Inside the Ruinart hotel designed by Loewe’s Jonathan Anderson

Ruinart’s Hotel 1729, its one-bedroom pop-up completely unique to London, has just returned for a second time under the creative direction of fashion designer Jonathan Anderson, creative director and founder of JW Anderson and creative director of Loewe. Bringing his love for craftsmanship and antiquities to an elegant townhouse in Notting Hill, Anderson has created an altogether new sensory experience following Hotel 1729’s huge success in an end-of-terrace house in Primrose Hill last year.

Over glasses of Ruinart’s signature Blanc de Blanc champagne (served from chilled magnums still made with the same distinctive bulbous-based bottle which were originally mouthblown for France’s oldest champagne house in the 18th century), Anderson explains his inspirations behind the pared back, highly textured spaces he has created for Hotel 1729.

“Usually I am designing stores, but this is the first time I’ve created something like this other than in my own house,” says Anderson. The hallway instantly dazzles with walls painted in a custom-mixed vivid sunshine yellow, against which 18th century blue and white Delftware plates look all the more alluring. To add further interest, a large willow basket woven by Irish artisan Joe Horgan is planted with wild summer flowers and grasses.

In the soothing, neutrally hued living space, interest and colour comes from 19th century Indonesian ceremonial cloths hung on the walls which Anderson collects (“as did the artist Mark Rothko,” the designer notes); Peter Nelson for Architectural Lighting’s Minimalist Model TA2 aluminium floor lamps designed in the seventies; a row of antique glass boots lining the mantlepiece; and a rare 1874 E W Godwin, Collinson & Lock Anglo-Japanese rosewood coffee table. “It’s a work-in-progress,” says the designer. “I like the idea it can be added to.”

Upstairs in the bedroom, Anderson has teamed a Henry VII English oak aumbry cupboard and a William Morris & Co Sussex chair, both from his own collection at home, with Daphine Terra Classic lamps, designed by Tommaso Cimini in 1975.

On the wall hangs a 16th century portrait by Renaissance artist Jean Clouet; on the bed Irish linen from Givans (where Anderson’s grandfather once worked) and a Loewe blanket. It feels calm and soothing, yet unexpected. “I always think it’s important to bring together a mix of minimalist and over-the-top pieces,” says Anderson.

Downstairs, the dining table has been laid to tell another story. Inspired by a painting Anderson saw while visiting Maison Ruinart in Reims – Le Déjeuner d’Huîtres by Jean-François de Troy, commissioned in 1735 by King Louis XV for the dining room of his private apartments in Versailles – the mood is one of elegant extravagance. “The painting shows people having a lot fun, eating oysters and drinking champagne,” explains Anderson. Working with the antiques dealer Hilary Fisher, Anderson’s response was to mix an assortment of 18th century blue and white Japanese plates with antique cut glass, napkins printed with words Anderson read in an old Ruinart ledger, and rare finds like an antique glass ice bucket.

“These pieces would have been the big fashion at the time of the ‘Age of Enlightenment’, when Ruinart was founded in 1729,” adds Fisher. The painting particularly sparked his curiosity for the etiquette of eating and the art of entertaining – “all the things we now take for granted like ice and champagne would have been incredibly expensive at that time,” muses Anderson. On another wall, a collection of champagne flutes and coupes, dating from 1720-1920, line the shelves, sourced by antique glass dealer David Glick. “I’ve long been collecting glass because there’s something magical about the way it tells the history of time,” says Anderson.

“People used silver spoons, people used fine glass. I loved the idea of creating a dinner where people could feel empowered through the idea of what they were eating and what they were eating from,” he says. So while guests are treated to a selection of Ruinart Cuvée, while being regaled with stories of champagne, past and present, by the famous house’s Maître D’ Olivier Livoir, rising culinary star Luke Selby (former head chef at Hide Restaurant) serves dishes such as fresh Porthilly rock oysters from Cornwall, paired with celery and cucumber, and courses of slow-cooked salmon and perfectly pink duck with fresh cherries.

“Everything I do is about storytelling,” says Anderson of his vision behind bringing Ruinart’s philosophy of vivre est un art (living as an art) to this year’s Hotel 1729. The result is a space which feels elegant yet fresh, much like the wines Ruinart itself produces.

The hotel is open for one-night-only stays at Hotel 1729 in Notting Hill until Sunday, 14 July 2019. Visit: Ruinart Hotel 1729

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