The country files

Textile designer Richard Smith talks gardens, opera and foodie spots in his beloved East Sussex

- RHODA PARRY

RICHARD Smith has painted and designed wallpapers and fabrics for the all-time greats – Nina Campbell, Colefax and Fowler, Sanderson, Jim Thompson – as well as his own brand Madeaux. Known for his relaxed English elegance, Richard starts many of his designs as watercolours on his sketchpad. From whimsical florals and classical stripes to bold geometrics, each has a sense of playfulness and understated chic. He lives in East Sussex, high on a bluff overlooking ancient woodland and the English Channel beyond with his husband Andrew Blackman.

We first came to East Sussex 20 years ago. Andrew and I walked and explored the area and fell in love with the Old Town of Hastings with its fisherman’s huts. It was just beginning to be discovered then; early settlers from London were starting to see that the period properties were ripe for being sympathetically restored. Just above the town, we fell in love with a derelict 17th-century farmhouse, which we’ve renovated from the chimney pots down.