A Georgian house on the Devon coast with elegant interiors by Daniel Slowik
Daniel Slowik’s description of this house sounds like a place you could imagine the hero and heroine of Jane Austen’s Persuasion – a successful naval captain and the daughter of a baronet – living in their married life: “a smart marine villa, Brightonian in date, in a rural cove on the south Devon coast.” When a longstanding client and friend bought it, it was something of that aspect of its past that Daniel aimed to bring to the interior, steering well clear of the sort of rustic, coastal decorating clichés one might associate with such a location.
The client, with whom Daniel had worked for years during his time as a decorator at Sibyl Colefax & John Fowler, bought it as a holiday house so that she and her husband could spend plenty of time in Devon sailing, but as Daniel explains, “we were never going to go fully into that holiday house look.” This was partly because the house itself, with its trim Georgian proportions, did not lend itself to that aesthetic, and partly because the client is just as much a fan of “the full Colefax look” as Daniel is himself. The project indeed started when Daniel was still working at Sibyl Colefax, though it was completed after he had established his own independent practice. The interiors show off many of the company’s loveliest designs, including the pretty ‘Heartsease’ Brussels weave carpet on the stairs and landing, some of John Fowler’s own creations, such as the tented wardrobe in the spare bedroom, and plenty of the iconic ‘Squiggle’ fabric Daniel championed during his time there.
The house and the rooms within it are relatively compact: the entrance hall/music room, a library and a kitchen occupy the ground floor, while the main sitting room is perched on the first floor to make the most of the sea views from its higher vantage point. Two bedrooms, a dressing room and a bathroom take up the rest of the floor, while outside there is a small studio in a stone garden room. Previous owners, however, seem to have had their hearts set on a rusticity more in keeping with a rambling farmhouse. “It had had a lot added to it at various points – some really weird, inappropriate interventions,” says Daniel, “such as a huge inglenook fireplace in the room by the front door, with a deep hearth that projected out into the room. Within seconds of getting in there, I wanted to remove it.”
Much of the initial work, therefore, was about getting the rooms back to a more elegant 1830s feel, replacing and rationalising architectural elements like the fireplaces and mouldings. The inglenook fireplace in the entrance speedily gave way to a graceful design that John Fowler had used in Colefax’s old Brook Street headquarters, based on an original in Queen Charlotte’s Cottage at Kew, while a similar model in the sitting room was replaced with a wooden chimneypiece and a green tiled surround. Daniel trimmed down the staircase, which had previously projected oddly out into what is now a music room, taking up a huge amount of space, to a simpler design. Much of the joinery throughout the house was redone in a more appropriate style, although the existing kitchen was kept in place, spruced up for its new owners.
Since the owner had been buying from Daniel for years, the house was reasonably easy to fill. Much of the furniture that he had previously supplied for her much bigger house in London ended up being moved here. “She said to me at the beginning, ‘I bet you won't be able to get it all into the house’. And actually we did. I’m a big believer in re-using things, so it was very satisfying.” The contents of the rooms give the sense that it has evolved over the centuries since the house was built: there are traditional pictures alongside contemporary works, Georgian antiques mingle with later Victorian pieces, and classic chintzes are set off by more graphic patterns.
Not everything is entirely serious, as we’d expect from an interior by Daniel. The downstairs loo has become the repository of part of the owner’s china collection. “I didn’t want to clutter up every surface with dishes and ashtrays in a house like this,” he remarks, “so I thought it was rather fun if I put them all together in the loo.” In the refined atmosphere of the sitting room, a pink and blue pineapple lamp strikes a camp note against a backdrop of traditional landscapes, while postcards and prints look charming in Daniel’s partner Benedict Foley’s bright painted frames.
For a designer to work with a client so in tune with their own style is clearly a rewarding process. “It helps working with somebody that you really get on with and who you’ve known for years. I like that she’s quite vocal about things, so we have quite strong discussions, but then we get a really good result.”
Boz Gagovski1/21The walls in the kitchen are painted in Farrow & Ball's ‘Light Blue’ with the island in Sibyl Colefax & John Fowler's ‘Brook Blue’. The wall light is Soane Britain's ‘Avon’ design.
Boz Gagovski2/21The downstairs loo is papered in Sibyl Colefax & John Fowler's ‘Seaweed’ design in teal. The shelves hold a collection of 18th and 19th century saucers and plates and vases from different dealers sourced by Daniel and his client.
Boz Gagovski3/21In the first floor drawing room, stippled walls and curtains in Robert Kime's ‘Jardinieres’ fabric form the backdrop to pieces collected by Daniel and the client, including an antique buttoned armchair covered in Claremont's ‘Cunard’ and an 18th century gilt mirror purchased from Christie’s. The cushion to the left is by This Man's Work. The coffee table, based on a 1940s French original, was made by the client.
Boz Gagovski4/21The Victorian buttoned armchair is covered in Sibyl Colefax & John Fowler's ‘Seaweed’ in a bespoke colourway."I've got a new obsession with Victorian furniture," says Daniel, “but I thought if we're going to use it, we need to go full frill.”
Boz Gagovski5/21The client's sofa was recovered in Pierre Frey's ‘Craft Linen’ in mimosa, and a painting by Pamela Burns, sourced via Jenna Burlingham, hangs above. A black lacquered column lamp from Sibyl Colefax & John Fowler stands on a 19th-century inlaid end table sourced by the client.
Boz Gagovski6/21A painted French elbow chair covered in Claremont's ‘Armure Cannele’ stands at a George III secretaire from Windsor House Antiques.
Boz Gagovski7/21A 1930s pottery pineapple lamp stands on a George III side table. The client bought the 18th century oil paintings from John Bennett Fine Art; the Wedgwood green leaf plate is from A.Prin.
Boz Gagovski8/21On the landing a painted chair from Sibyl Colefax & John Fowler Antiques (formerly from at Moyns Park in Essex' is covered in SC&JF's discontinued pattern ‘Old Rose’. The convex wall lantern is also from Sibyl Colefax & John Fowler.
Boz Gagovski9/21The guest bedroom is painted in Sibyl Colefax & John Fowler's ‘Pimlico Green’, and plays host to some of the client's extensive collection of needlework pictures. The curtains and cushions are in the discontinued ‘Old Rose’ as above. The wall-mounted bedside tables were designed by Daniel and help to make the most of the small space, while the headboard is covered in Rose Uniacke's linen in rye grass.
Boz Gagovski10/21The tented wardrobe is covered in Claremont's ‘Carriage Cloth’ in teal.
Boz Gagovski11/21In the main bedroom, the client's 19th-century brass bed is covered in an antique patchwork quilt. Billy Baldwin wall lights from Sibyl Colefax & John Fowler stand out against walls painted in Farrow & Ball's ‘Cat’s Paw'.
Boz Gagovski12/21A Victorian chest of drawers provides storage; the curtains are in Pierre Frey's ‘Mortfontaine’ in gris.
Boz Gagovski13/21The bathroom is a simple space with a lino floor and tongue and groove panelling, along with a 19th-century mirror and wall lights from Sibyl Colefax & John Fowler.
Boz Gagovski14/21The dressing room is papered in ‘Bees and Cloves’ by Sibyl Colefax & John Fowler, and the blind is in the same pattern. A vintage pair of Colefax & Fowler Seaweed lamps surrounds a 19th-century Irish oval mirror. An early 19th-century child's slipper chair is covered in a Lewis & Wood linen.
Boz Gagovski15/21Back on the landing, plaster reliefs from Peter Hone hang above a 19th-century Japanned oval back chair from Sibyl Colefax & John Fowler Antiques.
Boz Gagovski16/21The garden studio.
Boz Gagovski17/21Daniel made the studio a more seaside-y space, taking inspiration from Barbara Hepworth's studio in St Ives. The shelves in the studio were designed by Daniel and Robin Samuel to house a dolls' house made by the client. Paintings, frames and a bin from A. Prin lend a cheerful air along with the lino floor.
Boz Gagovski18/21Looking up the garden towards the studio.
Boz Gagovski19/21A street adjacent to the house, with views up toward the church.
Boz Gagovski20/21A view of the sea near the house.
Boz Gagovski21/21A view of the sea near the house.
