We went to a house. A very big house in the country…*

This time last week I was on my way to my romantic weekend getaway with the man that I love (my husband for avoidance of doubt) at Babington House, the country cousins of media hangouts, Soho House and Shoreditch House. When they took ownership in 1997, Babington single handedly kick-started the march of metropolitan cool into the countryside.

With all the hype surrounding Babington house and having wanted to go there for over 10 years, I was just a tad concerned that it wasn’t going to live up to my excruciatingly high expectations, but I needn’t have worried. After what has been an unbelievably busy year for us both it was fabulous to have the opportunity to simply relax is this super spectacular and calm space. It was a weekend of indulgence… drinking, eating, drinking, spa treatments, drinking, the odd swim in both the indoor and outdoor pool, drinking, Six Nations rugby (!?!?!?!). By ‘indulgence’ I do of course mean expensive, but it was worth every penny.

Its first cousin, Shoreditch House, is one of my favorite places in London to spend a Friday or Saturday night. Imagined by Tom Dixon’s design team, I just love the design of each of the areas; from the pool and outside eating areas on the roof, to the huge tables for communal eating, to the pink and black chairs in the sitting room and the amazing chandelier in the entrance hall (which I have actually just specified on a project – lucky, lucky people…).

(Image from www.shoreditchhouse.com) 

(Image from www.shoreditchhouse.com)

(Image from www.shoreditchhouse.com) 

(Image from www.shoreditchhouse.com)

We had such an amazing and relaxational time, my husband has started to contemplate whether we should become ‘all house’ members of the Soho House group so we can access all the amazing spaces that are part of their portfolio – I am gently nudging him in the right direction in this respect. The only problem is that Shoreditch House is way over on the other side of London and unless a miracle happens and I manage to get my husband to leave the shire at the weekend (imagine a precise 150 metre radius around our front door), I think it might be an indulgence (read ‘expense’) that doesn’t get used as often as it should…. Unless of course we use Chiswick House, the Soho House first cousin in west London…

*Artistic licence applied to lyrics from a Blur track…