Renovating any property can be daunting, but it’s rare to make over a historically listed building that was once home to a design icon. Yet that was the situation TV presenter Emma Forbes and her husband, banker Graham Clempson, found themselves in after buying Glebe Place in London’s Chelsea, the former studio home of architect and artist Charles Rennie Mackintosh (1868-1928).
Mackintosh lived at Glebe Place with his artist wife Margaret Macdonald Mackintosh from 1915 to 1923, when the space consisted of a simple one-bedroom cottage and two adjoining artist studios. The property fell into disrepair and had been empty for 20 years when Forbes and Clempson bought it in 2015. ‘There were mountains of trash mail in the hallway, a gaping hole in the floor and everything was dark. It felt overwhelming,’ says Forbes of its original state.
A view of the living room from the study, framed by an eye-catching glasshouse structure. The abstract ceiling light is by Hervé van der Straeten, and the painting above the sofa is by Martin Mull.
The couple enlisted the help of American interior designer and friend Andrew Torrey, who creates star-worthy spaces across the globe. They had worked with him before and he has subsequently designed their other homes (they now live in New York). ‘We were among Andrew’s first clients,’ recalls Forbes, who was introduced to Torrey through a mutual friend years previously, when he was starting out. ‘He designed our first rental in New York. I loved that he didn’t do it by numbers. Each of his spaces is unique.’
Double doors lead from the kitchen to the garden. The space features Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s custom-made iron railings, which reference his iconic rose design.
The transformation of Glebe Place, which is featured in a new coffee-table tome covering Torrey’s favourite projects, took the designer four years to complete. ‘It was a huge renovation job,’ Forbes says, referring to the new open-plan layout, lofted beams and Mondrian-inspired bathroom. Hero elements of the design included custom-made lightbox ceilings to create pools of light, the faux ‘living’ wall in the hallway (‘No one could tell it wasn’t real’) and Forbes’ favourite feature: the couple’s secret bedroom, accessed through a hidden door in the kitchen that opened to reveal a staircase up to the master suite and bathroom. ‘It was like a jewel-box moment,’ she says. ‘Not showy on the outside, but beautiful on the inside.’
A neon artwork by Tracey Emin hangs above a hidden stairway to the master suite, accessible only through this secret door in the kitchen, one of Forbes’ favourite spaces in the house.
One of the most striking parts of the renovation was the sprawling basement extension, which Torrey created by digging down by more than three and a half metres. Yet there was nothing to indicate to the casual passer-by that such a cavernous space existed on the other side of the front door – a deliberate choice by Forbes, who wanted to save the ‘wow factor’ moments for inside.
It’s what is called an ‘iceberg house’, with most of the structure below ground, often exceeding the footprint of the upper levels. ‘There was a basement already in place, but it was tiny and mainly used as a dumping ground,’ says Forbes of the space that came to encompass two new bedrooms, two bathrooms and a home gym.
Interior designer Andrew Torrey with Emma Forbes. Torrey has designed each of the homes she shares with her husband Graham Clempson.
Despite the huge renovation, elements of Mackintosh’s signature style remain – not least the art nouveau ironwork framing the exterior. Other features have been introduced in homage: steel strips were used as marble ‘piping’ in the master bathroom and monochrome flourishes were added to the ceiling beams. ‘The idea was to acknowledge the building’s history while reworking it for how we lived,’ says Forbes.
A cleverly positioned lightbox in the sprawling basement gym features a photograph of the rear garden and pool of the couple’s East Hampton home – a soothing backdrop to a morning workout routine.
The kitchen was a case in point. ‘I love to cook and entertain, so I wanted an open-plan area to host family and friends.’ As such, the kitchen featured a large island with an integrated oven that also served as a communal seating area, and units were fitted with deep storage drawers that open to reveal further storage drawers. The decorative finishing touch of a neon Tracey Emin artwork made the space feel relaxed, rather than one dictated by practicality. ‘It’s where we spent most of our time as a family,’ reminisces Forbes. ‘It’ll always hold a place in my heart.’
Mackintosh-like steel strips were used to trim the marble slabs in the primary bathroom. The upper panels behind the vanity units were backlit to highlight the lofted ceiling.
Private Spaces by Andrew Torrey, with text by Gay Gassmann (Rizzoli, £58) is out now. To order a copy for £49.30 until 6 July with free UK delivery, go to mailshop.co.uk/books or call 020 3176 2937
