I knew instantly that he was the man I wanted to design my home.Mine is now the only house Riccardo has ever designed in Europe, and it’s recently been nominated for a civic award. It stands out a mile, since it is bright pink (my trademark colour) in a very grey traditional London street.
When I bought my house in 1995, I had to sell all my other properties to finance it. At the time, I had my home in Notting Hill – where I had lived for more than 20 years – my factory in Hammersmith and my office building in Paddington. But since my new building was a former cash-and-carry warehouse over five floors, it was big enough to accommodate me.When my staff and I moved in, we had a terribly hand-to-mouth existence.
As it had previously been a warehouse, it took a long time to renovate. Initially, I didn’t have much money to do the work I wanted to. Instead we had to adapt: the old gents’ toilets became a makeshift laundry, and the ladies’ became our bathroom.The first thing I did was to paint the interior all the colours of the rainbow. I went around with a chalk and marked where each colour should go The next step was moving in my beloved artworks. I have a number of paintings by Dougie Fields, and as my penthouse and living quarters are at the very top of the house, I had to get them hoisted up by a crane. I also have a collection of ceramics by Kate Malone and Carol McNicol, which are hung around the house.Gradually it has taken shape, but there is still a great deal to do and it is really still a work in progress My favourite room is the penthouse.
The views are amazing: I can see London Bridge, Norman Foster’s Gherkin and, on a good day, the whole of the east London skyline. The top floors have wonderful light and when I am away, a friend often uses the space to teach yoga classes: it’s an ideal place for worshipping the sun.I love my home, mainly because I’m surrounded by beautiful objects, many of which are by friends, and others which are pieces I have designed myself. One of my favourite pieces is a table I designed in 1969 when I was teaching. It is made of Perspex and has little Zs hanging from the edges.I love entertaining, and cooking is the one thing that relaxes me and enables me to switch off from my work completely. Upstairs, next to the kitchen, I have a large leather banquette; it’s a very sociable area. I recently threw a 60th birthday party for the jewellery designer Andrew Logan, and had 40 people over for dinner, which was great fun.
Andrew has designed many pieces in my home, including a fabulous golden throne and a glass chandelier with Z-shaped droplets cascading down from it. He has such a bold style, which I love.Living and working in the same space does have advantages, but the most obvious problem is that you can never really escape. One place where I find it very easy to relax in the summer is my garden.It’s a really beautiful suntrap, with 40-year-old camellias which I moved from my garden in Notting Hill. I also have a huge polystyrene gold Buddha that was given to me after a party at Aspinalls.
