About this item
In this timeless and beautiful book, renowned architectural and interior designer, writer, shop-keeper and blogger Ben Pentreath presents a fresh and insightful overview of the classic English style.Visiting 12 very different homes, Ben explores and appraises the unique spirit of the English House at once restrained and simple yet overflowing with a generosity of touch and a richness of color and texture.The book is divided into three sections: London, Country, and Country House, and the interiors featured range from a 1930s pied-a-terre in London's historic St James to designer Veere Grenney's pocket-sized Palladian Temple folly in Suffolk and Wardington, a 16th-century stone manor house in North Oxfordshire. Ben s own homes, in central London and West Dorset, are also included.These homes vary greatly in architecture, size, shape and age, but they all have in common a peculiarly English style richly-layered rooms that deftly intertwine color and pattern and a mix of old and new furniture to create timeless and comfortable places to live.
About the Author
Ben Pentreath's architectural and interior design studio has established a powerful reputation across a variety of disciplines from master-planning and urban development, to private houses and playful interiors.
Ben's background is in Art History, which he studied at the University of Edinburgh before attending the Prince of Wales's Institute of Architecture.
He worked for five years in New York and then with the Prince's Foundation, before starting his own practice in 2004.
In 2008, Ben opened a tiny eponymous design store in Bloomsbury which has become one of the most influential small shops in London.
Ben's aesthetic is inspired by tradition and a respect for carefully detailed, authentic materials and design, but combined with a love of contemporary culture, which means that life is never dull.
He writes regularly for the Financial Times, and his weekly blog, Inspiration, is followed by many thousands of readers in the UK, America and around the world.
His book, English Decoration was published in 2011 and his sequel interiors book, English Houses launches in September 2016.
