Patalab Updates U.K. Arts and Crafts Townhouse to Showcase Art Collection

When a Hampstead family with three small children asked Patalab to update their Arts and Crafts townhouse, one major consideration was finding ways to highlight their impressive collection of modern art. Another was to open up the house, itself a work of art. “There was a desire to display the works of art to their advantage,” says founder and director Uwe Schmidt-Hess, “without losing the intimate quality of a young family’s home.”

While much of the 4,500-square-foot house’s original features were retained—including a central staircase and timber wall paneling, both now whitewashed—a new connection between reception rooms on the ground floor and the elegant back garden created not only a reconfigured kitchen but also a dining area and living space with sunken seating area with ample wall and display space.

Flooring on the ground level combines distressed parquet and mottled Azul Cascais limestone, with the upper floor’s master bathroom features large-format book-matched Carrara marble slabs. And recessed ceiling LED down lights integrate lighting into the building fabric while complementing the ceilings, which the team plastered in wall washers to better illuminate the couple’s prized collection.

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