DE S IGN CENTRE
speaker at a recent Conversations in Design session. At weekends, the artistic director of Dior Maison heads to her idyllic retreat north of Paris. Neither stuffy nor old fashioned in person, it comes as no surprise to find that her home, with climbing pink roses and filled with family heirlooms, flea market finds and a mix of patterned fabrics and wallpapers, is effortlessly chic. The family often eats in the kitchen but setting up tables in different places Castellane finds can break the monotony of dining. “I love to share meals with my closest
friends and family, to bring beauty and
surprise them,” she says. ”I don’t overthink my table, I just set everything down randomly. That’s part of the charm.” Two of the great hostesses of the 20th century, Nancy
Astor and her niece Nancy Lancaster entertained at a pitch perfect level of relaxed comfort and consummate style. Their descendants, Emily Astor and interior designer Jane Churchill gave a talk at the Design Centre on their book Entertaining Lives (Clearview), sharing recipes and memories of the two Nancys. It conjured up mealtimes imbued with wit and laughter, where the food, china and flowers were always sublime. Guests were served simpler, healthier dishes, using a wider variety of vegetables and salads, fruit and eggs,
thus paving the way for more informal entertaining that we take for granted today. Churchill recalls happy times staying at Haseley Court, Nancy Lancaster’s country house in Oxfordshire. “Everyone loved Aunt Nancy. Nothing was pretentious, it was completely lived in and filled with dogs, books and children.” Lancaster and John Fowler worked closely together on its restoration and decoration, and the rooms they created epitomised the English country house style for which Colefax and Fowler became celebrated. Remembering the dining room, Churchill commented that “at either end of the table, there was a chair covered in chintz. It was terribly pretty and made it cosy in what was a very grand room.” These pioneering tastemakers may have entertained a
glittering array of political and society figures, but today’s designers also love filling their homes with family and friends. Angus Buchanan enjoys cooking outside over fire, even in the middle of winter, while his wife Charlotte is inspired by the flavours of her Lebanese grandmother. Todhunter’s go-to is roast chicken with plenty of lemon and salt, while Dickinson has recently been cooking recipes from John and Catharine Pawson’s Home Farm Cooking book (Phaidon). For Stamps, conversation is always wonderful around her round table in the convivial setting of her cosy dining room.
ABOVE, LEFT TO RIGHT: Octavia Dickinson’s bedroom, with its blend of antique finds and floral patterns, is her favourite room. The Buchanans wanted their bathroom to feel to feel more like a living space in its aesthetic; wooden floors, a chair upholstered in sheepskin and a sailboat on the mantelpiece complete the look
Designers often make fabulous hosts, including Kate Stamps, who shares a favourite recipe.
KATE STAMPS CRABMEAT DIP
110g butter 225g cream cheese 1 completely smashed clove of garlic 450g lump crabmeat Cayenne pepper to taste Tiny pinch of salt
Thinly sliced green onion tops
Melt the butter over low heat with the cream cheese, whisk until smooth. You can use a double boiler if you like. Add garlic, cayenne and salt and keep whisking so the mixture does not separate. Make sure it is nice and hot, then very gently fold in the crabmeat, garnish with the green onions, and serve on puff pastry or toasted rounds of bread. It is important to keep the lumps intact.
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© Hary Crowder
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