Richard E Grant's Richmond house is a wonderland of Christmas joy
'Shall we look at Barbra in the garden?' asks Richard E Grant, referring to - who else? - La Streisand. That he is asking me this while sitting in what he explains is 'half of a gondola that once used to belong to the Maharishi' compounds the feeling that this is all a rather intense fever dream.
From the outside, Richard's house in Richmond does not look especially magical. A brick wall maintains his privacy from the passengers on passing buses and an easy-to-miss small black gate is the only entry. But as this shuts behind me, I am Alice looking round Wonderland. On the immediate right of Richard's large, lush garden is the theatrical stage set from one of his most recent films, Saltburn. This is decked with massive silver baubles purloined from a Jo Malone Christmas window display, all of which frame a bust of Barbra Streisand (more of whom later). Next to this is a long pergola filled with lanterns, rattan sofas, an 18th-century Italian fountain, which helps to block out the noise of traffic, and a Chesneys fireplace. It looks as cosy as a Christmas cottage in a snowstorm.
At the end of the garden is a picture-perfect Georgian house and standing in front of it is Richard, the white rabbit himself. He is as dashing and dandy as he was in his star-making debut in Withnail and 137 years ago, although his living quarters are a definite improvement on Withnail's decaying Camden flat. 'Come inside. People either really love it or they find it all just too, too much,' he says and, as we enter the house, he grins as my mouth falls wide open.
Richard and his wife, the dialect-coach Joan Washington, who died in 2021, spotted the house 35 years ago. They were actually viewing the house next door and this one - with the large garden and high ceilings that Richard wanted - was not for sale at the time. But five ears later it was and, as soon as Richard walked through the gate, he declared the house and garden to be ‘absolutely right’.
He recalls, 'The previous owners were minimalists, so everything was white, with hardly any furniture. We thought we'd try to live like that, because that's what sophisticated Londoners were supposed to do.' It is no great shock to find out that their resolution did not even last a week. Richard leads me into the drawing room, which is painted a lovely, burnished yellow ochre, although it is hard to spot the colour because the walls - as they are throughout the house - are covered to bursting with pieces collected by the couple. This includes fluted pilasters, burnished wheat sheaves, antique embroidered wall hangings, old clock faces, masks, vintage puppets, the odd 18th-century doll, portraits, giant candelabra and books, books, books. 'Steve Martin and Martin Short came round for dinner just before lockdown and Martin - he's very take-no-prisoners - exclaimed, "Oh my God, this place is like a museum!"'
No disrespect to actor Martin Short, but he is wrong. Far from the cold formality of a museum, this feels like a house filled with love. Richard is the antithesis of the kind of celebrity who outsources his design to an interior decorator ('I can't imagine that, I even painted the walls'). So everything is a reflection of the life he led with Joan and their daughter, Olivia, 35, who is a casting director. Joan loved to shop at antique markets and fairs as much as Richard. All puppets and dolls were bought in pairs. 'That was the rule,' he says. Does he like being surrounded by all these painted faces? ‘Puppets seem like orphans to me, so I always buy them and give them a home.’
Next door to the drawing room is the green study, where Joan taught everyone from Cate Blanchett to Ralph Fiennes, perched in the half-gondola seat. Richard loves having friends over for dinner and guests have included director Robert Altman, actor Melissa McCarthy and Helena Bonham Carter. 'But it was Joan who had the very, very, very famous people round, because they all worked with her. She was really top of the tops.'
Richard and Joan had been married for 35 years when she died from lung cancer. He doubts he will marry again. 'I know what her response to everything would be, so the connection is ongoing,' he says. All around are patchwork collages made by Joan celebrating their years together, and every sofa is covered with cushions she embroidered. 'I sometimes worry that people will think this house is a bit Miss Havisham, as if I'm stuck in time, but it's not that. It is just a record of how we lived together,' he says. Would he ever move? 'Only if I went bankrupt.' Shortly after Joan died, Richard - at his daughter's urging - had the pergola built in the garden and they threw a party for the people who had not been able to come to the funeral. It now provides the perfect spot to eat leftovers on Boxing Day.
No one looking at these pictures will be very surprised to learn that Richard absolutely loves Christmas. He keeps his 12-foot Christmas tree up from early December until late January ('it's churlish not to') and he, Olivia and her husband do the festive cooking. It is nice to think of them eating just a few feet away from his bust of Barbra, on whom he has had a crush since he was young. Joan, he says, was very understanding even when, after Richard finally met the singer, he confessed later to wanting to 'jump her bones'. So if Barbra offered to marry him, would he leave his home and move to California with her? He laughs but, torn between the magic of his house and the fantasy of Streisand, he is lost for words.
Christopher Horwood1/22Walls in a burnished ochre mixed by Richard, which was inspired by Nancy Lancaster's interiors, showcase 19th-century German puppets and an antique mirror above one of the two sofas from George Smith. Floral needlepoint cushions, worked by Richard's wife, brighten this and the sofa in Bennison Fabrics' 'Roses' chintz. An antique chandelier from Guinevere hangs above a kilim-covered ottoman on an Aubusson carpet from Lorfords.
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Christopher Horwood5/22The bedecked Georgian chandelier illuminates a 19th-century walnut drum table piled with books, pots of narcissi and a zine urn flanked by antique glass domes of bauble-clad trees.
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Christopher Horwood7/22A model of the Coronation coach and horses is among the vintage finds displayed on an antique walnut Blüthner piano.
Christopher Horwood8/22A line of green glass baubles leads the eye to a poster for Richard's autobiographical film Wah-Wah above the door in the corridor.
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Christopher Horwood14/22An exuberant combination of French carnival masks, decorative stars, flickering candles and an array of bowls filled with scented seasonal bulls on every surface creates a memorable setting for festive meals.
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Christopher Horwood16/22The view of the Christmas tree in the drawing room is framed by fairy lights, which also twinkle from the ivy and wisteria that cover the front of the house; a gothic painted metal bench is set among trailing foliage and weathered statuary.
Christopher Horwood17/22A bust of Barbra Streisand, on whom Richard has had a lifelong crush, is the centrepiece of a theatrical stage set used in one of his most recent films, Saltburn, decked with silver baubles from a Jo Malone Christmas window display.
Christopher Horwood18/22Distinctive pots flank the entrance to the pergola, with its antique copper façade salvaged from Liverpool Town Hall, where Georgian mirrors reflect candle-lit chandeliers.
Christopher Horwood19/22A rattan sofa, set among elegant vintage finds, is a secluded spot from which to enjoy the garden.
Christopher Horwood20/22Beside an open fire, kilim-upholstered George Smith sofas with a colourful mix of cushions provide inviting spots to relax in this cosy space. A fir garland over a 19th-century zine relief of a face with swags of fruit, found at Paris's Clignancourt flea market, and strings of Moroccan pompoms festooning the beams add cheery seasonal touches Neo the cat sits by the doorway in the kitchen beyond.
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