Style match

Fashion stylist Angela Radcliffe’s home is as minimal, graphic and streamlined as her wardrobe. By Jessica Doyle. Photographs by Kate Martin

FASHION WEEK HAS always been a busy time for model-turned-stylist Angela Radcliffe. At the height of her modelling career, she travelled the world walking the shows, and remains in demand at Models 1, where she has been on the books for 20 years. These days, however, she limits modelling work to a couple of days a month, devoting most of her time to styling, which she started 15 years ago after the birth of her son, Max. ‘I’ve always loved fashion, and around that time a few clients asked if I would like to do some styling and personal shopping, which led to red-carpet work and photo shoots,’ she says. She is now one half of styling duo Radcliffe & Sciamma, which she formed four years ago with fellow model and fashion designer Caroline Sciamma-massenet (her leather and suede label, Skiim, often features in their work).

The looks Radcliffe creates for clients may be diverse, but her home, a Georgian town house in west London, is a reflection of her own personal taste, and that of her husband, the architectural interior designer Colin Radcliffe. ‘It’s graphic, tailored – quite minimal and pared down, which is also how I like to dress,’ she says.

The couple are serial doer-uppers: ‘We buy a wreck, renovate it and live in it for a while, sometimes only a year or so, then invariably someone comes along and wants to buy it,’ says Radcliffe. ‘We get bored quite easily so it’s fun to go on and do something else, mix it up a bit and have a change.’ This house, when they found it, was divided into five separate flats, which they converted into one spacious five-bedroom home. ‘We removed all the walls, and floors, and the staircase – everything really,’ says Radcliffe with a laugh. ‘Then we thought about what we wanted and started again.’

Whereas in previous homes they have made much of period features, here the focus is on the clean lines of Colin’s architectural design. Their main objective was to increase the ceiling height and feeling of space on each level, which he did by dispensing with interior walls altogether on the ground and lower-ground floors, instead creating ‘zones’ with bespoke, laser-cut bronzed-steel screens – a design trademark of Colin’s, to allow light to flow from floor to floor. These were also used as a super-glamorous alternative to bannisters in the staircases (pictured above). The couple also dug down at basement level, extending out at the back so that they now have a large family kitchen, dining and sitting area that opens on to the garden. ‘I’m a New Zealander, so I like things to be open,’ notes

‘Our houses are always designed for hot weather, even though we don’t have it all the time’

Radcliffe. ‘Our houses are always designed for hot weather, even though we don’t have it all the time.’

This past summer, however, with its extended heatwave, she has been in her element. ‘We have people over two or three times a week – really casual, just a barbecue and plenty of rosé. Our door is always open. I’ve lived in west London for more than 25 years, so we have lots of friends here and everyone just pops in. I love that; it’s a happy house.’

That said, the interior is designed for the family to live in, rather than to display any specific trend or style. The palette is mainly monochrome, with the odd splash of green to bring in the colours of the garden, and an emphasis on natural materials: ebonised wood flooring, marble in the kitchen and bathrooms, and an oak table and benches in the basement. A notable exception is the bedroom, where the vibrant orange of a velvet bench is echoed in the adjoining dressing room, in which Hermès boxes are stacked above a bronze chest of drawers. ‘I love those

boxes, I’ve been collecting them for years,’ says Radcliffe, who found the Bauhaus rug in a vintage shop on London’s Lillie Road. Trawling markets and antiques shops for one-off finds is a Saturday-morning hobby for her and Colin; other favourite pieces include a pair of black velvet hall chairs and a large bronze palm-tree sculpture, which stands on a small staircase landing.

‘If you buy things that you really love, and it’s your style, then there’s always a place for it’

‘It’s an eclectic mix,’ she says. ‘I think if you buy things that you love, and it’s your personality and your style, then there’s always a place for it. I like to put important pieces in a subtle position; they don’t have to be in the middle of the room. It’s nice to turn a corner and see something that you love. We haven’t done it for anybody else – the house is for us to enjoy. If people like it, that’s a bonus.’

This page Angela sits on one of a pair of 1970s Mongolian goatskin stools by Paul Evans; the bronzefinished decorative screens were designed by Colin Radcliffe (colinradcliffe.com).Opposite In Angela Radcliffe’s dressing room off the main bedroom, a 1950s bronze safe, repurposed as a jewellery box, is mounted on the wall over a 1960s bronze glass cabinet from Philip Thomas. Hermès hat boxes and Louis Vuitton luggage are on the shelf above

Right The kitchen floor is statuary marble.Below right Colin designed the staircase, with open treads and the decorative screen, to increase the flow of light through the house. The Lara modular sofa is a 1960s design by Pamio, Massari & Toso. The dining table and chairs beyond are by Willy Rizzo.Below Colin had the neon artwork made for Angela

From left A pair of Roger Rougier Artichoke lamps sit on a glass and brass 1970s cabinet from Talisman London. In the garden, a 1960s Italian marble, brass and glass table is surrounded by 1960s Russell Woodard chairs, bought at Talisman London. A 1960s Italian ceramic leopard from Les Trois Garçons sits beneath a Gio Ponti mirror in the main bedroom. Colin designed the velvet and brass ottoman; the 1960s marble table is by Angelo Mangiarotti