Bathroom at Garth Gell Farmhouse, Wales

One of our first posts on Instagram, way back when it was still quite unusual to share anything other than your breakfast or a mass of cherry blossom, featured a photograph that has stayed with me ever since. It was the bathroom of Garth Gell Farmhouse in Wales, a building dating back to 1805 that had been left to fall into ruin since the middle of the last century.

Behind that image were two people: Jane Hackett and Johnny Holland, the husband and wife team at the heart of Hackett Holland. It takes a steady hand and a clear respect for history to coax a building like that back to life without stripping away the very soul of what made it worth saving in the first place. A building that had at times housed sheep during downpours was transformed into a glorious home, one that I have been absolutely smitten with ever since (By the bloody by, you can rent it).

That project tells you everything you need to know about Hackett Holland. Their practice is beloved by those who have worked with them, and admired by many more, like me, who follow their work from afar. They take on a wealth of different projects, from private residential to developer work, and offer as much or as little as a client needs, whether that is help choosing furniture, designing a landscape, or taking on the full architectural scope. These are knowledgeable, considered pairs of hands.

Johnny came to architecture via an unusual and arguably ideal route. Before ever picking up a set of drawings, he immersed himself in the history of the built environment, studying Architectural History at the University of East Anglia. It was a foundation that set him apart from many of his peers. Where others arrived at architecture through pure design instinct, Johnny arrived with a deep scholarly understanding of why buildings look the way they do, how they came to be, and what makes them worth caring about.

During his studies he also worked with historical paint consultant Patrick Baty, an experience that sharpened his eye for the finer details of historic interiors and the often overlooked but enormously powerful role that colour plays in bringing a period building to life. It was the kind of hands-on, specialist knowledge that no textbook can fully teach.

Original Chimney Piece in a Robert Adam townhouse restored by Hackett Holland.

After graduating, Johnny went to work for two of the most respected names in traditional and conservation architecture: first Porphyrios Associates, the practice of Demetri Porphyrios, one of the foremost proponents of classical architecture in the world, and then Peregrine Bryant, specialists in architecture and building conservation. Between them, these two practices gave Johnny an extraordinarily thorough grounding in both the theory and the practical realities of working with historic buildings, not just how to design beautifully, but how to listen carefully to what an old building is telling you.

In 2001, together with his wife and creative partner Jane Hackett, he co-founded their multidisciplinary practice in the heart of Notting Hill. Jane brought her own remarkable background to the partnership, having studied Fine Art, Tapestry and History of Art at Edinburgh, worked for a London art dealer, and trained under the celebrated interior decorator Robert Kime. Together, they have created this bastion of English design, their projects are designed to last, with an eye on the future as well as inspiration from the past.

www.hackettholland.co.uk

6A Addison Avenue

London

W11 4QR

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Favourite restaurant?

Jane Hackett’s kitchen. But there is also the amazing Dorshi in Bridport. It is a hidden gem, down a Dickensian back alley, diminutive but very cool, South Asian fusion small dishes and fabulous cocktails. Absolutely delicious, and brilliant for all ages. Favorite of the whole family.

Do you believe in ghosts?

Not superstitious but my younger man’s atheism was challenged one night in the outskirts of Kampala. Witchcraft continues in parallel with Abrahamic faith in Uganda – every village has a witch doctor, and it remains common practice to pay to put a spell on your neighbour to resolve disputes. Us three friends went to investigate a disturbance amongst terrified neighbours. My friend Titus received a blow to the guts, out of nowhere. It seems the Mayembe - or evil spirit – targeted him because he wore a cross and was leading the interfering Muzungu. I’m ashamed to admit we ran away. A frightening but enriching experience. Researchers have subsequently told me they have waited a lifetime to experience African witchcraft. Apparently being winded by an unseen force is one of the ‘common’ misdeeds of the Mayembe.

Are you a fan of surprises?

Only if they are good ones. I panic over small surprises (but I’m quite good in a major disaster).

Favourite poem?

Apologies for the cliché but ‘IF’ by Rudyard Kipling now rings more true than ever.

If

By Rudyard Kipling

If you can keep your head when all about you

Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,

If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,

But make allowance for their doubting too;

If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,

Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,

Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,

And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;

If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim;

If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster

And treat those two impostors just the same;

If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken

Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,

Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,

And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings

And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,

And lose, and start again at your beginnings

And never breathe a word about your loss;

If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew

To serve your turn long after they are gone,

And so hold on when there is nothing in you

Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,

Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch,

If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,

If all men count with you, but none too much;

If you can fill the unforgiving minute

With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,

Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,

And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!

Any good advice? Who gave it to you?

‘Time spent in reconnaissance is seldom wasted’. Perhaps the Duke of Wellington, some say it could have been Rommel… not original, but fundamental, especially for Designers seeking to make something that works, and lasts.

Pet Peeve? (e.g. mine is people not saying thank you if you hold the door open etc)

I’m conscious of becoming an old fart but neglect of elementary Ps and Qs - because it costs nothing to be polite and can make all the difference. I’m also into gratitude, not victimhood. Half full, not half empty.

If money were no object, what painting would you like to own?

Botticelli’s Primavera (Spring) – but in its original state, which would have been much lighter and more vibrant. Love a garden and a citrus fruit. Spring beats every other season. To me the Renaissance is the portent to the age of freedom of thought - as well as creativity. Can I also have Velasquez’s Waterseller to look at in the loo?

La Primavera (Spring) Sandro Botticelli

Top destination in the UK?

Bryher, Isles of Scilly. (It’s really crowded and polluted and the beaches are rubbish. Don’t go.)

What language would you most like to be able to speak?

Italian, for its beauty. But I would quite like to converse freely in Khoi-San, of the Bushmen (San people) of the Kalahari – an extraordinary ancient language of clicks and hisses, and an extraordinary people.

If you could live in any era of history, which one would you choose and what would you do?

Assuming not born into poverty or sickness……The Regency period. It was the height of design sophistication in Europe; world events were exciting; technology had improved but mass production was yet to dominate; and the natural environment remained largely intact. I would hold a dinner party for the great minds and creatives of the period - Byron, Nelson, Mary Shelley, Soane, Austen, Wilberforce, Wellington, et al – and then travel the world by boat, balloon and horseback.

What song will always make you tap your foot?

My foot tapping guilty pleasure is cheesy classic rock, played very loud…… ‘La Grange’ by ZZ Top or the opening of ‘Tie Your Mother Down’ by Sir Frederick Mercury and colleagues. For ethereal moments, the Felt Mountain album by Goldfrapp is sensational.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LvB2MnIIdMw