For over a century, this grand Victorian property in West Hampstead had witnessed the ebb and flow of time. A home of elegant proportions, its architectural charm had been gradually subdued by dark, heavy finishes that masked its innate grace. When the homeowners acquired the house, they saw beyond the gloom, envisioning a space that balanced grandeur with warmth. To bring their vision to life, they turned to Victoria Spencer-Eves of VEVES—an interior designer renowned for her ability to restore and refine period character with a contemporary sensibility. The entire house underwent a thoughtful reconfiguration and renovation, but it is in the large reception and dining room on the raised ground floor where our Versailles flooring takes centre stage—an exquisite showstopper that defines the heart of the home.
Once defined by stark black flooring that absorbed light rather than reflecting it, the space now finds its true foundation in the newly laid Versailles panel flooring. Crafted from smoked oak, its intricate geometric pattern introduces movement and depth, setting the stage in the large living and dining room. The complex neutral tones of the oak in Landmark Dyrham finish both absorb and reflect the shifting daylight, according to the change in intensity.
The contrast between the geometric design of the parquet and the softness of the room’s textiles—velvet upholstery, delicate privacy blinds and linen curtains—creates a dialogue of tactile luxury. Every element, from the travertine coffee table to the fine walnut furniture with rattan inserts, finds balance through the parquet’s quiet yet commanding presence. Rather than merely serving as a backdrop, the Versailles panels shape the room’s rhythm, creating a base that anchors the interplay of materials, textures, and light. A meticulous double border in matching oak enhances the architectural details and creates a focal point around the mantle hearth.
The homeowners are enthusiastic art collectors. Over the years, they have amassed a significant body of work—paintings, drawings, and prints by Indian artists—each piece a thread in the fabric of their story. The reception room, at the front of the raised ground floor, has been designed as a stage for these artworks to shine. Victoria Spencer-Eves approached the room as a gallery, but one softened by layers of luxurious materiality. Sculptural furniture and bespoke upholstery add depth and contrast, their textures playing against the grain of the smoked oak of the Landmark Dyrham panels, which provide both a visual anchor and a tactile counterpoint. The floor’s structured pattern enhances the fluidity of the soft furnishings, ensuring that the room remains both grounded and dynamic.
The Return of Light
What was once a dimly lit expanse has now been reimagined as a luminous retreat. Privacy blinds and soft drapery filter the northern light, allowing it to dance subtly across the surfaces—across the grain of the oak, across the fluid upholstery, across the carefully selected accents. The interplay between materials is deliberate: a conversation between past and present, between softness and structure, between art and architecture. The Versailles panels serve as both a unifying element and a quiet protagonist, lending depth to the design and allowing each carefully curated detail to find its place.
This home’s transformation is not merely aesthetic; it is an exercise in reinstating a sense of place for a family – a new chapter in the building’s past and present. Our Versailles pattern, newly introduced yet timeless in its appeal, now thrives at the heart of this revival—a testament to the power of considered design. In this space, art and architecture converse, history and modernity intertwine, and every step taken is a step through time, reimagined for the present.
