Step through the looking glass at Sally Mackereth’s story-book inspired house
In the latest instalment of our film series, we invite you to step into the story-book inspired house of architect Sally Mackereth in King’s Cross, a playful world of mystery, discovery and fun in a former Victorian stable. Watch the film here.
As head of her architecture and design studio, Sally draws from her 25-year career working internationally to design residential and commercial projects with her signature style, defined by material rich spaces that play with colour, texture and detail. Recent projects have included the updating of a listed artist’s studio in Chelsea, London, once the workspace of James Whistler, Augustus John and John Singer Sargent; and the interiors of pied-a-terre for an art-loving couple in Tribeca, New York City. A sense of fun and glamour runs through the practice’s work, and Sally’s own living spaces are no exception.
Attentive Journal readers will remember our visit to Sally’s converted lighthouse, her equally enchanting holiday home on the Norfolk coast that dates back to the time of Daniel Defoe’s 1719 novel, Robinson Crusoe. But Sally’s literary reference (at least – rather fittingly – subconsciously) for her London home is Victorian, this time the surreal, other-worldly settings of Louis Caroll’s stories. Doors are oversized, thresholds appear out of nowhere, staircases ascend from unexpected corners and sculptural artworks of jellyfish and golden cherries fill the space, creating an alternate reality behind street-facing gates that have been painted with the outline of an elephant (a nod to the former name of the street, Elephant Row).
Hear Sally talk about all this and more by watching the film here. And don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel where you’re welcomed into the homes of Ruth and Richard Rogers, Deyan Sudjic, Roger Zogolovitch, Barbara Weiss, Paul de Zwart, Adam Richards and many more. Extra points for liking and commenting!
Photography by Edward Bishop and Jim Stephenson
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