EXTROVERT VANESSA FELTZ OPENS THE DOORS TO HER WACKY GOTHIC HOME

When TV and radio presenter Vanessa Feltz bought her home six years ago, she was looking to put the past behind her.

“I’d just got divorced,” Vanessa explains.

“My daughters and I were sad to leave our old home, so I felt I had to come up with something extra special that would make it seem like moving was a good thing.”

That “something extra special” was a four-bedroom Victorian house in St John’s Wood, north London.

“It looks like something out of The Addams Family or Hansel And Gretel,” laughs Vanessa, 46.

“As soon as I saw it, I knew you couldn’t be down-hearted moving into a house like this. And we weren’t. It’s so romantic and historic.”

The gorgeous Gothic pile boasts a stone and marbled floor, towering ceilings, a vaulted stained-glass window and a huge dining room that lends itself perfectly to extravagant parties – a priority for the extrovert star.

It was the site of Vanessa’s pink-themed party to celebrate her engagement to musician Ben Ofoedu, 36, where 150 guests danced the night away to a live band and feasted on a chocolate fountain.

The dining room is also where Vanessa enjoys some down time, relaxing on a sofa in the window with a book.

That way, she can leave her daughters Allegra, 22, and Saskia, 19, in the lounge with their friends.

“I love the hustle and bustle when the house is full of people,” says Vanessa. “I never want my girls to leave home, and it would be fine if they got married and had their own children living here, too.

“My style is totally ramshackle,” Vanessa adds

“I spent years poring over interior design magazines, but after a while I just decided to go for it. I don’t care if anyone else likes my taste, so now I mix up Gothic with modern, or a ’20s cocktail cabinet with an antique. It seems to work.”

1. CANDLE TREE “This is from Elephant (020 7637 7930). The red glass heart-shaped ornaments were an engagement gift.”

2. CHANDELIER “This is from Liberty (020 7734 1234). It’s a real statement piece made of Venetian glass. It cost about £1,200 but it’s so dramatic.”

3. FLOOR LAMPS “I got these lamps at an antiques shop 10 years ago. I like to garland them with different kinds of flowers or cover them with fairy lights.”

4. PICTURE TABLE “I commissioned this table. It’s decorated with photographs of me, Allegra and Saskia.”

VANESSA'S STYLE TIPS

* Mood lighting is important – candles and lamps add atmosphere.
* Try combining periods – antique oak with contemporary pieces, for example.
* Don’t mix and match the same colour and style from the same shop. You don’t want a house that looks like a hotel or show home.

Words: Jane Oddy. Photography: Jamie Hughes Hair and make-up: Neil Rothwell. Compiled by Sally Gillam

 

CLICK FOR MORE CELEB HOMES

AUG 31 LINDA BARKER

AUG 24 LAURENCE LLEWELYN-BOWEN

AUG 17 SCOTT HENSHALL

AUG 10 CRAIG REVEL HORWOOD

AUG 3 NICK KNOWLES

JULY KAY BURLEY, ANDREA CATHERWOOD, RICHARD FLEESHMAN, CLAIRE RICHARDS

JUNE VANESSA FELTZ, NATALIE PINKHAM, CAPRICE, TAMARA BECKWITH, ANTHEA TURNER

MAY DR LINDA PAPADOPOULOS, ZIGGY, COLIN & JUSTIN

APRIL NANCY SORRELL, AGGIE MACKENZIE, HANNAH SANDLING, SARAH CAWOOD

MARCH SINITTA, ROISIN MURPHY, JACQUELINE GOLD, SAIRA KHAN, JONATHAN ANSELL

FEB TRISHA GODDARD, MICA PARIS, TRACEY COX, ANNA RYDER RICHARDSON