Design Postcards: Henry's Townhouse, London

The house that belonged to Jane Austen's brother is now a boutique hotel and you can stay there.

This year marks the 250th anniversary of the birth of Jane Austen, whose novels inluding Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility and Mansfield Park will need no introduction to readers.

I have read all six, as well as her letters to her sister Cassandra, but I was intrigued to receive an invitation to her brother’s home in Upper Berkeley Street the other day. The Georgian house was occupied for four years by Henry and his wife (and cousin) Eliza de Feuillide (a party animal according to several accounts at the time).

While there is no evidence that Jane herself visited, she was extremely close to Cassandra, who wrote letters from there and was later at Eliza’s bedside when she died, so it seems likely that she might have done, during the years Henry was in residence.

True or not, it has given the owners a great excuse to really run with the Regency decor – and the six bedrooms (all named after Jane’s relatives) are all gorgeous and so inspiring: Mattress ticking on the walls, anyone? Creating a tented, en-suite bathroom behind a bed? Painting your own cornicing? All ideas you can take and use.

So in a slightly longer postcard than usual (let’s call this one a letter from London) I thought you might like to look around and see if any ideas take your fancy.

For example, I have often written about how putting a TV over the fireplace is too high for comfortable viewing and dominates a room. But if you don’t watch it that often and want to hide that large black rectangle from view, here’s what they have done in the sitting room; created a cupboard with sliding doors that looks like part of the architecture.

For many years the house operated as a rather shabby bedsit hotel and the current owners bought it as a development opportunity. It was only when their designers Russell Sage Studio, began researching ideas that the link to Jane Austen was discovered.

The most popular bedroom is Eliza’s, with its four-poster bed. The way they have created the en-suite is very clever and could work for you in a long room.

The door to the room opens opposite the en suite bathroom which has been created in a “box” with a narrow corridor on one side (left of the image above) for dressing, and the bed in front. I have done a similar thing in my own bedroom with a wardrobe behind the false wall and access from both sides of the bed.

An arrangement like this allows you to “borrow” light from the window and, if it’s simply a wardrobe or dressing room, means you can keep clutter out of the sleeping space.

The “designy” bit is the canopy. You could take the walls to the celing for extra storage, you could take the walls two thirds of the way up and install glass for extra light, or you could have fun with fabric (!) and create this this canopied effect.

Another idea you can take for your own (if you have a steady hand or a stencil) is a painted frieze around the top of a room. The owners tried to salvage original plasterwork where they could, but in the room below – which is at the top of the house where there wouldn’t have been any fancy details originally – they have resorted to a paintbrush. It’s so simple and so effective.

You can take a full tour of the house at the link here and, if you’re a fan of Jane, there are some book-related events you might fancy which take place during the year.

I hope you have enjoyed this Design Postcard. It’s one of two or three free posts a month. For more indepth design news, information and inspiration do consider becoming a paid subscriber, which also gives you access to my monthly live design clinic (next one next Monday) and the archive over over 200 pieces on everything from lighting to layout, how to, why not and lots of interior tips and tricks.