When Jack and Rebecca Davidson found their period North London house, they worked with Ben Pentreath to create something that would stand the test of time as a family home
FEATURE COSMO BROCKWAY PHOTOGRAPHY JAMES MCDONALD
On a picturesque street in North London’s Primrose Hill, Jack Davidson, who has recently launched his own interior design studio, and his wife, Rebecca, have created a quietly English idyll. Chancing upon an early Victorian stucco-and-brick townhouse languishing in “bohemian chaos” was an exciting moment for the young couple, who had been living in leafy Hampstead but were yearning for something they could put their aesthetic stamp on. “I grew up between London and Gloucestershire, so the countryside is in
my bones,” explains Jack. “Whereas Rebecca is an urban girl through and through. Our compromise was to find somewhere in London to create a feeling of a country house – on a smaller scale. Having married six years ago, after serendipitously meeting in the south of France through our mothers, we wanted to put down roots and create something together from a blank canvas.”
The couple’s new house, its position as an end of terrace rendering it the widest in the street, was ripe for such a transformation, with its large windows and capacious walled courtyard garden. Coming across the house in 2018, their first impression was of an exciting challenge. “We really did fall in love with it at first sight and couldn’t imagine living anywhere else,” Jack says. “We even put a letter through the door to the owner.”
Reworking the building from what was essentially an artist’s studio into a “grown-up, family home” was a challenge the couple threw themselves into with gusto. “We had stumbled across Ben Pentreath’s studio and instantly knew it would be the right collaboration for us. I was probably their most difficult client,” Jack laughs. “Our brief to them was a rustic feel, traditional but with modern comforts. I wanted a place that felt reflective, peaceful and classic.”
Making a striking first impression upon entering the house is the double-length drawing room, which has panelling designed by Ben Pentreath and created by East Sussex-based Icklesham Joinery. Jack has realised his dream of having Jamb fireplaces, too. “We installed a pair of Easton models in marble and then custom-des
