Archive for the ‘Johnnys Ruminations’ Category

Some little moments in one of our projects, including new study off half landing, bar, loo and boot room. All entirely brand new construction (apart from the staircase) with all joinery and hard finishes detailed by us. Colour scheme and furnishings by Kate Arbuthnot @katearbuthnottinteriors

Crib Goch is a knife-blade ridge with almost sheer drops either side, regarded as the ‘challenging’ route up Snowdon. Edmund Hilary trained for Everest here. No turning back once committed, and sub-optimal options for extraction of it all goes Pete Tong. An adrenaline fuelled day out for Holland and Son, he having just passed GCSEs with flying colours. Fortunately we live to see another day! #cribgoch

Rhaglan Castle in Monmouthshire. Not particularly well know, but a gem well worth a visit. Transformed by William Somerset, 3rd Earl of Worcester into a Renaissance beauty , only to be destroyed during the following century after a long siege by the Parliamentarians. Now an atmospheric and romantic ruin. Personally I don’t subscribe to the cult of ruin, and would welcome an academically rigorous reconstruction …. but that’s a big old debate and I can already hear mutters from my colleagues in Conservation circles …. #rhaglancastle

A visit to Theatre Royal on Drury Lane, in London’s Covent Garden. This is the oldest site in London continuously occupied by a theatre, of which there have been 3 or 4 manifestations. This one by Wyatt dating from about 1810, recently restored by Andrew Lloyd Webber. It is utterly spectacular: worth going just to enjoy the architecture. (But this Dad enjoyed Frozen more than he anticipated ….a really top notch production which has the audience on its feet!)

Thank you to the team @houseandgardenuk for including Hackett Holland in this years Top 💯. Such an honour! . @hattabyng @liz_elliot_hg mrdavidnicholls

A visit to South Wood Farm in Devon. A delightful 17thC house with gardens by the utterly brilliant Arnie Maynard. Absolute perfection. And look at the ‘potting shed’. @arnemaynardgardendesign

Putting finishing touches to a ‘quick makeover’ on a big Listed house in Notting Hill. A collaboration with the peerless Emma Burns of Colefax and Fowler @sibylcolefax @violetburns #colefax We are looking forward to ‘Phase 2’

For the HH annual jolly it was the newly re-opened Linley Sambourne House in Kensington (then lunch!). A remarkably preserved temple of Victoriana, still fully furnished with the original contents. Dark and moody but also comfortable and playful in places, with beautifully considered details such as the stick holder in the Hall, the plate shelf brackets, the marble vanity tops with exquisitely sculpted soap recesses. Up until relatively recently Victorian design was not valued, and indeed is still being torn out. The clutter and free-wheeling eclectic style may not be your cup of tea, but 19thC design should be celebrated for its inventiveness, confidence and bravado. @leightonsambournemuseums; #victorian

Does your Summer Holiday now feel like a lifetime away? Fed up already? Here is an uplifting distraction: Gaudi’s Sagrada Famiglia, caught in the late afternoon when the sun steams through the astonishing stained glass. Proper mad-genius architecture. Commenced in 1882 and still incomplete. Good things come to those who wait. @hackettholland #architecture

A morning with our project team inspecting paint stripping from the facade of this glorious listed house overlooking the Thames. Working with the talented William Nickerson selecting a new colour scheme. Removal of decades of paint build-up reveals the crisp detailing of the original Roman Cement mouldings. #houseandgarden #historicbuildings