Page 173 - home and garden

t here is a standard passage in articles about people’s with vintage finds from which Lauren creates often-shifting

tablescapes of vases or glassware.
houses in which the owner recalls the terrible state of
But it is art as well as artful arrangements that add depth and
the property before they moved in and saved it with
their own unquestionable taste. But that was certainly
character to this house: here a dramatic oil by Fiona Rae, there
not the case when Lauren Gurvich King, a dealer in
Tom Phillips portrait of Jeremy in the drawing room, while
twentieth-century design, took me on a tour of the
house that she and her husband Jeremy King – the restaurateur a spin painting by Damien Hirst. There is a particularly striking
framed family snaps are rarely out of view. One floor up is the
and hotelier – moved into two years ago. main bedroom, which is decorated with the same sophisticated
The early-nineteenth-century town house, on a Belgravia mix of geometric patterns, brass finishes and decorative bits and
street that I have long been an admirer of, was last owned and bobs, while the spare bedroom is on the third floor.
decorated by the renowned interior designer Jane Churchill. In When I first met Lauren, she described how surprised she was
fact, it was featured in House & Garden eight years ago (in the to find how expensive it was, compared to the US, to furnish a
February 2007 issue), shortly after Jane had imprinted the house from the shops in London. ‘I think it’s a little bit naughty,’
elegant English style for which she is known on the five-floor, she says. ‘I’ve moved house so many times that I have a good
Grade II-listed house. understanding of the real value of things.’ This was another
Lauren grew up in New Orleans and, as a child, she would motivation for starting her business. But that’s not to say that
often accompany her interiors-loving mother to estate sales and Lauren is against investing in the right piece of furniture in the
antique shops in Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana. Her god- same way she would a piece of art. She simply knows what she
mother would buy her pieces of Spode pottery every Christmas. likes and believes in paying – and charging – a fair price for it.
After living and working in Los Angeles and New York, Lauren I had already warmed to Lauren – a woman with far more
moved to London in 2009 and turned her love of collecting grace than airs – when, in her soft southern American accent,
things into a business, sourcing and selling vintage furniture, she revealed with delight that a lamp I had been admiring in the
lighting and decorative accessories for individuals and businesses. drawing room was ‘a real cheapy’. And when I noticed that it sat
She married Jeremy in 2012 and their collab- in pride of place under a Lucian Freud, I could
orations have included Corbin & King’s Colbert It is art as well as also see that she practised what she preached
in Sloane Square, Fischer’s, their Viennese-
inspired eatery in Marylebone, and the new the many artful Lauren Gurvich: laurengurvich.com
Beaumont hotel in Mayfair. With some help arrangements Jan Showers: 00-1-214 747 5252;
from her friend Jan Showers, a Dallas-based janshowers.com
interior designer, she has applied a similarly that add depth
eclectic and appealing style to the house. ‘I to this house: here
loved working with Jan and her team on choos-
ing the fabrics and furnishings,’ Lauren says. a dramatic oil by
At the front of the house, a sitting room and Fiona Rae, there
study are to the right of a long, ground-floor a spin painting
entrance hallway. These are comfortable and
lived-in rooms, where books fill alcove shelves by Damien Hirst
and are stacked under side tables. Theodora,
the couple’s heartbreakingly cute cockapoo, can usually be
found snuggled at the head of a zebra-skin rug in the sitting
room. Further down the hall is a dining room, which, despite its
deep sky blue walls and ceiling, feels open and airy thanks to its
generous proportions and five sash windows. Beyond this and
down a few steps is a kitchen in an extension, which has a simple
style that accentuates the lofty feel of the pitched roof. French
windows lead out to the garden and a summer house-cum-study.
It is perhaps in the L-shape drawing room on the floor above,
however, that Lauren has most fully flexed her creative muscle.
Considering the people who live here, there is an appropriate
sense of glamour in this space, although its accent is more
Hollywood regency than twenty-first-century bling. It’s obvious
that Lauren has made good use of her wealth of contacts in
the US and has become a connoisseur of Europe’s best vintage
markets. And, inevitably, the house doubles as a testing ground
for some of the treasures she unearths. Pale grey walls, in a light
shade of ‘Mineral Haze’ by Dulux, allow the eye to be drawn to
intriguing pieces – from a Thirties sycamore cabinet by Suzanne
Guiguichon to a flamboyant coffee table with a base made
from three rams’ heads cast in brass. The surfaces are decorated

The main bedroom’s en suite bathroom has floor-to-ceiling cabinets with a decorative fretwork design backed with pale linen
and a deep bath. The neutral palette creates a sense of calm, and allows the two reproduction Chinese urns, which are used as vases,
to stand out. Lauren bought the glass étagère to the left of the bath from Paolo Moschino for Nicholas Haslam in south-west London

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