Inside jeweller Celia Weinstock’s Chelsea townhouse designed around art, antiques and the pleasures of small rooms

‘The open bookcases are interspersed with jibbed cupboards concealing wardrobes,’ says Guy. ‘A tall opening links to the intimate drawing room and also to the well-lit bar space, which feels almost like a garden room during the day, and atmospheric and clublike in the evenings.’

When Celia and Max bought the house, it was dilapidated and had lost many of its original features; it was also unlisted. ‘This gave us the opportunity to reinvent the house to suit the way they wanted to live,’ says Guy. ‘The brief was to create a luxurious backdrop for everyday life and entertaining.’ The architects dug down at basement level to achieve a generous 3.2-metre ceiling height, and an ‘uninspiring’ timber staircase was replaced with a sweeping cantilevered stone design. In addition, Guy and Alexander enhanced the architectural details, adding chunky cornices and installing chimneypieces by Jamb to make the house feel more like its grand original self.

In the dining room the ‘Magnolia’ chandelier is by Cox London.

Christopher Horwood

Celia and Guy have naturally aligned tastes. ‘I chose him partly because I adore his eponymous fabric and wallpaper collection,’ Celia enthuses. ‘He is particularly gifted with colour palettes.’ The English country-house look she loves is made to feel modern through subtle hues and unexpected pattern combinations. This, adds Guy, ‘makes this Chelsea townhouse feel more impressive than its size should dictate’. Throughout, his own designs are juxtaposed with creations from heritage makers. In the bar, blinds in his ‘Tangier’ weave contrast with Pierre Frey’s ‘Fontainebleau’ botanical wallpaper, while in the library, de Gournay’s ‘India Tea Paper’ wallcovering in a soft straw shade complements curtains in Guy’s gold ‘Persian Vine’ fabric.

The drinks bar has a wall decorated with ‘Fontainebleau’ wallpaper by Pierre Frey; and cabinetwork with a brass sink by Arbor.

Christopher Horwood

Other deft touches make entertaining a joy. ‘The drinks bar incorporates a wine fridge and a sink – useful in a tall London townhouse in which the kitchen is on the floor below – and the banquette sofa is intended for a couple of friends to gather and gossip, away from the social group,’ Guy explains. ‘In order to allow enough people to be seated in the drawing room, we decided to build a window seat. We added a blind and converted the original shutters, painting and lacquering them to resemble Chinese screens. They never fail to enchant visitors.’

A mirror by Overmantels hides a television.

Christopher Horwood

Art was the starting point of the whole design. ‘I inherited Old Masters and antiques from my family, so that dictated the look of the house,’ says Celia. ‘I grew up with these pieces, so they have sentimental value. Many people like to add art and furniture to their house over time, and recommend living there first before renovating; we took the opposite approach. The rooms were designed around all the art, furniture and lighting that we had in storage.’ Every painting and object was measured and added to the architectural drawings before renovations began. As a result, the couple were able to move into the house only 15 months later, in summer 2024. Celia’s favourite space remains the unusual (but invaluable) central hall. ‘We wanted it to have a grand country-house feel with the fireplace, the books and some horse-racing trophies I inherited,’ she says. ‘We also wanted it to feel quite masculine, as it was designed around the portrait of my husband’s great-grandfather in his RAF uniform above the chimneypiece. We are thrilled with the result – it’s such an elegant storage solution’.

Christopher Horwood