If there’s a homeware brand more synonymous with east London, we’re yet to discover it.
House of Hackney, perhaps best-known for its riotous Victorian-tinged wallpapers and fabrics, was founded by husband and wife team Frieda Gormley and Javvy M Royle in 2011, who famously used their own family home as a showroom for their early collections before raising the funds for a studio.
It might come as a surprise, then, that the duo, with kids Javi and Lila in tow, have quietly swapped London Fields for deepest Cornwall – and they’re once again inviting us inside.
This time, said home is the imposing Castle of Trematon, close to the county’s south coast, which will open as an exclusive B&B for select dates in August. After being comprehensively charmed by its lush, palm-dotted gardens on a family trip, a chance opportunity to take over the lease seemed remarkably serendipitous.
The pair have swiftly set about transforming the estate’s grand Georgian house and Gate Lodge into a self-proclaimed ‘miniature museum for irreverent British design’, decked head-to-toe in their own designs and a roster of high-end heritage brands. The results are both sensitive and sensational – minimalists need not apply – with the six rooms a glorious showcase of the power of pattern.
Though each is distinctively different, all have super king beds topped with handcrafted mattresses by EPOC Handcrafted Beds, Peter Reed bed linen, woollen blankets by Johnstons of Elgin and a smattering of House of Hackney’s signature fringed and tasselled cushions. Colours take their cue from the greens, lilacs, yellows, clay-pinks and earthy reds of the flower-filled grounds, which guests are free to roam.
Walls are hung with works by British artists Teresa Pemberton, Nicolette Vine, Henry Colborne, Henrietta Dubrey and Sean Gavin, and bathrooms are by Burlington. Everything – bar the odd antique – is for sale.
Later in the month the brand will make good use of the on-site Indian pool, yoga teacher and masseuse by launching retreat programme ‘The Summer of (Self)Love’. These three-day getaways promise a comprehensive recharge of mind, body and spirit, with mindfulness meditation and plenty of time to take in those gardens that started it all.
Three night stays including breakfast, 5 - 31 August, from £900. Three night retreats, 3 - 13 September, from £1,500. houseofhackney.com/content/the-experience
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