Let there be light

White, light and truly beautiful, this expat’s UK home is irrefutable testament to her design skill

Alison Henry’s renovation of her Georgian villa in London has been meticulous, and it’s little wonder. Auckland-born Alison, who owns the eponymously named Alison Henry Design Studio, has worked on many high-end projects and the house sparkles with her expertise.

The five-storey building has been restored from top to bottom, enriched by marble fittings, massive steel-framed windows, bespoke ironmongery, crystal chandeliers, silk rugs, new ceiling roses and even a hand-tufted New

Zealand wool carpet. She has created an interior that exudes glamour and charm but her 1830s villa is essentially a family home to share with daughters Sophie, Rebecca, Olivia and Anna Cristina, and their three dogs.

True to her Kiwi roots, Alison’s light-filled kitchen is at the heart of this home – and she has a highly specced barbecue in the rear courtyard. Both remind her of beach holidays in New Zealand when family and friends gathered to cook and eat.

Alison lived in Singapore for a large part of her childhood, and did her schooling and tertiary studies in New Zealand. She initially studied

architecture at The University of Auckland then switched to Carrington Technical Institute (now Unitec) to specialise in interior design and furniture. “This was an inspiring course with some amazing tutors.” She recalls American tutor Syd Mead, a movie set designer, saying that if you were a good designer you could do anything.

Alison has held that thought throughout her design career in London and Asia, where she has worked on prestigious hotel projects, super-yachts and private homes. She says the exterior – the bones of the building – is always as important to her as the interior. “You have to be true to the architecture, you don’t force something into a space that it’s not intended for. And it has to be liveable.”

The recently completed work on her Belgravia home is a case in point. While much has changed, she has remained true to its lofty, classical proportions.

Alison says that in an odd twist, she had visited the house for a charity committee meeting many years before she bought it. She loved the feel of it and admired the magical gardens at the front and back, rare features in central London.

She was immediately interested when it became available to buy about five or six years

ago. But it was complicated: the property was leasehold, comprising the main villa and a mews house at the rear. Negotiating the freehold, then the myriad consents required for renovations was time-consuming and challenging. There was also a preservation order on an ancient plane tree so Alison had to tread lightly near this.

Likewise, there was delicate navigation of a huge old purple wisteria that had twined its mature vines around the walls of the rear courtyard. The construction team worked carefully around it as they built walls, erected scaffolding and installed windows. Nowadays, Alison admires her wisteria in all its seasons and is pleased she persisted in saving it.

She and her daughters lived in the house for a while to get the feel of it, and then moved out

for the tight 12-month renovation period. Says Alison: “While there were many features that I loved, there were a lot of little rooms, small spaces. I wanted to create bigger volumes, and the back of the house was very dark. Light is important to me, a legacy of growing up in New Zealand and Asia. In all my work, I like to maximise the light and create an open, airy atmosphere.”

She reconfigured the ground floor for a seamless flow between dining room, kitchen, family room and courtyard. She developed an elegant drawing room on the first floor, then her own French-style bedroom, dressing room, bathroom and study on the second floor. There were perfect spaces on other floors for her daughters’ bedrooms, plus a cinema in the basement. The adjacent mews house has a couple of bedrooms and bathrooms, a gym/ballet studio, a smaller kitchen and a home office.

Alison says that at almost every level you can see “front to back” through the interior vistas she created, and light now shines into the formerly dark reaches. She doubled down on

the light, choosing an almost monochromatic white colour scheme. The clean canvas is punctuated by well-judged colours, fittings and furnishings for a sumptuous result.

And with this house, you save the best till last. In the kitchen at the back, poky spaces have been reworked to become an orangery, a splendid lightbox with double-height steelframed Crittall-style windows and roof.

Crittall windows were developed by Essex ironmonger Francis Crittall in the 19th century; in Alison’s house the modern incarnation is the backdrop for a sleek white kitchen with nickel detailing, a collaboration between her and bespoke kitchen company Officine Gullo, of Florence, Italy. Alison is the global brand ambassador for Officine Gullo, and between them they have done the venerable villa proud.

Now the family can open the kitchen doors wide, spill outside to eat, and enjoy their secret garden in central London. “The house is working even better than we thought it would. There is a corner here for everyone.”

Q&A

Best advice when renovating: Don’t rush to fill the space available. Less is more. Half the pleasure is in developing the concept and understanding how you will really use the space.

I love this part of London: Because it feels very familiar. We feel very much part of our local community. When I first started working in the UK I flatted in Belgravia with two Kiwi friends and later we had a home in the next street.

First job after graduation: Was in London, with Richmond International, a firm that specialised in hotel design. I was part of the team designing The Dorchester hotel for the Sultan of Brunei. An amazing project working on a beautiful historic building.

A special New Zealand memory: Our Christmas gatherings at the beach with everyone involved in decorating the house, cooking and entertaining family and a stream of friends. Plus the amazing local produce and seafood.

Alison Henry

THESE PAGES Alison Henry’s four daughters all play the white Yamaha grand piano in the first floor drawing room; the portrait of daughter Sophie is by Claerwen James, whose father was Australian author Clive James; the waterfall design late 19th century neo-classical style chandelier was bought from Guinevere Antiques and has an 1.8m drop from the ceiling; the Venetian etched and moulded glass mirror is by B F Signoretti Murano Glass – Alison watched it being made.

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THESE PAGES (clockwise from above) The impressive drawing room paintings are both by Chinese artists; Paper Bride, left, is by Zeng Chuanxing and the untitled “lady in white” is by Guo Wei; Italian crystal wall lights were bought on 1stDibs and the white couch is by Rose Uniacke. Alison chose to paint the house throughout in Farrow & Ball All White which has a velvety matte finish. A marble-topped console in the entrance hall is flanked by water urns found in Thailand; the mirror is from La Maison London and the beaded lantern is a rewired antique.

LEFT The 16-seater dining table was made by Alison’s eponymously named design studio using recycled oak sleepers; she filled its nickel plinths with cement to add weight; the chairs, made to Alison’s design by La Maison London, are upholstered in heavy linen and finished with antique gunmetal nails; the chandelier is by B F Signoretti Murano Glass and the wrought iron candle pedestal is one of a pair from a Burmese temple, found by Alison on her travels. RIGHT Two of the distinctive wall lights are antique with another six made to match by Cox London; the white serpentine Louis XV-style cabinets are by Moissonnier and the ceiling rose is one of many Alison had installed.

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THESE PAGES A collaboration between Alison and Florence-based company Officine Gullo has produced a spectacular bespoke kitchen where gleaming white cabinetry has nickel detailing and the splashback is deeply veined Italian marble; Officine Gullo aluminium stools are covered in soft white leather, the pendant lights are by Rose Uniacke, and French and Italian pickle pots and wine jars are among Alison’s collectables; Crittall-style windows and roof flood the room with light.

THIS PAGE Light dapples through the old wisteria and plane tree into the family room where white-oiled antique floorboards are laid in a basket-weave pattern; the carriage lamp is by Cox London and the chair from Rose Uniacke. OPPOSITE (clockwise from far left) A Claerwen James painting of daughter Rebecca at the entrance to the family room. Alison and Anna Cristina in the kitchen; the cabinet at left is a breakfast pantry, designed to keep clutter off the benchtops. Alison loves the notion of a drinks trolley; this one was made for her by Soane Britain. The staircase leads to the Juliet balcony overlooking the kitchen and drawing room.

THESE PAGES (clockwise from above) Alison’s vast carved French-style bed was made by La Maison London, and the French look is continued with a carved marble fireplace, a chandelier from Jean Brown Antiques, and an antique mirror and cabinets by La Maison London. The ensuite has a deep nickel-sided bath-tub from Drummonds. Alison had mattresses specially made for the antique iron-framed beds in the guest bedroom on the top floor.

THIS PAGE The rustic oak table in the walled rear courtyard is another from Alison’s company; the wrought iron base and chairs were made by The Heveningham Collection and Alison bought the table urns in Thailand many years ago. OPPOSITE Alison says that as a Kiwi she loves a barbecue; this marine grade steel Officine Gullo model has it all – a rotisserie, wok burner and warming cabinet.

THIS PAGE (from top) At night, the precious wisteria provides a natural frame for light flowing through the Crittall-style windows. Alison with daughters, Olivia, left, and Anna Cristina. OPPOSITE The five-storey Georgian villa has a classic yew hedge at the front and a handsome wrought-iron gate that was once part of a country estate.