House Style with Rosh Mahtani, founder of Alighieri, at her Clerkenwell home
How would you describe the interiors of your home?
It is a modern gallery space that’s a blank canvas for the treasures I find on my travels. I want my home to feel like an intersection of all the places that I’ve been in my life. I spent some time living in Italy, and I studied French and Italian at university so I love Etruscan references. I also looked very much at old Italian architecture, the crumbling nature of those buildings. I’m also inspired by the museums and galleries I love, such as the Francis Gallery in Bath and the Gagosian.
Downstairs I wanted it to feel like my own sanctuary. Running Alighieri is a full-time job, and it’s so hectic and busy. My home is somewhere I can come back to and just completely switch off. The bath in my bedroom makes it feel like a boutique spa. It’s so nice to relax in the tub at the end of the day.
The home mirrors the brand in so many ways. We call our pieces modern heirlooms, and I think you can see that same juxtaposition between the modern white walls and linear details and my old relics. It’s all about that constant balance between history and modernity.
You’re happiest at home when…
It’s first thing in the morning. I sit at the dining table and have my morning coffee and look out of the window. I love that morning lull when nobody’s awake yet – that’s my quiet time. And the light is so magical in that moment.
If you could save one thing, what would it be?
I collect rare old editions of Dante’s The Divine Comedy – I’ve got maybe 40 copies. I would probably take all of those first if the house was on fire. It’s funny because he’s a 14th-century Italian poet but his story is of a man waking up lost in a dark wood, not knowing where to go, not feeling good enough. I think we can all relate to that. As I graduated from university, I felt quite powerfully that I didn’t know what I was doing – that I didn’t feel good enough to do anything in particular. Dante is about that celebration of imperfection and vulnerability. That’s what I love about it.
What’s your favourite living space in the world?
There’s an amazing retreat in Colombia called Playa Koralia. It’s in a national park on the coast, and it is just the most magical, rustic and beautiful place I’ve ever stayed. It has whitewashed walls and it’s very simple but there is something so calm about it. Everything is alfresco, such as the showers with mosaic floors. It’s very spiritual.
What was the last thing you bought for the house?
I’m constantly collecting and buying sculptures from antique markets. I go every weekend to find things – there’s an amazing one in Camden Passage in Angel, where I found so many of my favourite prehistoric Colombian pieces. I also love Alfies Antique Market on Church Street in Paddington. Some of the last things I bought were two Roman pillars. I just love how they feel like fragmented moments in time.
I have always been a collector – even as a little kid I was always collecting stones and other objects, and turning them into precious things. I’m a big believer that things you find in your life – it doesn’t necessarily matter what the object is – mark a moment.
What are your top three coffee table books?
I love Dali: A Study of His Art in Jewels. Dali is a really big influence for me, and he depicted The Divine Comedy in a way that nobody else would have; I have original watercolours in the house. They’re so beautiful. Then Irving Penn’s Still Life – I feel like that’s an absolute must-have. And Ema Nude in Africa by Masaya Nakamura, which I got from Donlon Books on Broadway Market – one of my favourite places. I grew up in Zambia so I’m really inspired by this book, and I absolutely love the photographs. I left Africa when I was eight years old but I think it’s still something that stays with me.
If money was no object, what changes would you make?
I would turn the garden into a spa and have a Japanese bathhouse out there. It would be epic but obviously completely unrealistic.
My partner, interior designer Fred Rigby, and I have just renovated the house – it looked completely different before we redesigned and changed everything. But to me, a house is never finished. There are still blank walls and empty spaces, which I feel really excited about – they’re a mark of all the adventures to come.
You’re having people over for dinner: what do you cook?
There would be lots of prosecco, lots of pasta and a tomato, mozzarella and basil salad. It would be very Italian and bountiful with lots of sharing. I like to set the table in a really beautiful way but the dinner party would be chaos – in an Italian way. You start with a beautiful space but the messier it gets, the better.
What does a Sunday look like here?
Sunday is about sitting on the couch having just come back from the market, reading the paper with the window open in the summer, and just being. It’s the best thing.
What are the best things about your neighbourhood?
There’s so much history in Clerkenwell and it feels tucked away – I like the anonymity of it. Not many people I know live around here, most of my friends are east, so I have my time without bumping into anyone.
There’s an amazing coffee shop called Ground Control on Amwell Street, which is really sweet. There’s Exmouth Market, which is so fun and has great restaurants: it’s always buzzing there, which I love. Then you’ve got Leather Lane, which is where our jewellery studio is. You’ve got something in every direction. I never want to leave.
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