HOME TO STAY
After years of expat living, Robyn Darley and Phil Morris were happy to return to this cosy apartment
Three years ago, Robyn Darley and Phil Morris made a bold move. They took a sabbatical from their jobs in finance and the law, packed their rucksacks and set off on their travels. Starting in Singapore, where they were living, they stopped in Australia, South America, India and a swathe of southern Africa. On the way, they also shopped in local stores and markets, snapping up paintings, textiles and sculptures as souvenirs of their trans-continental sojourn.
Eighteen months later, the holiday was over. It was time for the couple to settle down, with their global booty, in the Edinburgh apartment that Phil had purchased while abroad. Set on the top floor of a Grade Ii-listed building, the flat overlooks the neat gardens and soft-grey slate rooftops of the city’s New Town district.
LONG-TERM INVESTMENT
‘I’d bought the apartment while I was living in Asia,’ says Phil. ‘My sister, who lives nearby and knows my taste really well, found it for me. I did some basic redecorating and let the place out for a few years. By the time we moved in, it needed a fair bit of work to make it right for us.’
The couple spent a year living here, unpicking the property’s merits and flaws. They appreciated the way the sun floods in through tall windows on both sides of the apartment and how, in summer, the northern light lingers until almost midnight. They were fortunate that many of the elegant original features, such as cornicing and shutters, had survived. But the layout, which had been altered by the previous owners, was, says Robyn, rather odd. There were dark, dead spaces and an unwelcoming kitchen at the back. It was time to start again.
CALLING IN THE EXPERTS
At which point they turned to leading local architect Jens Bergmark of Bergmark Architects and Julien Poulizac of French interior design practice CAYBO to redesign the space as a bright, welcoming setting for their well-travelled possessions. ‘The main change we made was to turn the front of the flat into an open-plan living area, to take advantage of the light,’ says Robyn. The rest of floor plan was reshuffled to add another bathroom and a box room turned into a walk-in wardrobe in the main bedroom.
Drawing on his knowledge of local architecture, Jens designed classical details to complement the existing architecture. The bedrooms have inviting window seats,
and in the dining area, built-in seating is picked out with traditional mouldings. Lifting the carpet in the hallway, the builders uncovered the original flagstones. Like the sash windows and marble fireplace, these were all restored.
INSPIRING ARTWORK
A pair of striking portraits in the dining room are from South Africa where Robyn grew up. Their colours were the catalyst for confident colour schemes; ‘Julien encouraged us to take creative risks,’ says Robyn. Walls in teals or dove grey mix with softer tones. The decoration has personal meanings; wallpapers with tropical fauna were chosen to remind the couple of a balmier, expat life. In the sitting room, their favourite cushions, printed with exotic birds, were spotted in Singapore. ‘We’re both keen birders so I knew we had to have them,’ says Robyn.
On the walls, the gilded portraits depict Robyn’s English ancestors and a much-loved piano belonged to her late father, an avid player, whose photograph sits above. Recent acquisitions, like the drinks trolley or sunburst mirror, were found locally. ‘We have a wide mixture of things, but Julien’s skill was in combining the old and new pieces,’ says Robyn. ‘We love being surrounded by objects that give us memories of our times in other countries, but we’re happy now to be settled in our wonderful home.’