{"id":19491,"date":"2023-03-12T09:30:20","date_gmt":"2023-03-12T08:30:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.homesandantiques.com\/?p=40648"},"modified":"2023-03-12T10:36:39","modified_gmt":"2023-03-12T09:36:39","slug":"a-restored-regency-apartment-in-bath","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/homesantiques\/rss_feed\/a-restored-regency-apartment-in-bath\/","title":{"rendered":"A restored Regency apartment in Bath"},"content":{"rendered":"

Design editor Emilio Pimentel-Reid has artfully combined the very best of old and new in his beautifully restored Regency apartment in Bath. Photographs James Balston <\/p>

By Serena Fokschaner\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Sunday, 12 March 2023 at 12:00 am<\/p>

\n\n

The influence of good mentors can last a lifetime, as Emilio Pimentel-Reid will tell you. The design editor has had some of the best. From his earliest employer, Calvin Klein, he absorbed the virtues of minimalism, while a stint with the late fashion designer and antiques lover Oscar de la Renta immersed him in colour and pattern.<\/p>\n

This led to working at Nest, a \u2018rarefied\u2019 interiors magazine in New York, where office decor included a floor-to-ceiling Mark Rothko and Aesthetic Movement<\/a> ceramics and furniture, mixed with pieces from Maison Jansen. All this, he reflects, gave him the confidence to combine \u2018the best I can afford\u2019 of old and new.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s an approach he has applied to doing up his Bath apartment. Ranging over the ground and first floors of an 1815 stone terrace, Emilio describes the colourful setting as the \u2018reward\u2019 for his daily commute into London, where he runs a design industry consultancy. The ceilings soar to five metres high and sunlight falls in bars through the sash windows, which are even larger than the ones in Bath\u2019s Royal Crescent.<\/p>\n

\u2018It was the last hurrah for glazing,\u2019 says Emilio. And then there are the views. During lockdown, he perched on his African stool at the Regency<\/a> table overlooking the cascading horse chestnuts of the park opposite \u2013 one of the first public green spaces in the country. \u2018Bath is good for the soul. Being surrounded by beauty can only be a positive,\u2019 he says.<\/p>\n

You might also like<\/strong> a vintage-filled Regency villa in Bath<\/a><\/p>\n

Leading conservation architects, Donald Insall Associates, restored the Grade I-listed<\/a> flat to its original layout, opening up the main reception areas. Downstairs is an \u2018indulgent\u2019 library, bedroom and bathroom suite. Upstairs are\nthe drawing room and kitchen, \u2018formerly the withdrawing room \u2013 and a work in progress\u2019. Linking the two is the highly unusual private lift: \u2018It\u2019s handy for wine deliveries.\u2019<\/p>\n

The building was designed by John Pinch the Elder in 1815. Miraculously, it survived both the Blitz and the \u2018Sack of Bath\u2019 \u2013 documented in the book by Adam Fergusson \u2013 in the 1970s, when scores of Georgian<\/a> buildings were demolished during the frenzy of post-war modernisation that devastated so many historic town centres. Emilio takes his role as custodian very seriously.<\/p>\n

This \u2018community activist\u2019 has started a residents\u2019 association and liaises with specialist craftsmen \u2013 masons, ironworkers, plasterers \u2013 to conserve the terrace. He is currently reinstating the wrought-iron \u2018overthrows\u2019 and lanterns: \u2018I\u2019m proud to say that six of the 11 are already up.\u2019<\/p>\n

The stone fa\u00e7ade, which glows on summer afternoons, reminds him of home. Emilio grew up in Santo Domingo, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the Dominican Republic. \u2018It\u2019s the oldest European settlement in the New World, with the first university and hospital,\u2019 says Emilio, whose surname reflects his Portuguese and Scottish ancestry.<\/p>\n

\u2018The historic buildings are built from coral stone, which is similar in colour to Bath stone. The windows \u2013 and the light \u2013 remind me of my childhood home. When you\u2019ve grown up in the Caribbean, light becomes extremely important.\u2019<\/p>\n

Emilio\u2019s MA in History of Fine & Decorative Art at Sotheby\u2019s Institute<\/a> (his other degrees are in Economics and separately in Fashion Design) opened his eyes to \u2018the different art and collecting categories. I like to call it my shopping degree\u2026 I\u2019ve learnt that if something is of good quality and serves its purpose, it will have longevity, whether it\u2019s old or new.<\/p>\n

You might also like <\/strong>a Regency villa filled with renovated antiques<\/a><\/p>\n

The past year has made us focus on what\u2019s important for us in our homes. We realised what works \u2013 or what was awkward or fell apart. We want things that make us feel happy,\u2019 adds Emilio, whose book, Bold British Design, celebrates contemporary<\/a> UK makers.<\/p>\n

A knowledge of the past is key to understanding modern design, he says: \u2018History is so important in my field. It allows me to build up a context which enables me to evaluate what makes a good design. I can\u2019t get enough of historic houses<\/a>, but inspiration comes from everywhere. Not because everything is inspiring, but because over the years I\u2019ve learnt to look for it.\u2019<\/p>\n

Emilio\u2019s apartment is quintessentially Regency \u2013 the ceiling roses and mouldings<\/a> are original \u2013 but there are anomalies due to changing fashions, like the Victorian<\/a> fireplaces. That suits Emilio\u2019s catholic tastes. \u2018It\u2019s not a museum. When the first people moved in here it was a brand-new building and they probably brought a real mix of things with them.\u2019<\/p>\n

He appreciates the way that a table by Oscar Wilde\u2019s favourite designer, E.W. Godwin, \u2018talks\u2019 to the equally Victorian tiles<\/a> of the fireplace in the drawing room, where original Baltic pine floorboards \u2018creak delightfully\u2019.<\/p>\n

He has used Regency pieces like the dining table and dining chairs because they sit well with the proportions of the apartment. But he is equally fond of the Spanish 1970s coffee table from Brownrigg in Tetbury, or the colourful 1980s Shogun floor lamp by Swiss architect Mario Botta, a luminary of the post-modernist Memphis movement.<\/p>\n

From his days as decorating editor of British ELLE Decoration, Emilio has acquired an appreciation of homegrown design. A daybed<\/a> is reupholstered in Enid Marx\u2019s 1930s Zig Zag fabric from Borderline Fabrics; it is a graphic contrast to the contours of the Regency daybed, or the jaunty cushions with their Howard Hodgkin designs in the drawing room.<\/p>\n

You might also like <\/strong>an art-filled Regency townhouse in Brighton<\/a><\/p>\n

The paint colours are special mixes, such as the pink walls of the living room, made by Little Greene<\/a> to complement his skin tone: \u2018Experts advise that you paint your space in a colour that suits the room; but why not use a colour that flatters the homeowner?\u2019 Why indeed not?<\/p>\n

He insisted that the previous owner leave behind the bookshelves, a timeless design by Dieter Rams for Vits\u0153, which lines one wall of the library. Design and travel dominate, from Portuguese interiors or Brutalist architecture to the palm-shaded architecture of the Caribbean.<\/p>\n

Some of his most useful titles are auction house<\/a> catalogues from the sales of famous collectors like Charles de Beistegui, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, or US fashion designer Bill Blass. Crammed with provenanced gems, these glossy publications are an education in themselves: \u2018You can learn so much from other people\u2019s eye \u2013 and taste,\u2019 he says.<\/p>\n

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\""Regency\"<\/picture><\/div>
The 1960s sofas have been reupholstered in Romo Oatmeal linen underneath, with a slip cover in York Stripe by British brand Fermoie. Emilio likes to change the covers seasonally. A 19th-century English chair has been given a fresh look with ticking fabric. The Shogun floor lamp is by Mario Botta for Memphis.<\/span> <\/figcaption> James Balston<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div> <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
\""Regency\"<\/picture><\/div>
Beside the 19th-century chair sits Emilio\u2019s book, Bold British Design. The antique faux porphyry painted pedestals, Dutch urns, American Curtis Jer\u00e9 lamp, Bristol Blue Glass bowl and Haitian paintings have all travelled with him from home to home.<\/span> <\/figcaption> James Balston<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div> <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
\""Regency\"<\/picture><\/div>
The mirror and drinks table came from a dealer in Dorset, as did the inlaid table, on top of which sits a 1980s Memphis ceramic by Ettore Sottsass.<\/span> <\/figcaption> James Balston<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div> <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
\""Regency\"<\/picture><\/div>
Emilio\u2019s dining chairs and table are Regency, with cushion fabric by Dedar. The vase and plates are Delft, and the linen napkins are Svenskt Tenn.<\/span> <\/figcaption> James Balston<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div> <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
\""Regency\"<\/picture><\/div>
On top of the 1970s brass coffee table from Brownrigg are a wooden candlestick from Berdoulat and two others that are 1960s Italian. The painted obelisks on the mantel are Spanish.<\/span> <\/figcaption> James Balston<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div> <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
\""Regency\"<\/picture><\/div>
Vintage library steps lead up to Emilio\u2019s collection of design and lifestyle books, magazines and auction catalogues, which he references regularly. The herringbone-pattern seagrass flooring is from Alternative Flooring, and \u2018helps to unite the library with the bedroom, while feeling great underfoot\u2019, says Emilio.<\/span> <\/figcaption> James Balston<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div> <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
\""Regency\"<\/picture><\/div>
A fresh shade of green, mixed for Emilio by Papers and Paints in Chelsea, illuminates the library walls. On the mantelpiece is a rooster plate, commissioned from Scottish potter James Campbell. The Regency daybed was bought at auction and reupholstered. Next to the sofa, a lampshade from Inq in Bath is paired with an antique Spanish candle holder, converted to a floor lamp.<\/span> <\/figcaption> James Balston<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div> <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
\""Regency\"<\/picture><\/div>
A lampshade by close friend Melina Horne sits on a vintage column lamp. The still life was a gift from New York photographer Anita Calero.<\/span> <\/figcaption> James Balston<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div> <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
\""Regency\"<\/picture><\/div>
A vintage paisley throw adds colour to the George Smith sofa. The white chair was found at a Pennsylvania flea market and re-covered in Ian Mankin linen.<\/span> <\/figcaption> James Balston<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div> <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
\""Regency\"<\/picture><\/div>
The antique brass bed was made by the same company that supplied the White Star Line First Class cabins, while the quilt was a gift from the PR team at Anthropologie. Original Grade I-listed cupboards are complemented by a calming blue paint from Mylands. The parrot prints came from Emilio\u2019s childhood bedroom in Santo Domingo, and the lamp is by Marianna Kennedy.<\/span> <\/figcaption> James Balston<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div> <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
\""Regency\"<\/picture><\/div>
Emilio admires the view of Bath from the generous windows of his Regency apartment. Beside him is a plant stand that originally came from an Irish rectory, bought from Battersea Decorative Fair.<\/span> <\/figcaption> James Balston<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div> <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
\""Regency\"<\/picture><\/div>
The building\u2019s shared entrance hall is painted in Farrow and Ball\u2019s Babouche and Pitch Black. \u2018I took the liberty to style it,\u2019 says Emilio.<\/span> <\/figcaption> <\/span>\n<\/div> <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
\""Regency\"<\/picture><\/div>
On the fa\u00e7ade, the copper lantern and overthrow were added as part of Emilio\u2019s local campaign \u2013 with support from Bath UNESCO World Heritage Site and the Bath Preservation Trust \u2013 to reinstate lost features.<\/span> <\/figcaption> <\/span>\n<\/div> <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div> <\/body><\/html>\n
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