Dreweatts has been appointed to sell the contents of the family home of world-renowned interior and garden designer Anouska Hempel. Shaw House in Wiltshire is a beautiful Grade II listed building which, while being a family home, also showcased Hempel’s unique theatrical flair for combining contemporary style with historical nuances, clever design and the epitome of luxury in its interiors.
Anouska Hempel was a notable actress in the 1970s, appearing in James Bond film On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, as well as in Hammer horror films and Gerry Anderson TV series UFO and Space: 1999. After finishing acting, she embarked on a career as a hotelier and interior designer, and in 2002 was ranked by Architectural Digest as one of the top 100 interior designers and architects in the world.
She made her mark in design when she opened London’s first 5-star boutique hotel Blakes, in South Kensington in 1978, followed by The Hempel in London’s Bayswater. Now Lady Weinberg after her marriage to the financier Sir Mark Weinberg, she was presented the prestigious Andrew Martin Lifetime Achievement Award by HRH Princess Michael of Kent in 2022 for ‘her elusive, impossible to define but instantly recognisable design.’
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Perspective
Anouska Hempel describes her former country residence Shaw House as “a happy place” and glancing through the interiors one can see why, as throughout the house she showcases her familiar and unique design techniques that have brought her world-wide acclaim. These include architectural effects such as a play on perspective, dramatic colours emulating various periods and styles, as well as textural fabrics, alongside effective groupings of furniture, set within clever lighting designs that capture the rich colour palette she uses to infuse comfort and style into this nine-bedroom manor house.
