“Like clothes, cars and watches, an interior should reflect the personality of its owner,” says Simon Rusk, the current owner of this Grade II-listed Georgian townhouse in Marylebone.
With a portfolio career taking in the worlds of finance, film and property as well as writing, Rusk has filled his home with drama thanks to an impressive collection of antiques and memorabilia.
Rusk, who grew up in Australia but come to the UK to rescue an international film studio in financial trouble, transformed the property from a beige box to a grand period townhouse.
“Like so many London houses, the interior had been sanitised with white walls, halogen lights, beige carpets and bland fireplaces with the cornices removed or repainted,” he explains.
“I had completed the refurbishment of my previous house in Grosvenor Square after almost six years, but as a single person, Mayfair can feel devoid of warmth and community, so I looked for somewhere close by that felt more like home.
“And that was Marylebone, filled with small independent restaurants and shops. Needing parking and Georgian architecture, I found my current house on the internet, after which I viewed it, instantly loved it and made an offer on it that day.”
Located behind imposing black wrought-iron railings on Manchester Street, the terraced house – built between 1780 and 1790 as part of the aristocratic Portman Estate – is spread across five floors and 3,401sq-ft of living space comprising five bedrooms, four receptions and private courtyard garden.
“I was struck by the fact it had, rather unusually, windows to the front and rear, meaning it was flooded by an extraordinary amount of light," says Rusk.
"Its exterior had been magnificently refurbished, but its interiors didn’t do it justice. Doing a lot of the work myself, helped by of a team of expert craftspeople, I set about restoring it to its former glory.”
Rusk added or restored period features including fresh plasterwork by Stevensons of Norwich, flooring reclaimed from railway sleepers and de Gournay silk wallpaper.
The renovation clearly required a blockbuster budget with other covetable features including an oak balustrade on the Georgian staircase laser-cut to sinuously wind through all five floors, a solid-oak handmade kitchen with a La Cornue Château range cooker, rotisserie and fridge – Rusk really enjoys cooking – and cast-iron period-style radiators.
Rusk's large and varied art collection is displayed via a customised Collier Webb picture rail system, which is used in the world’s leading art galleries, and there’s solid oak wardrobes, dazzling chandeliers and velvet drapes at seemingly every turn.
Antiques include everything from a piece from Edvard Munch’s school to a dollhouse from Winston Churchill’s former home at Blenheim Palace.
Film props spotlight keepsakes from Star Wars and Indiana Jones, both of which Rusk worked on.
“My travels to the Himalayas and South America, as well as the hopes and dreams of my youth, have all influenced the style and collection in the house.
"My writing, which is overlaid with a degree of spirituality, is reflected in the numerous angels hanging from the walls as well as the artwork, from Impressionist to modern,” he says.
For the past 10 years, Rusk has been working on a six-part book series, The Elohim Saga, inspired by the world’s mythologies and religions.
“In my writing, every word in each chapter of a book must justify itself in the story, and I feel the same about my house. Every room has its own narrative, which, when combined with other spaces, feels whole.”
When he’s not hosting dinner parties in the conservatory or writing on the first floor, Simon still has a nose for adventures that sees him exploring remote destinations like Easter Island, Antarctica and the Sahara.
And now he has decided it is time for him to move on from the house, putting it up for sale via Aston Chase for £7.75 million.
“This is a genuinely welcoming house,” he muses, “which makes you feel instantly at home. All the hard work has been meticulously done by me – someone who genuinely cares for the property – and now it’s ready for a new story.
"I adore the house, but it really needs a family to live in it and appreciate it.”
