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Zoë Carter-Mackay’s stylish home in De Beauvoir, East London, shared with husband James and their two young children, is used as a glamorous location for fashion and interiors shoots.
Melding original Victorian architecture and contemporary interventions by Paul Archer Design, the house is visually versatile, suiting different clients’ requirements. It’s also a practical family home, designed to anticipate and accommodate changing needs, from kids turning into teenagers to the potential addition of a lovable pet.
A guiding principle for my husband, James, and I when we bought our 1840s house was to retain, reuse and restore its original heart and soul. We weren’t interested in gutting a Georgian or Victorian house and filling it with of-the-moment architectural finishes. I used to work as a visual merchandiser for fashion stores – my bread-and-butter was new showroom openings – in London and New York. I’d work closely with architects and my skills of getting a showroom to be practical yet visually enticing for good photography has proved transferable to using my home as a location for shoots.
In my previous job, I worked long hours and didn’t see much of my daughter, who’s seven, and my son, now three. Not only do I spend more time with them now but I also get to enjoy the home James and I have spent so much time getting restored and redesigned. It’s ultimately a family home, and we wanted it to be aesthetically pleasing and usable. The lower ground floor is in a contemporary style and now much more spacious. The house originally had a side alley to the left as you face the garden with a lean-to, toilet and shed, which have been removed. There was an existing extension but this alteration has enlarged it, providing a kitchen with a large island – it doubles as a surface I can work on – and dining area.
The garden to the back was once reached up narrow steps. It’s now accessed up wide steps, created by Paul Archer Design [PAD], which works well for parties as friends love to sit on them. The back of the house is clad in shou sugi ban [charred cedar wood]. The houses on either side were also designed by PAD but they’re made of different materials. I joke that we’re like The Three Little Pigs from the nursery rhyme with houses built from straw, sticks and bricks.
The garden and house connect seamlessly thanks to sliding glass walls spanning the width of the extension and to a concrete floor in the kitchen, colour-matched to porcelain tiles outside.
There’s lots of marble in the kitchen informed by our time in New York: we kept admiring the marble in its classic hotels and bars. I’m keen on honest, natural materials. The concrete floor might not be the most natural thing but it’s textural and tactile. I prefer materiality to colour – leather, wood, wool, and plaster.
Family life is very fluid on this floor and there’s a storage room I can shove the kids’ toys away in before a shoot. There’s an unusually beautiful, well-furnished playroom and a spare bedroom and bathroom next to it, all on the same floor. This area works well for guests as they have everything they need on one floor. If we get a dog at some point, we’ll be able to hose him or her down in the bathroom shower area.
A new, simple staircase leads from the ground floor to the kitchen. It has a blackened steel balustrade whose colour echoes that of a dark Victorian balustrade and bannister with simple spindles leading from the ground up to the top floor.
I like neutral colours and restful spaces. I’m quite introverted and find maximalism over-stimulating. Our living room is restrained – I’m inspired by elegant Parisian apartments. Its furniture is simple. We have a few mid-century pieces such as a sideboard by French designer Charles Dudouyt.
Our bedroom is the smallest bedroom in the house – it feels separate and private. To make the space feel bigger it’s very simple with no skirting boards, while the entire room is painted with a single, unifying matt limewash paint.
I knew I wanted this house to work very hard for us, be gorgeous and make us very happy, which it does. It has the potential for growth in many ways. When we’re in our 60s and our children no longer live with us, we might go for full-blown aesthetics over practicality but for now it needs to combine both.
On the top floor, there’s an office and the kids’ bedrooms, which are full-sized. The office has a window overlooking the garden. It brings light into the landing, as does a skylight. The ceilings had collapsed when we bought the house and had to be repaired. The rooms will still feel big when the kids are teenagers and need more space. In a hot second, I’ll have a 13-year-old on my hands! Our son sleeps in a cot but will soon be in a big-boy bed. There’s room for double beds here if they’re ever needed. The fireplaces are original as are the floors, which bow and curve.
There’s also a bathroom with a shower and bath. Its style is inspired by New York boutique hotels, like The Ludlow. There’s the same marble here as in the kitchen. It’s also a space for growing. I didn’t want a bathroom in a kiddies’ style but one that fits with the period of the house. It will work well for teenagers.
I knew I wanted this house to work very hard for us, be gorgeous and make us very happy, which it does. It has the potential for growth in many ways. When we’re in our 60s and our children no longer live with us, we might go for full-blown aesthetics over practicality but for now it needs to combine both.
