VIII

“To turn a 1500 sq foot property – virtually untouched since 1902 and in tear down condition – into a 5500 sq ft showpiece family townhouse including 5 bedrooms, a gym, a theater and billiards room, whilst maintaining the heritage listed facade and respecting the character of the historic streetscape”

– Client Brief

“[He] is a pasticheur par excellence, his forte being the re-creation of an atmosphere of any specific place or age. More often than not, his intention is to produce character rather than to create loveliness.

[His] taste is essentially masculine: bold, uncompromising […] the result is a room very obviously decorated with a man’s restraint, though women may certainly look their best in it […] Nor do these rooms rely on ‘finishing touches’: they are as complete in the morning as when lit for a party.

[His intention is] to prove that he can make a delightful setting without spending large sums of money.

[He] avoids mere reconstitutions of exact past styles and epochs. His imagination is so rich that his imitators can never keep up with him or guess what he will make fashionable tomorrow.”

– Cecil Beaton, ‘The Glass of Fashion’ 1954.