We are so excited to be able to welcome you back to our South Kensington abode, Number Sixteen. After months of closure, we are more than ready to open our doors again.
The Kit Kemp Design Studio is only a five-minute walk away, so we are constantly visiting this beautiful townhouse. Nothing beats walking around the corner to Sumner Place, along a row of pure white stucco buildings. You feel like a true Londoner.
As you enter the hotel, you will find yourself in a series of rooms as you walk through to the restaurant and orangery.
The first guest area is a light and airy drawing room with floor to ceiling windows looking out onto Sumner place.
The second guest area is the library, which has a more contemporary and lively feel with its zingy hues. Having this little succession of rooms with different moods makes walking through the hotel an adventure.
On the walls is a graphic yellow and green design by Korla. I have used several of my designs for Christopher Farr in this library. The curtains have been made up in my ‘Travelling Light’ design, the tub chairs are a combination of ‘Lost and Found’ in yellow and green, and the sofa has been upholstered in my ‘Woven Ribbon’ design. They all sing together beautifully. The room is lovely and light with glass doors that open up onto a Juliet balcony.
It has a very relaxed feel, with a chalky coloured paint on the walls and my embroidered ‘Ashenwood’ fabric for Chelsea Textiles on the curtains, which go wonderfully with the more traditional floral pattern on the large armchairs.
Lining the walls of the corridors is a wallpaper print based on a textured antique weave which we came across through Susan Deliss. I totally fell in love with this fabric so we decided to turn it into a wallpaper design. Our manufacturer did such a good job, you can really see the stitches and the weaves within the design. It brings me such joy when guests ask “what fabric have you used on the walls?” and I get to reply that it’s actually wallpaper!
This room is light and filled with art, from Aboriginal sculptures and mythical cats to our papier-mache busts ‘Thelma and Louise’. The room is warm and cosy with Farrow & Ball’s ‘Ointment Pink’ on the walls. The chairs are upholstered in ‘Folk Thread’ from my collection for Anthropologie.
The next room is one of my favourites, the Orangery, where our guests are served breakfast, lunch and supper.
The Orangery leads onto our gem of a garden, it is such a hidden treasure. There is a long view right down to the wooden pagoda at the end of the garden. Running down the centre of the space is a long narrow pond which is planted with Irises and Waterlilies and filled with koi. It is such a joy to watch children crouching down to look at the fish.
We believe that to create a successful garden, it is good to have architectural and sculptural features. We added a slate circle by Tom Stogdon, which stands out beautifully against a curtain of laurel. It is so wonderful to see so much nature right in the middle of South Kensington. It is a real sanctuary and works at any time of day.
Our bedrooms are also now open for you to come and stay. Each room has been individually designed, filled with colour and life.
We cannot wait to welcome you back and see some returning friendly faces!
