My design London: Oscar Wilde biographer Matthew Sturgis reveals his favourite secret corners of the capital

The author and historian reveals his favourite London places and design hotspots.
Best neighbourhood restaurant: Matthew at Honey and Co
Liz Hoggard25 April 2019

Matthew Sturgis has published acclaimed biographies of artists Walter Sickert and Aubrey Beardsley, as well as Passionate Attitudes: the English Decadence of the 1890s. His latest book, Oscar: A Life, is the first major biography of Oscar Wilde for 30 years. He is married to gallerist Rebecca Hossack.

Where I live: Fitzrovia

Rebecca and I have been married for 27 years and have always lived in Fitzrovia, in Warren Street since 1998. When we first moved in, our house, dating back to the 1780s, had been divided in two. We bought the bottom half, which had been a minicab office, and the first floor, a former spectacle showroom. There was a little yard out the back which we turned into our kitchen.

In the pink: Matthew Sturgis has a much photographed house in Warren Street prized for its colourful bikes and window boxes
David Butler

The top two floors were a maisonette with two couples sharing. When they moved out we strained every nerve to buy the whole house.

Today people often take photographs of our house — it’s popular on Instagram, apparently because of our window boxes and our pink and green bicycles. Warren Street is quite hidden from Soho and the human river of Oxford Street and wonderfully quiet at weekends. But it’s still a very integrated community with a mix of residential, retail and business.

My design London: hotspots where designers find their inspiration

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Best neighbourhood restaurant: Honey and Co, Fitzrovia

The Honey and Co empire started on our street. We have the original restaurant and now the delicatessen. Every morning they bake a few Fitzrovia Buns. When Itamar and Sarit first moved into the area, their vision was for a little community café (yeah, yeah, that lasted about a week). But as part of that vision they thought it was ridiculous that Chelsea had a Bun but Fitzrovia didn’t. So they devised one with pistachio and sour cherries, drenched in honey. It is fantastic.

Great bake: Fitzrovia Buns, drenched in honey, at Honey and Co, Warren Street
Patricia Niven

My décor: maximal

There was a brief flickering moment when Rebecca said: “It will be a wonderful, minimal space” but over the years it’s become very maximal. The backdrop is white and simple, so the colour comes from the art and the objects.

We have Aboriginal art from her gallery. A new friend who has come to stay is a Haitian cut-metal mermaid. There are ceramics by the late artist-potter Ann Stokes. Her work features birds, animals, trees and mirrors. We have her crockery and a beautiful crocodile table sculpture. In the front room we have a Saarinen table and Tulip chairs (viaduct.co.uk).

Amazing architecture: Post Office Tower

Every day I walk through Fitzroy Square, and to see sunlight falling through plane trees on to a terrace London façade is one of the happiest things in life. Then if you raise your eyes, you see the Post Office Tower [now the BT Tower], which is like London’s totem pole. I’ve always loved it.

Amazing architecture: the Post Office Tower (now the BT tower) “is like London’s totem pole. I’ve always loved it”
Alamy Stock Photo

You can meet Oscar Wilde on several corners of Fitzrovia. He was friendly with Bernard Shaw when Shaw was living in Fitzroy Square. They’d walk back towards Warren Street, discussing socialist politics.

There was also an amazing little artistic enclave on Fitzroy Street that he came to, run by architect and designer Arthur Mackmurdo.

They were called the Century Guild and had poetry readings and a magazine called Hobby Horse. But of course the area was also infamous for its homosexual brothels.

Green space: Regent’s Park and St John’s Lodge Gardens

We’ve very fortunate to have Regent’s Park just across the horror of the Euston Road. The whole park is beautiful and the planting on the main avenues stunning, but there is a little secret garden — the St John’s Lodge Gardens (royalparks.org.uk), located to the north of the Inner Circle, designed as a series of compartments with sculpture and stonework.

And sometimes we play tennis in the wonderful Tennis Centre (willtowin.co.uk) on the Inner Circle. Oscar adored lawn tennis and often played in his top hat.

Secret shop: Skoob Books, Brunswick Centre

In this terrible homogenising Amazon/Google-driven world, Skoob Books is an old-fashioned second-hand bookshop in a basement, crammed with stuff. And of course your experience of browsing in a second-hand bookshop is completely different from looking online. Researching Oscar I found many useful books and unexpected things that sparked nice connections.

Quiet space: All Saints Margaret Street

Just off Oxford Street, I love All Saints Margaret Street — the most brilliant high Victorian, Anglican church, designed in1850 by William Butterfield. Walking inside it’s like a jewel casket. There’s a gorgeous coherence to it.

Quiet space: peaceful All Saints church just off crowded Oxford Street
Alamy Stock Photo

Cultural fix: Wiltons Music Hall

Wiltons Music Hall have “Lucky Dog” silent film nights with restored prints and live music performances.

Cultural fix: Wiltons Music Hall
Lucy Young

We went to a great showing of the 1923 Harold Lloyd romantic comedy, Safety Last!

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