A townhouse in Chelsea transformed by David Mlinaric into a luxurious family home

David Mlinaric is explaining how many of the houses in Chelsea have, over the years, had their architectural guts ripped out of them. The culprits, he says, were often the rich people who moved to the area to bask in the glow of coolness that creative people like David imbued it with in the Sixties when he lived and had his studio there, in Tite Street.

Such was the case with this Georgian townhouse, which is part of a particularly lovely terrace not far from the King’s Road. ‘Everything had been taken out of it,’ the interior designer says. ‘All the details, all the mouldings, the relationship between one room and another that you would expect to find in a house like this.’ What makes it particularly shameful is that the house is among the oldest private residences in Chelsea, which was still largely rural when it was built in 1790. Thankfully, however, the house now has an owner who, when he bought it in 2015, had the good sense to ask David for his opinion and his help. ‘I explained that, to my eye, it was all wrong,’ he recalls. ‘The most important thing is to get the shell right. Then you can decorate how you like.’

He makes it sound so simple. Although, considering the cast of top-tier professionals brought on board to give the house its mojo back, it probably was. Joining David, who is largely retired at this point, were Hugh Henry and Jason Roberts from David’s former practice, Mlinaric, Henry & Zervudachi. ‘To some degree, we reverted to form and worked in the way we did when David was with the company,’explains Jason, now a director of the business. ‘He was the boss, Hugh did the decorating schemes and I worked on the interior detailing, coordination of services and overseeing construction.’ Meanwhile, Antonio Bilancio of Garnett & Partners was the architect implementing the design.

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The owner is a Spanish property investor, who has lived in London for 30 years. Crucially, he was familiar with the designers, as he was working with them on a long-term hotel project. This well-established relationship meant that a shorthand was in place between client and design team; there was also a huge amount of trust. While he is far too modest to have his name printed on these pages, the owner was keen to make sure that credit was given where it was due. ‘It has been an honour to work so closely with some of the finest British artisans,’ he says. ‘I passionately enjoy working with so many brilliant and creative individuals – David, Hugh and many more. These British artisans and artists truly understand the attention to detail that is required in order to create excellent final results.’

As David stated, the first thing was to get the shell right. This meant reinstating appropriate door panels and mouldings, as well as architraves and skirting boards. A heavy oak staircase was replaced with one that is far lighter, more elegant and closer to what would have originally been there. Although not slavish period reproductions, these additions are certainly in the spirit of the architectural style. They feel right.

So, too, does the way that the rooms have been decorated. The dining room at the front of the house has walls stippled in a cheering golden ochre colour. A mirrored chimney breast, polished marble floors and curtainless windows conspire to create a gloriously bright and beautiful room. Meanwhile, a combination of the iconic ‘Golden Oak’ chandelier in brass from Cox London, leather ‘413 CAB’ armchairs by Mario Bellini for Cassina and a rug with an abstract design by Hugh Henry makes it impossible to classify the space as simply modern or traditional.