INTERIOR SPECIALISTS
This information is intended to be useful for those who wish to embark on their own restoration project. Contact details of all architects have been included, along with a brief description and example of their work.
Tim Dolby of Curtis Bran Ltd
Lansdowne House: situated just southwest of Berkeley Square, was designed in 1763 by Robert Adam, as the private palace of a prime minister. It was home to a dynasty of leading statesmen before becoming the Lansdowne Club in 1935. The building has an intriguing social and architectural history, which is currently experiencing a renaissance with a major programme of restoration well under way. The present chairman Jan Moore took over the club in 1997, and a master plan was devised in 1998, to restore the infrastructure and refurbish principle rooms. Tim Dolby of the architectural decorators Curtis Bran Ltd was drafted in to over-see the refurbishment of the public rooms in 1999-2000, introducing convincing versions of the original colour schemes, the intention being to strike a balance between a historic approach and the more commercial demands of satisfying current users’ tastes. There are other projects still in the pipeline.
Country Life, November 10, 2005, by Mary Miers
Contact details:
Curtis Bran Ltd, Charterhouse Works, Unit 22, Eltringham Street, London, SE18 1TD
Telephone: 020 8871 9998 Fax: 020 8871 9998
Web: www.curtisbran.com Email: enquiries@curtisbran.com
Brian Hendry
Debenham House, 8 Addison Road, London W14: built for Ernest Debenham, (chairman of the department store) in 1905-06, it still stands proud and stately on the edge of Holland Park, almost shocking in the contrast it presents to the sea of stucco villas that surround it. More remarkably, it has recently been restored back to a single dwelling after decades of institutional use. The house was sold in 2001 to Mr. and Mrs. Robert Wallace, who have carried out the restoration with architect Brian Hendry. The project was divided into two parts: first, conservation and restitution of major rooms and secondly, conversion to provide modern functions. The restoration also involved the complete overhaul of the roof. Debenham House was built to be a palace, and a palace it has become once again.
Country Life, February 17, 2005, by Jeremy Musson
Contact details:
Brian Hendry Architect,
Effingham, Surrey KT24 5JD
tel 01372 451 372
mob 07802 605 271
email: bharchitect@ btconnect.com
SPECIALIST BUILDING CONTRACTORS
Rattee & Kett, J Mowlem & Co
Stowe House, Buckinghamshire, the palatial former seat of the Dukes of Buckingham. The triumphant restoration of the north front is the first act of the Stowe House Preservation Trust that is seeing the whole house spring back to life. The restoration carried out by conservation builders Mowlem Rattee and Kett and supervised by architect Jane Kennedy of Purcell Miller Tritton, has been dramatic.
Country Life, January 29, 2004 by Giles Worsley
Contact details:
Rattee & Kett, J Mowlem & Co, Digital Park, Station Road, Longstanton, Cambridgeshire CB4 5FB. Telephone: 01954 262600 Fax: 01954 262626 Email: ellen.wallace@mowlem.com
