COMFORT beats style doesn't it?' asks Robin Birley. He should know; comfort-physical, visual, emotional—is buried deep within the DNA of his Mayfair club, 5 Hertford Street, which celebrates its 10th anniversary this year. Beyond the heavy curtain that sequesters members from the outside world is a warren of rooms, including four dining rooms, several bars, a cigar shop, a private dining room and sitting room upon sitting room of varying shapes and sizes, burrowed into the club's five floors.
Not a square inch of space has gone to waste: chairs, tables, banquette seats ensure that every nook and darkest cranny provides somewhere for breakfast, lunch, dinner, dancing, a drink or assignation. On every vertical plane are serried ranks of paintings and photographs (many of Mr Birley's family and friends), as well as wall lights and fabrics that imbue the spaces with a feeling of being in the home of a convivial Edwardian collector with very catholic tastes and a small army of staff.
For anyone interested in the club's place amid the ever-shifting sands of classic English taste, the mystique that surrounds its membership is a distraction from the more serious question in hand; how do you pull off a feat like this without it descending in a mess of unhinged eclecticism? The answer is that you work through an exhaustive (and exhausting) sequence of decisions, day in, day out, with the help of people whose instincts you trust, such as Rifat Ozbek, Tom Bell, Jane Ormsby Gore, Julian and Isabel Bannerman, as well as the nonagenarian polymath Willie Landels, and you magically pull it together, like von Karajan in a handmade suit and Charvet tie, your baton gently teasing magic from the air. The result is simply—without hyperbole like no interior you've ever seen. If you're not a member-or likely to be the guest of one-you also never will.
Denne historien er fra April 06, 2022-utgaven av Country Life UK.
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Denne historien er fra April 06, 2022-utgaven av Country Life UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Kitchen garden cook - Apples
'Sweet and crisp, apples are the epitome of autumn flavour'
The original Mr Rochester
Three classic houses in North Yorkshire have come to the market; the owner of one inspired Charlotte Brontë to write Jane Eyre
Get it write
Desks, once akin to instruments of torture for scribes, have become cherished repositories of memories and secrets. Matthew Dennison charts their evolution
'Sloes hath ben my food'
A possible paint for the Picts and a definite culprit in tea fraud, the cheek-suckingly sour sloe's spiritual home is indisputably in gin, says John Wright
Souvenirs of greatness
FOR many years, some large boxes have been stored and forgotten in the dark recesses of the garage. Unpacked last week, the contents turned out to be pots: some, perhaps, nearing a century old—dense terracotta, of interesting provenance.
Plants for plants' sake
The garden at Hergest Croft, Herefordshire The home of Edward Banks The Banks family is synonymous with an extraordinary collection of trees and shrubs, many of which are presents from distinguished friends, garnered over two centuries. Be prepared to be amazed, says Charles Quest-Ritson
Capturing the castle
Seventy years after Christian Dior’s last fashion show in Scotland, the brand returned under creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri for a celebratory event honouring local craftsmanship, the beauty of the land and the Auld Alliance, explains Kim Parker
Nature's own cathedral
Our tallest native tree 'most lovely of all', the stately beech creates a shaded environment that few plants can survive. John Lewis-Stempel ventures into the enchanted woods
All that money could buy
A new book explores the lost riches of London's grand houses. Its author, Steven Brindle, looks at the residences of plutocrats built by the nouveaux riches of the late-Victorian and Edwardian ages
In with the old
Diamonds are meant to sparkle in candlelight, but many now gather dust in jewellery boxes. To wear them today, we may need to reimagine them, as Hetty Lintell discovers with her grandmother's jewellery
