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A modern take on Georgian elegance and symmetry in a storied Hampstead house
The main tenets of Georgian architecture – proportion, symmetry and simplicity – have not always been held in high regard. Take the state of this house 10 years ago. Built in the 18th century as a two-storey dwelling, likely as a humble service wing to the more magnificent residence to which it is joined, it had suffered considerably, despite being Grade II listed, situated in a conservation area within yards of Hampstead Heath and immortalised by the artist John Constable.
Its single-room depth makes the Edwardian addition of a conservatory understandable; less clear are the reasons for other changes. The front door had been moved, a modern staircase and windows installed, the room sequence mucked about with and most of the original mouldings stripped out. ‘The roof leaked badly and if I wore high heels, every step would cause another spotlight to fall from the ceiling of the floor below,’ says the owner, Spanish-born Celia Muñoz, who is founder of chic childrenswear brand La Coqueta.
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Celia and her husband Caspar, who is Dutch by birth, bought and moved into the unpromising-sounding house in 2014, drawn by its location, sizeable garden – they have five children aged 10 to 14 – and what they knew it could be. Namely, a lasting family home to which they could restore visual parity ‘without making it into a museum’. They are a practised partnership, having renovated two properties together already, and they play to their different strengths. ‘Caspar’s background is in engineering. So he delivers empty spaces and I decorate them,’ Celia explains.
Planning permission was sought and a team was assembled, including the architect Richard Gooden of 4orm and ME Construction and the interior designer Bastien Halard of Halard Halard. The family piled into a nearby flat for two years, while an existing meagre basement was enlarged and extended into a sunken courtyard, providing natural light for a children’s playroom and Celia’s adjacent office. The uninsulated conservatory was replaced by a larger wing, mirroring its Georgian opposite without replicating it. This significantly increased the footprint of each floor, allowing for a cloakroom area and a light, airy second sitting room opening onto the garden. The entrance hall was also recentralised and the single unwieldy staircase swapped for an elegant pair – one at each end of the house.
The cleverness of the reconfigured layout extends beyond balance. The kitchen is central to the ground floor in the old part of the house, with the couple’s bedroom and an adjoining sitting-room-cum-study directly above it. The lack of corridors makes these rooms passing places in which to pause – ‘the epicentre from which all else radiates,’ says Celia (though their bedroom can be blocked off and the children are all encouraged to use the two staircases to reach each other’s rooms). With an eye on the future, the basement could be converted into a self-contained flat. ‘It is important that the house can change with us,’ she adds.
Similarly impressive is the lack of discernible difference felt as you progress from an original room to one in the new wing or basement. Period-appropriate horsehair plaster was used throughout and minute attention paid to the curves of arches, window surrounds, ceilings and mouldings – details conceived by designer Bastien Halard. ‘Although they are not accurately Georgian, they work well,’ says Celia. ‘We didn’t want to pretend it is something it’s not.’
The timelessness of the details proves the perfect foil to the light touch of the decorating, and Celia's preferred palette of white walls and ivory linen, occasionally punctuated by a rust-coloured velvet stool or an ochre-yellow kantha quilt. Antiques are countered with mid-century and contemporary pieces; interior designer's Bastien Halard and Victor Cadene helped with sourcing the furniture. ‘We had never lived in a house this size, so we simply didn’t have enough of anything,’ Celia says. In the arranging, equal weight is given to, say, a shell picked up in Belize and a 1st-century marble head from Galerie Chenel in Paris. Pattern is used sparingly, via hand-blocked and handpainted wallpapers from Marthe Armitage and Gracie, in designs that chime with views through to the garden. There, John Hoyland has worked his magic, creating riotous borders with an abundance that belies their recent installation.
Purists will approve of the lack of curtains obstructing this outward aspect. Though contemporary, the shutters create a credible connection to a time when fabric was too expensive to have been used in a house with modest beginnings. They are emblematic of the sensitive approach to the renovation of this property, which has seen symmetry and equilibrium restored, proving the eternal worth of Georgian ideals and demonstrating that there is more than one way to honour them.
MICHAEL SINCLAIR1/10Peca’s ‘Loto’ pouffe is upholstered in Pierre Frey’s ‘Opera – Velours’ cotton velvet in cuivre.
MICHAEL SINCLAIR2/10A Lorfords ‘Mercer’ wall light illuminates an 18th-century oil painting and a table by Axel Vervoordt sourced in a Paris flea market by Halard Halard. The photographic print in the music room is by Hendrik Kerstens.
MICHAEL SINCLAIR3/10Bespoke pomegranate wallpaper by Gracie is the backdrop for DLV’s ‘Giac’ chairs in ‘Opera – Velours’ in cerise from Pierre Frey and a ‘Tulip’ table from The Conran Shop with Pols Potten vases.
MICHAEL SINCLAIR4/10Pierre Frey’s ‘Baltazar’ velvet in olive covers the cushions on the chairs of this 1960s ‘Tomotom’ compressed cardboard dining set, designed by Bernard Holdaway and sourced at Lorfords. The 1950s lamp by Lumen Milano was found on 1stDibs, as was the vintage French coffee table. A bespoke Hugo Guinness drawing and a Hannah Woodhouse plaster wall light add to the monochrome theme.
MICHAEL SINCLAIR5/10The oak staircase was designed by Halard-Halard and Richard Gooden.
6/10A wooden La Redoute stool stands on an East Anatolian mohair rug from Joshua Lumley.
MICHAEL SINCLAIR7/10Marthe Armitage’s hand-printed ‘Clematis’ wallpaper sets off a vintage leather armchair from 1stDibs, an antique American quilt, a porcelain side table from Amélie Maison d’Art and a Cox & Cox sheepskin pouffe.
MICHAEL SINCLAIR8/10Paintwork in muted shades from Papers and Paints showcases a striped rug from Francesca Gentilli.
MICHAEL SINCLAIR9/10Bespoke hand-painted wallpaper by Gracie provides the background for a custom Epoc bed with an ivory linen bedcover from Bujosa. The oak floorboards are from Esco.
MICHAEL SINCLAIR10/10Plantings by John Hoyland complement the 18th-century brickwork.
