If a home’s entrance hall reveals anything about the character of its owners, the message here couldn’t be clearer: the residents of this Hampstead villa are nature-loving and practical, with a quiet passion for craftsmanship and an aversion to anything ‘flashy’.
Everything about the space, from the joinery with an open tiled section for hanging rain-soaked coats and muddy boots, to the subtle chequerboard floor tiles and the restrained elegance of the Rose Uniacke pendant light, speaks of a desire to let form follow function. Andrew Griffiths of the interior-design studio A New Day is behind the scheme. ‘We didn’t want to create something beautiful that you couldn’t use,’ he says.
That statement is just as true of the rest of the Grade II-listed house, which belongs to a couple who split their time between London and Europe. They have grown-up children and grandchildren and wanted a space where their family could gather, but also where they could read a book and look out of the window.
In terms of the brief, Andrew says: ‘They didn’t come with a clear aesthetic – it was more a feeling. They were happy to invest in quality, but it wasn’t about being ornamental or indulgent. It was about creating a space that felt solid and beautiful.’
The pair were keen for their home to feel rooted in its location, and the unique atmosphere of Hampstead can be felt in every space and design decision. ‘It’s such a special place,’ says Andrew, adding: ‘My team and I have spent a lot of time in this corner of London. I love it for a Sunday-afternoon walk, finishing in one of the lovely pubs, and seeing it in every season. There’s such a serenity to it – you’re on the doorstep of London but you feel like you’re hidden away in this cocoon.’
The colours and textures of the Heath led him to a soft, tactile palette that felt natural and consistent with his clients’ sensibilities: ‘By their own admission, they’re not big on colour and they didn’t want an interior that shouted,’ says Andrew. In a tacit homage to the arts and crafts movement, rooms are filled with pieces by British makers – things that ‘feel natural, earthy and touched by the human hand’.
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It’s a good-sized house but, as Andrew observes, ‘it’s not palatial’, so each space had to work hard. The ground-floor TV room can serve as a comfortable guest bedroom for visiting family while, on the top floor, a workout space has been cleverly tucked into a corner created after an air-source heat pump was installed on the roof.
Andrew is also seeing an increasing demand for tech-free zones: the formal drawing room on the first floor is a perfect example. ‘People are going back to a slightly more old-fashioned use where it’s about reading, music and connecting with others,’ he says, adding that he was delighted to have the opportunity to ‘create a space where you’re not shaping things around a TV’.
The owners only met with Andrew a handful of times during the 18-month project. The reward for the trust they placed in him was the ‘big reveal’ on entering their finished home. ‘I think they were blown away,’ he says, smiling. Since then, he’s popped in to see them and found the house being used exactly as they – and he – intended. ‘It’s full of beautiful things, but it isn’t precious. It was designed knowing that life was going to happen there.’ anewdaydesign.studio
