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Buy it / Style it / Live it

Accessorise all areasAs one half of luxe bag brand Hill & Friends, you’d expect Georgia Fendley to

have an eye for style. Step inside her Georgian villa for proof positive

Edited by Talib Choudhry

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‘I had a gut instinct that this was absolutely where we should live’

Words: Olivia Lidbury

To most people, four hours of daily com-muting to and from work would be the stuff of nightmares. For multitasking Georgia Fendley – who founded the brand-ing agency Construct and is one half of the luxury accessories label Hill & Friends,

along with former Mulberry creative director Emma Hill – it has become a way of life.

It was a decade ago that she swapped the east London district of Shoreditch for the more rural surrounds of Bath. ‘As our lives got more complicated, we fitted London less well,’ says Georgia, who lives with husband Tim, a creative director, and their children Isaac, 15, Phoebe, 11, and Rufus, four. But the more accessible suburbs and commuter towns didn’t appeal. ‘We’re people who want to be right in the middle of things or right out, and Bath seemed to be an obvious choice. I grew up in nearby Cardiff, so it felt familiar and was a town we always loved.’ The Fendleys initially moved to

Previous page Georgia Fendley with her whippet, Rocket. Right An Adam fireplace takes centre stage in the cosy lounge, with by a painting by Lyon Oliver hanging above. Georgia asked local firm Walcot Upholstery to cover the cotton sofas in black velvet

photography: alexander james

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Clockwise from top left The lounge offers views of the garden and to Solsbury Hill beyond; the dining room is decorated with antiques sourced from Paris and a Saarinen marble tulip table; Fendley’s collection of vibrant Hill & Friends’ ‘Happy’ cross-body bags

a townhouse in the centre of Bath – ‘to give us the confidence that we could commute to London from there’ – but soon realised it was as noisy as the capital.

It took three years of searching to find their current home: Titan Barrow, a miniature Palladian villa designed by John Wood, the Elder – the architect responsible for many of Bath’s beautiful Georgian buildings. Located in the pretty village of Bathford, it was built in the 1740s and was most likely first used as a ‘party house’: it originally featured a domed ballroom, two large bed-rooms and lots of servants’ rooms.

When Georgia viewed the house six years ago – alone, as Tim was away on business – it had no heating, elec-tricity, kitchens or bathrooms, making it impossible to secure a mortgage on. ‘But I had the gut instinct that it was absolutely where we should live,’ she says. ‘And I think we were just caught up in the moment, because we didn’t worry about it too much – thank goodness.’

They bought the property from a developer who was

‘We filled it with things that we love and make us happy, rather than sticking to a scheme’

dividing the estate on which it sits. Bathrooms and kitch-ens were quickly built, on a shoestring, to persuade the bank that it was habitable, so that the Fendleys could be granted a mortgage before selling their townhouse.

The complications were worth it. ‘It felt like home straight away,’ says Georgia. ‘We can walk along the canal to the centre of Bath to enjoy the shops and cafés, but we’re also right on the edge of the countryside.’

Her approach to decorating was to make the building work for the needs of the family, as opposed to imposing a strict aesthetic. ‘It was more to do with filling it with things that we love and make us happy, rather than stick-ing to a scheme. I didn’t want to challenge or distract from the architecture of the ceilings or the views out of the window.’

The result is a mainly white canvas on which original details sing. Enormous shutters cover the windows, there’s marble flooring in the hallway, and the sitting room boasts floor-to-ceiling windows that look out on to

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a three-acre garden. Georgia calls the setting a ‘real anti-dote’ to London, where she juggles her responsibilities five days a week. ‘I couldn’t live here all the time and not be in London. But what I love is to have a hectic time at work and come home, put my wellies on and go straight out to the fields.’

Georgia has almost always had two jobs. Shortly after founding her Mayfair-based branding agency, which established the identity of luxury brands such as Boodles and Harvey Nichols, she joined British label Mulberry as brand director. There, she instantly con-nected with its then-creative director, Emma Hill. And after the duo parted ways with the company, they decided to set up their own label, Hill & Friends, which launched at London Fashion Week in September last year. Their bags are practical but playful: hot-pink leather and leopard-print ponyskin have their place alongside classic colourways. Each bag is made in

Clockwise from right Sophie the cat in the hall, which has original stone flooring; Phoebe’s bedroom features a rocking horse by Stevenson Brothers;in the master bedroom hangs a painting by Sophie Bristol; Georgia loves to collect sculptures and artefacts from local antiques centres

Britain and fastens with the brand’s signature clasp, which resembles a smiley face.

‘It sounds complicated, but there are a lot of synergies between the businesses. I plan my time according to what they need.’ She treats the train as part of her office – ‘I ramp up on the way in and decompress on the way out’ – and says the distance has a calming effect. ‘It gives you a sense of what is an emergency and what isn’t.’

Holidays and time off are mainly spent at home, ‘mov-ing around at the same speed as the children, lying around in the garden or going for a bike ride.’

Georgia’s ultimate ‘selfish time’ is when she goes rid-ing – she shares a horse with a lady ‘who has an equally impractical life’. She also loves gardening. ‘I love being outside and with nature, which is moving at its own pace,’ she says. ‘There’s nothing I can do to ripen the tomatoes. If they’re going to happen, they’ll happen!’ hillandfriends.com

‘What I love is to have a hectic time at work then come home, put my wellies on and go straight out to the fields’