Inside the Eclectic British Homes of 6 Notable Creatives

Fashion stylist and journalist Violet Naylor-Leyland vividly remembers childhood visits to her grandmother Bindy’s London townhouse in Chelsea. A curious woman, Bindy had a robust penchant for butterflies that garnered her the nickname of Butterfly Lady.  “There were butterfly lampshades, curtains, tableware—even her bedroom carpet had a blue and white butterfly pattern woven into it,” Naylor-Leyland recalls. “They might as well as have been real in my memory, fluttering around her, because of the joy and magical atmosphere this obsession created.” 

That first brush with the fantastical was the impetus for Naylor-Leyland to spend three years piecing together Rare Birds, True Style: Extraordinary Interiors, Personal Collections, and Signature Looks (Rizzoli), her recently debuted book capturing British lifestyles that are at turns glamorous and quirky. “I wanted to bring a little of that magic back by way of this book,” she points out.

Naylor-Leyland dives into the compelling inner worlds of 17 distinctive tastemakers (who also happen to be friends and family) artfully brought to life through her keen eye, vivacious writing, and imagery from photographer Andrew Farrar. Luke Edward Hall, Beata Heuman, and Nicky Haslam represent the interiors realm, while fashion is the domain of the legendary Zandra Rhodes, Charlie Casely-Hayford (the menswear designer married to Sophie Ashby of Studio Ashby fame), Alice Temperley, and Martha Sitwell, along with milliner Victoria Grant, handbag designer Lulu Guinness, and Andrew Logan and Sabine Getty, known for their stunning jewelry. Fashion blogger and Dot Dot patisserie co-founder Susie Lau is also in the mix, as is abstract artist Philip Colbert, socialite sisters Marina Durham and Rose Cholmondeley, and even Naylor-Leyland’s own aristocrat father, Philip. Especially poignant is the chapter devoted to Lyndell Mansfield, hairdresser to the stars, who passed away in 2021. 

“Collating the book, the defining feature for choosing those for it was a true-to-self and inimitable personal style that bled into their interiors,” explains Naylor-Leyland. 

In some cases, urban apartments are injected with life, such as Grant’s Notting Hill abode decked out with neon, painted birds, and sequin headpieces dangling over the bathtub.  Lau’s own eclectic sitting room is adorned with hexagonal mirrors and decorative MatchesFashion boxes. Heuman resides in Hammersmith with her family, in a fairy tale-like space that stitches together recreated Ludwig Bemelmans illustrations, zigzag motif carpeting, and botanical prints juxtaposed with velvet. For the arresting headboard in her bedroom, Heuman cleverly mounted and bordered a throw. 

Pastoral Gloucestershire, on the other hand, is where Hall and his partner, Duncan Campbell, settled in an animated cottage, complete with potting shed, that showcases a painted wall plinth purchased at a local auction, a stash of 1980s Habitat catalogs, and candle holders enlivened with leopard spots. Their neighbor is Nicky Halsam, who imaginatively dressed up his own home with an installation of antique plates.  

Vibrant palettes are often embraced. Rhodes dwells in an orange cement box in Bermondsey, for example, and Logan marries a hot pink staircase with Scottish tartan plaid, while Colbert’s sitting room is a profusion of yellow and red starring his playful egg carpet and shark chair. What Naylor-Leyland so deftly accomplishes is delving beyond the surface to reveal how each bold vignette is inevitably shaped by the individual’s rich, colorful personal history. Consider Heuman’s Swedish farmhouse roots or Casey-Hayford’s dynamic upbringing by his parents, both accomplished graduates of the Central Saint Martins fashion program. 

Given her career, “I’ve discovered how drawn I am by unusual style and taste, in particular those who’ve developed one that appears entirely blinkered, creating an aesthetic so well associated it becomes their signature,” says Naylor-Leyland. “Very often, the more unique the taste, the more fascinating the story.”