FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MONDAY 30TH MARCH 2015
CREATING A MOMENT IN HISTORY - THE RESTORATION OF CLIVEDEN
How do you bring back to life a grand country house that is not only a listed property,
but also an hotel and a National Trust treasure? The answer is carefully, very
carefully. You also need interiors specialists with vision and passion; but then
Cliveden House does inspire passion. Interior designers Mario Nicolaou, Sylvie Le
Maitre and their team of experts willingly admit to falling in love with Cliveden; it
helps when you have the task of refurbishing such an iconic country house!
Mario and Sylvie started with an understanding of this iconic house and its history.
They both agree that the refurbishment is not about making a design or fashion
statement. “We wanted to retain the historic feeling, the essence of Cliveden.
Cliveden is very unique; we wanted to keep that uniqueness.”
The approach was also very much about the guest experience and creating the
impression that guests’ were visiting a wealthy friend’s grand country home rather
than an hotel, that is the real charm of Cliveden. It is partly for this reason, and partly
as a celebration of Cliveden’s uniqueness, that each suite is bespoke; no two rooms
are the same. The first phase of the refurbishment was the East Wing, which started
in January 2014 and was completed by Easter of the same year.
For inspiration Mario and Sylvie visited Paris researching archives of fabrics and
designs from the period which gave them the courage to be bold with patterns and
colours. The balance between European influences and English tradition also
reflects Cliveden itself. Many of its features were introduced from Italy and France by
Cliveden’s owner William Waldorf Astor, who purchased Madame de Pompadour’s
gilded dining room from the Chateau d’Asinieres, reinstating it as the French Dining
Room, as well as buying many classical pieces of statuary, including the Fountain of
Love.
This is certainly not a typical refurbishment with Mario and Sylvie needing to
accommodate specific elements, features and pieces of original furniture and
artwork, according to the requirements of an iconic listed property and the
expectations of the National Trust. But they have relished the creative challenge.
One of Sylvie’s favourite rooms is the Chinese Room with a bespoke handmade silk
wallpaper in rich gold and four-poster bed draped in eighteenth century-style
Chinoiserie in a shade of storm grey. Both complement the ochre and grey marble of
Lady Astor’s fireplace, a prominent feature of the room. The effect is gloriously
glamorous.
Next door the Canning Room couldn’t be more different. This dark, quite masculine
panelled room has been softened and lightened with the introduction of blues and
lots of texture with embroidered raw linen curtains, Knole sofa upholstered in chenille
piled with embroidered appliqué cushions and four poster bed dressed in bordered
satin. In each room are specially made desks, and in this one the desk is a rather
daring, vibrant blue.
In the Sutherland Room, currently Mario’s favourite, but he admits to changing his
mind, they had to work the scheme around Lady Sutherland’s bed, wardrobe and
console table as well as a beautiful fireplace in white marble. Sylvie used a garland
of flowers on top of the console table as a starting point for a feminine colour scheme
of champagne and palest pink.
They have introduced rich baize green and scarlet red into the Mountbatten Room as
a nod to its original role as the snooker room; the scoreboard is still inset on the wall.
Bathrooms feature classic Carrara marble with bespoke basins featuring the
Cliveden Crest.
Mario and Sylvie have adopting a similar approach to the West Wing with a total of
ten suites refurbished by Christmas 2014, followed in January this year with a
refurbishment of the main house, which including 13 suites, The Great Hall, Library,
and Blue Boudoir. “It is very exciting,” enthuses Sylvie, who is currently working on
the design of the Lady Astor’s Suite, a grand room with private terrace. This beautiful
suite is dominated by a show-stopper of a fireplace; the design scheme will play with
the animated details in the room, the floral work, geometric patterns, simple panelling
and produce a scheme of eclectic furnishing ad fabrics in reds, blues and golds with
a fabulous headboard that will counterbalance the fireplace perfectly.
Mario says: “It’s about introducing a focus to each room and being sympathetic to
the historic design. It is a listed building and you have to respect that.” The
refurbishment of the Great Hall has been an exciting experience, too: “We have
brought it up to date and create a new atmosphere - a little bit of fabulousness.”
They are certainly freshening up Cliveden through recreating, restyling, refurbishing
and reimagining. “It is a pleasure,” continues Sylvie. “It is very exciting to give
Cliveden a second life, a second breath. We don’t want to change Cliveden, it is a
fabulous place, it is unique and that is its charm. We are creating a moment in
history”
For further press information, please contact:
Angela Day
Press Office, Cliveden & Chewton Glen
Mobile: 07785 619294
Telephone: 01304 617755
E-mail: aday@chewtonglen.com
EDITOR’S NOTE
Cliveden House is a five-star luxury hotel owned by the National Trust and operated
under a long lease arrangement by the owners of its sister property Chewton Glen in
the New Forest, Hampshire. Less than 45 minutes west of London and 20 minutes
from London Heathrow Airport, the hotel has 38 rooms, including 15 spacious suites,
a luxurious cottage on the banks of the River Thames, together with boathouse and
boats, heated pool, spa and a range of sporting, leisure, conference and meeting
facilities.
Over the years, the culinary pedigree of Cliveden has included numerous well-known
chefs, such as Gary Jones, John Wood, Daniel Galmiche, Mark Dodson, Robert
Thompson, Paul Hollywood (pastry chef), and Albert Roux, who was a commis chef
for Lady Astor in 1956 and our current Executive Head Chef is André Garrett.
Cliveden’s Grade 1 listed estate and gardens boast panoramic views over beautiful
countryside and the Thames. The 376 acres of National Trust gardens feature the
celebrated parterre, season-long floral displays, distinctive topiary and an
outstanding sculpture collection.
The former privately owned stately home hosted political and celebrity figures, from
Winston Churchill to Charlie Chaplin, with some notorious scandals from the upper
echelons of Britain’s high society (including the ‘Profumo scandal’).
More
information on the gardens and the National Trust is available on their website –
www.nationaltrust.org.uk