An uncompromising approach to beauty at the London house of the founders of Jamb
The way we live is the way the work,” says Will Fisher. “The two are synonymous with each other and inextricably linked.” Together with his wife, Charlotte Freemantle, Will runs Jamb, one of the most distinguished destinations on the Pimlico Road for antiques and exquisite reproductions of 18th- and 19th-century chimneypieces, lighting and furniture. The close intertwining of life and work stems at once from Will’s long career as a dealer, immersed in the world of antiques from the age of 10, and from the rare meeting of minds between the couple. Sharing both an aesthetic sensibility and a relentless drive for perfection, they have made their home into the ultimate expression of their life’s work.
Their late-eighteenth-century house in Camberwell is well-suited to what they want to express, with a pleasingly intact hierarchy of spaces. Not that it came into their hands exactly that way when they moved in 17 years ago; the renovations were a long and exacting process, with floors replaced throughout the house, interior walls rebuilt using the lath and plaster method, and of course, chimneypieces and mouldings replaced everywhere. Will’s attention to detail in the process has become legendary; when House & Garden last visited the house in 2013, Charlotte noted that he “employed one man to tool each kitchen flag individually by hand to the same size and depth, a process that took months.”
The resulting rooms are full of charm and interest. A grand, airy drawing room on the ground floor looks out from generous windows onto a long garden that ends in a carp pond and a view towards the spire of the neighbouring church. A more intimate sitting room opens off it at the front of the house, lent a more prominent presence by its Victorian bay window. Purists as the couple are, Charlotte admits that they hated the bay’s bulky presence on the facade of the house, “but now we can’t imagine the room without it.” Lower ceilings give the basement kitchen and dining room an appropriately ‘downstairs’ feel, while the upper floors are dedicated first to Will and Charlotte’s bedroom and bathroom, with those of their teenage children Monty and Eliza at the top of the house.
This hierarchy is reinforced by the contents of each room, which become grander or sparser according to their place in the house. The drawing room, with its vast proportions, is anchored by a suitably extravagant mid-eighteenth century chimneypiece and an extraordinary antique cabinet that suggests the lines of a Palladian house. One of Jamb’s iconic ‘Globe’ lanterns hangs in the centre of the room, keeping watch over a collection of things brought back from the couple’s travels: fragments of ancient sculptures, Renaissance vases, eighteenth-century pictures, and antique textiles. Downstairs, meanwhile, Will and Charlotte have created a more pared-back sense of domesticity; the chimneypiece in the dining room is a simple, graceful early eighteenth-century stone design that Will calls “the holy grail” of Jamb’s aesthetic.
Charlotte and Will’s job means that the house is in a constant state of flux, with antiques (including the chimneypieces) coming and going throughout the years. Will speaks of the importance of evolution to the “country house aesthetic” they pursue; their passion for collecting has given the house the evolved, layered look that might otherwise take generations, but there has been considerable change and development even within the sixteen years they have lived there. Their job also seems to instill the house with a remarkable lack of preciousness, considering how precious most of the things in the house actually are. This is no museum; everything is in constant use by the family, not to mention their dogs and cats. Charlotte refers to the Howard & Sons sofa in the dining room as “the world’s most expensive dog bed,” and Will cheerfully recounts the story of their Bengal cat knocking various ancient artefacts off the mantelpiece in the sitting room (they are now blu-tacked down).
There is remarkably little in the house that isn’t an expression of Will and Charlotte’s shared sensibility; evidence of the places, the periods and the styles they love suffuses every room. It might not be the way everyone could live–Charlotte confesses that her parents still ask when the carpets are going in–but the purity of their vision is impossible to dismiss.
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Owen Gale1/13The drawing room is painted in ‘Fenching Blue’ by Papers and Paints. The cabinet came from Packington Hall, and Will remarks on the particular beauty of its surface, as well as its usefulness for storing pieces from the couple's collection of ‘Grand Tour’ artefacts. In front of it is a 19th-century giltwood sofa with the original horsehair upholstery left bare and untouched. The 19th-century ottoman is covered in Michael Smith's 'Kashmir' fabric from his Jasper Collection, available at Jamb.
Owen Gale2/13The Portland stone chimneypiece in the drawing room dates to the mid-18th century. A Howard & Sons armchair on the right is still covered in its original faded ticking fabric.
Owen Gale3/13Jamb's ‘Globe’ lantern hangs in the centre of the room. The floor is covered by an early 19th-century Ziegler carpet.
Owen Gale4/13Will and Charlotte's collection of marble chimneypiece tablets decorates the walls in the ‘tablet room.’ The antique statuary marble mantle dates from 1750, and was a new addition to the room after the couple found it during lockdown.
Owen Gale5/13The tiles were reclaimed from the New York subway; the cupboards, with their subtle beaded detailing, are painted in Farrow & Ball's ‘Biscuit’. Will and Charlotte got rid of a black slate floor when they first moved in and replaced it with these painstakingly chosen Purbeck stone flagstones.
Owen Gale6/13Will and Charlotte refer to this room off the kitchen as the ‘chaos room’, as the sofa and dining table are continuously switching places. The walls are painted in 'Hardwick White’ by Farrow & Ball. The table is an early 20th-century design from Heal's with vernacular oak long benches on either side.
Owen Gale7/13Will bought this early 18th-century stone chimneypiece years ago and found the perfect place for it when they moved into the house.
Owen Gale8/13The bedroom is painted in Farrow & Ball's ‘Blue Gray’. The bed was the first thing Will and Charlotte bought for the house when they moved in, and it is covered with an antique bedspread from Katharine Pole. An antique bolection chimneypiece in Breche Violette marble adorns the far wall.
Owen Gale9/13In the bathroom adjoining Will and Charlotte's bedroom, the bath is from The Water Monopoly with fittings by Drummonds.
Owen Gale10/13Bare wooden stairs lead up to the children's rooms on the top floor.
Owen Gale11/13‘Both shop and home are a seamless reflection of one another,' says Will. ‘We live as we deal surrounded by objects that we treasure and inspire us.’ The interiors of the shop, with their muted colours and expert arrangements of beautiful things, recall the couple's house in many ways. Here an exceptional George III Irish carved pine mirror by Booker of Dublin hangs above the ‘Mereworth’ reproduction chimneypiece in Breche Serevezza marble. An 18th-century Isle of Man table with characterful tripod legs stands next to a late 18th-century long case clock with a lacquered surface.
Owen Gale12/13A collection of ‘Globe’ and other reproduction lanterns hangs over Jamb's ‘Paxton’ bench in an aged yellow paint finish in the Pimlico Road shop. An 18th-century life size horse on rolling casters takes centre stage.
Owen Gale13/13A huge ‘Grand Lattice Globe’ lantern hangs over an Irish George IV mahogany circular dining table by Mack Williams and Gibton. Two 18th-century pier mirrors hang above a spectacular neoclassical chimneypiece sculpted by John Bacon.
