Monday, March 12, 2012

A New Project from Christopher Leach





Back in 2010, I was wowed by a World of Interiors article (August, 2010) that featured the London apartment of designer Christopher Leach. The term "jewel box" is becoming overused when describing small apartments and homes, but Leach's flat really was like a jewel box, and a very elegantly appointed one at that. For the past few years, I've been hoping to find other magazine articles in which his work appears, and now my wait is over thanks to the March issue of British House & Garden.

This time, the featured project is a London townhouse decorated by Leach for his client, a Texan currently living in London. The client wanted "the feeling of a country house in London-English without the chintz." I think that Leach succeeded as the home has a strong British flavor to it, one that is masculine and dignified as well. But what really struck me is how the home's interior looks as though it was decorated over many years when in fact that's not the case. Somehow, Leach managed to design rooms that appear to have patina and age to them, and yet they're clean and crisp-looking too. That's a difficult balance to strike.

In a world where so many homes are "all hat and no cattle" (to borrow the old Texas phrase), it's nice to see a home that has both flair and substance.












All photos from British House & Garden, March 2012, Simon Brown photographer.

12 comments:

  1. Beautiful - clearly need to go get this issue!!

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  2. I love the cabinet-enclosed w.c., but few share my fondness for such. The closest I come is a tankless wall-mounted bowl with recessed push-button flush valve.

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  3. Classicist, it certainly is a nice way of disguising a convenience. I like your solution as well.

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  4. Although these interiors are not sparse, I like how Leach is able to focus attention on individual interesting objects.

    I find old wooden plumbing fixtures fascinating as museum pieces, and if I owned an original Victorian bathroom I would do everything in my power to preserve it, but the thought of putting them to use horrifies me--wood seems so unsanitary.
    --Road to Parnassus

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  5. Well, I will have to say that if I had such a WC, I would have to forgo the Clorox bleach spray, and that would be most difficult for me. I wonder how one cleans such a fixture??

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  6. Charming. Loved the last picture. A pagoda canopy? Regarding wood/bathroom fixtures I remember reading that Deborah Mitford had her staff cut down old wooden toilet seats for cheese boards. I like the recycle, but....!

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  7. Home before dark- A cheese board! If that doesn't beat all!!

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  8. Had change to see this wonderful home in the magazine. Adore the entry hall/stairway. xxpeggybraswelldesign.com

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  9. i will forever be in love with british interiors that are truly british. :)

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  10. Anonymous4:12 PM

    We have 'thunderbox' at home (the British name for this style of wooden commode cover) copied in oak from an old design and keep it clean with natural cleaning products - the key is to have a 'kick-space' at the front for feet to fit under, so that boys don't - um - drip...! And it's going strong and sparkling after many a year.

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  11. Anon- It's nice to hear from someone who owns one. Now that I know that many of them have kick-spaces, I understand that they can be low-maintenance. I think that thunderboxes are a very foreign concept to Americans!

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  12. Anonymous1:17 PM

    Read this article in H&G and loved the "Dutch Loo" - never guessing that the "bench" was actually a WC. Is this typical?? (I'm American, what do we know!)

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