When we heard that members of The List by House & Garden, Hotspur Design and Amanda Ransom Design Limited restored a 1930s Art Deco bathroom, originally designed by Syrie Maugham in Mayfair, we had to find out more. We spoke to interior designers Caroline de Cabbarus and Amanda Ransom to find out more about the project.
Hotspur Design, in collaboration with Amanda Ransom Design Limited worked on a project to restore a 1930s Art Deco bathroom originally designed by Syrie Maugham. It is situated in a Georgian house in Mayfair once owned by the late Margaret, Duchess of Argyll. This bathroom became infamous in the 1960s as it featured in the Duchess's scandalous divorce case. Wearing only her pearls, she was photographed in flagrante with a 'headless man'.
A leading British interior designer in the 1920s and 1930s, Syrie Maugham is best known for being the first to decorate her drawing room in all white. In Maugham's interiors there was never a shortage of white paint, white satin, mirrors and white velvet lampshades. While everyone else was simply toying with the idea of an all white interior, Syrie was making history. Born in London in 1879, Maugham opened a shop on Baker Street in 1922. As it blossomed, she began decorating, taking on projects in Palm Beach and California and adding shops in New York and Chicago.
The original glass had deteriorated beyond repair, and we commissioned James Witchell, a highly skilled glass cutter, to take on the task of reproducing it. He had to build a bespoke diamond cutting machine for the task. Luckily we had the benefit of the original fluted glass uplighters casings still being on site, which enabled him to recreate the glass fluting to the correct dimensions. Nero Design produced the specially coloured flat plate glass and installed the glass scheme. We sourced original period lighting to replace the modern lights that had been installed by the previous owner.
The Westminster planner who was supervising the project had used this room in its original state as his case study when he was qualifying, so we needed to be as faithful as we could to the original.
Some elements were impossible to restore such as the taps and the colour of the bath, which was originally blue. They would have been irreparably damaged had we tried to strip them back to the 1930s colour and finishes. The floor had to remain tiled due to the installation of a shower, so a carpeted floor was no longer practical. In spite of the limitations we encountered, we hope we recreated a room that Syrie Maugham would have approved of.
You may also like: The Best of The List: Bespoke Bathrooms | Show & Tell: The List | The List Print Directory
Photography: Justin Barton
