Marlborough Hill, St John’s Wood

A London home that evolved alongside the family who lives there

Marlborough Hill is the story of a home that quite literally grew with its family.

It began as a two-bedroom apartment in St John’s Wood, centred around an impressive, high-ceilinged living room. As our client married and started a family, they acquired the adjoining apartment rather than leaving the home and neighbourhood they loved.

Years later, when another apartment within the building became available, the family expanded once again. Their children were older, both parents needed dedicated places to work from home, and the time had come to reconsider how the entire property functioned.

Architectural and structural works were already underway when the pandemic arrived. Suddenly juggling building work, home-schooling, working from home and countless decisions about the new interior, the family asked Cigal Kaplan Interiors to help bring everything together.

Making a grand room feel inviting

The magnificent living room immediately became one of the most important parts of the project.

Its proportions and high ceilings gave it an understated grandeur, but the room wasn’t being used to its full potential. The existing colour palette wasn’t quite right and, despite its size, parts of the room felt empty and disconnected.

We wanted to retain its sense of scale while making it warmer, more intimate and much more useful.

After spending time understanding how the family lived and what they were naturally drawn to in terms of colour, texture and furniture, we reimagined the room as two distinct but visually connected areas.

At one end, the grand fireplace anchors a warm and comfortable family sitting area. At the other, a previously underused part of the room became an intimate space where our client could meet with her own clients.

The transformation meant that instead of having one impressive but partially unused room, the family gained two purposeful spaces that work together as one.

Bringing old and new together

The family had an important collection of art and furniture, including heirloom pieces passed down through the American side of the family and objects that had travelled with them over the years.

Our role wasn’t to replace these pieces, but to give them a new context.

We combined the family’s existing collection with contemporary furniture, warm autumnal tones and carefully selected fabrics and finishes, creating an interior that feels layered rather than newly decorated.

Where we couldn’t find exactly the right piece, we designed it.

Bespoke console tables were handmade for the project in Greece, including pieces for the living room and beneath the window in the music room. Craftsmanship and material selection were particularly important, with even the individual marble slabs carefully chosen for their colour and natural pattern.

Creating spaces for individual needs

Two of the newly created rooms became particularly personal: a music room for the wife and a dedicated office and study for the husband.

Each needed to have its own character while still feeling connected to the wider home. New furniture sourced through our network of suppliers was combined with existing family pieces and carefully considered accessories, allowing both rooms to feel established and personal rather than entirely new.

The same philosophy runs throughout the apartment. Space planning was driven by how the family actually wanted to live, while colour, texture, bespoke furniture and treasured possessions bring warmth and individuality.

Marlborough Hill demonstrates how a home can successfully evolve as family life changes. What began as a two-bedroom apartment became a much larger family home, but the challenge was to ensure that the expanded spaces still felt connected, intimate and unmistakably theirs.

The finished interior brings together old and new, British and international influences, family heirlooms and bespoke craftsmanship to create a home that feels collected over time rather than designed all at once.