar-borrowing distance, it’s safe to safe to say you’ve arrived. As to where exactly you’ve arrived, well nowhere less than Egerton Crescent, Britain’s Most Expensive Street (at least according to a survey by Lloyds Bank), an exclusive thoroughfare in the heart of central London’s eminently elegant Knightsbridge district.
Even within such rarefied company, a certain five-storey townhouse, one that was recently sold to a very satisfied customer for some £16 million (HK$168 million) – twice as much as what the standard residence changes hands for on this highly-desirable billionaires’ row, there is clearly something particularly special about the luxury dwelling in question. In fact, there’s an awful lot special about it.
Spanning across approximately 390 sq.m, the residence – along with the other 24 properties that constitute the Crescent – was conceived and constructed during the 1830’s, at the height of Britain’s imperial period. More recently, it has been given an extensive makeover, within and without, by Katherine Pooley, an award-winning London-born interior designer, who actually began her career right here in Hong Kong.
Recently acclaimed as both the British Interior Designer of the Decade and the International Designer in Asia of the Year, Pooley’s brief with regard to the Egerton property was to transform a relatively run-down 190-year-old building into something genuinely elegant, modern and luxurious. Along the way, she set out to create a home that effortlessly blended classic and contemporary styling, while embodying a truly fresh and sophisticated look.
As to whether she was successful, well the refurbished project was swiftly dubbed “the most immaculate house in Knightsbridge”. And then there’s that remarkable price tag. Figures like that pretty much speak for themselves.
Pooley’s approach was to incorporate antiquated touches that embody a characteristically classic feel, whilst exuding a warm, comfortable and welcoming ambience throughout. In order to achieve this, she applied a peaceful, tonal design palette, combining white Portland stone with soft dove grey marble. This was then further enhanced with the addition of polished plaster and a range of natural fabrics, including linens, silk velvets and woven textures, ultimately delivering a highly sophisticated – yet classic – feel.
A firm believer that first impressions are everything, Pooley updated the residence’s classic stucco façade with a high gloss black front door and a selection of tactically dispersed contemporary plants. She then focused on creating a stylish synergy throughout the interior space, with no detail deemed too minute to merit her attention.
Indeed, her meticulous approach is evident in every corner of this capacious building, which comprises a drawing room, five bedrooms (including a master suite with opulent fabric adornments), a family snug, two studies, a dining room, an extensive kitchen, a breakfast room and a garden room.
On the first floor, she opted to combine lightly textured silk wallpaper with crystal wall lights and beautiful Versailles Parquet wood flooring in the magnificent drawing room, a space that spans the full width of the house and overlooks its private gardens in the Crescent. Feeling the addition of suitable statement piece was required, she plumped for a stunning vintage Chinoiserie mirror.
Moving to the master bedroom, here she draped the bed with silver handwoven linen, effectively counterpointing this with beautiful antique twisted glass table lamps, which certainly draw the eye and elevates the whole space. By contrast, in the adjacent bathroom, she favoured light veined marble – with Statuary Oro dominating – as a means of both creating a timeless and contemporary feel and ensuring the highest overall level of finish.
Throughout the property, Pooley also incorporated a diverse range of premium products and accessories. This saw her, most memorably, utilising silk woof drapes as window treatments, mirror-cladding a whole chimney breast and suspending an unashamedly elegant, yet contemporary, sculptural chandelier as the centrepiece of the dining room.
Taking a similar approach in the kitchen, she subtly deployed a range of crystal and nickel pendants as a means of creating suitably glamorous lighting so as to generously illuminate this hub space. In a rare more conventional move, she opted to landscape the family snug with a selection of deep, comfortable and decidedly welcoming sofas.
Finally, she turned her attention to the luxuriant garden area. Looking to elevate the space, she mirrored the original sandstone construction of the residence, paving the rear garden in matching material, organically extending the elegant feel of the property’s brick façade.
Photos: Katherine Pooley