Thomas Hamel
photo by Mark Roper
If you could have a second home anywhere, where would you live? Oxfordshire, last year I was based in Henley on Thames, for a few months during an installation and the English countryside in Summer was utopia. At the same time, Heathrow and London are only an uber rideaway so you have the best of both worlds.
What are three words to describe your style? Crosspollination, Edited, Global
Tell us about your childhood bedroom? The center point of my bedroom was a handmade doll house built in a china closet where I wasdeveloping furnished rooms at the age of ten. I have always been obsessed with miniature furnishingsand interiors.
What’s the first investment piece you ever bought for your house? I have a spectacular Chippendale giltwood console I purchased almost thirty years ago from the collectionof a very special man who had received the table from the collection of the late Marietta Peabody Tree. The table had been at Ditchley Park with her.
In the history of design, if you could hire any designer other than yourself, who would it be? John Saladino has always been a design icon for me, his love of the classis but with a signature moderntwist. We could have great fun together and lots of laughs.
No room is complete without: something woven / a basket for texture.
People think of me as a highly social person, but I am really introverted and shy.
Things you omit from:
A flower arrangement: I don’t like arrangements all, just simple flowers or a plant in a beautiful vessel.
An hors d’oeuvre platter: Anything that is not a single bite size.
A bar cabinet: Too many options. Like flowers, simplicity is key.
A song for:
Dinner at home: Ella Fitzgerald
Working at your desk: No music for concentration
Going for a run: Maroon 5
Biggest Vice? Chocolate in any shape or form.
If you were on an Ambien high and internet shopping, what would you buy? I would go down the rabbit hole of sculptures - vintage, antique, contemporary, I would buy them all. Finding space for them is secondary consideration.
Do your clothes reflect your design sensibility, if so, how? I must say, I’m not a clothes horse. I have worn the same monogrammed shirts for twenty years (replaced obviously) and my style remains classic with a few twists like my new red croc band on a vintage Hermes watch.
Who is your star crush? King Charles III on his incredible vision for our environment and I am proudly Ambassador for the King’s Trust Australia.
What is the thing you would never do on a project, but don’t detest when you see others do it? I steer away from patterned fabrics when upholstering large sofas (as I always think art should take precedence) but some large patterned sofas are a great success.
If there were a fire, and you could only keep one design book, what would it be? Parish Hadley 60 Years of Design, as my time with Albert and Mrs Parish has always been a highlight for me.
For posterity, what would you like your work to be known for? I would like it said that each project remained quite unique (because of the client input) but that there is a link of global influence and classic simplicity.
photo by Alicia Taylor
A Few Favorites:
Movie: Meet Joe Black (for the interiors)
Book: Secrets of an Art Dealer by James Henry Duveen
Scent: Acqua di Parma Colonia Intensa
The fabric you always come back to: Fortuny
Dream project: Homes for clients with a passionate design interest
Meal: Simple Mexican
Drink: Classic Marguerita - no salt
Hotel: Ballyfin, Co Laois, Ireland
Travel Destination: Paris
Artist: Cy Twombly
A cause near and dear to me: Mentoring young design students to understand the history of design.
Thing to collect obsessively: I try to stay edited and not collect too excessively but shells, baskets andChinese porcelain are difficult to say no to.
Era in the history of design: Neo classical
Museum: Musée National Picasso-Paris
Paint Color that always looks great: Dulux - Lexicon Quarter
Favorite person to follow on Instagram: Paul Bangay (landscape designer)
Dogs, Cats, or No Pets? Missing my two Brussels Griffons, one day to be replaced when I’m nottravelling so much.
