View to the Main Barn, where breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea and dinner are served. And at the bar you can taste local beer. Cheers!

Life in the big city can sometimes be quite exhausting. And the longing for peace, green and rural life is growing: many metropolitan residents want only one thing on the weekend: Get out of the noisy din. Nick Jones, British hotel entrepreneur and founder of Soho Houses, recognized the needs of the troubled urban man years ago when he opened his first country hotel, the Babington House, in the east of London in 1998. Three years ago, another country retreat was added to the Soho Farmhouse in Oxfordshire, a 90-minute drive northwest of London, in the romantic Cotswolds countryside. Here, the big city-battered experiences country life by joining, touching or just diving in.

The Soho Farmhouse has a lot to offer for the city tired vacationer. Here you can see the lake overlooking the outdoor pool and boathouse

I’m not the fan of British left-hand traffic and opt for the convenient arrival on the regional train GWR, which stops from London Paddington in an hour and twenty minutes at the station of the idyllic village Charlbury. From here, another 15 minutes by taxi through the hilly landscape of Oxfordshire, which even in January is lit up in green. In addition a bright blue sky – which is not natural for local weather conditions. Almost a shameless luck!

On the left the steam sauna with whirlpool, in the background boathouse and gym

Past the stately, (currently still visible) property of football star David Beckham and fashion-creating wife Victoria, I get to the hidden grounds of Soho Farmhouse. Nick Jones, visionary and inventor of private Soho House membership clubs, is opening his 22nd Soho House in Amsterdam this year. The self-made man operates outlets worldwide, for example in Berlin, Los Angeles or Istanbul. Many of them with an attached hotel, in which also non-members can check in. With the Soho Farmhouse, Jones created a resort in the country according to his ideas: the centerpiece is an 18th-century farmhouse that sits amid 50 acres of land. In between, cultured stream courses and small lakes with 40 cozy, wooded cabins situated in the landscape.

The 50-acre property with cultivated streams and small lakes, in between 40 very cozy, in the countryside sprinkled wooden huts

The so-called “cabins” are of different sizes, some with separate living room and several bedrooms. Wood-paneled walls, gnarled floors, inviting linen couches and cuddly velvet armchairs make each of the cabins comfortable. Including a large bathroom stocked with a rich selection of personal care products from their own brand “Cowshed”. Some cabins have a zinc outdoor bathtub, which can be used in this cold season. But you can warm up after by your own stove and pattering fire wonderfully. Or you can make a tea in your own kitchenette before the comfortable XXL bed, equipped with seven pillows, invites you to take a nap.

Me on a stylish retro bike by the brand Foffa

In the afternoon I explore the surroundings with its picturesque landscape. In good weather, rowboats invite you to take a round on the lake. A personal butler, who is called “Farmhand” here, asks me if he can book me a massage appointment in the “Cowshed Spa”. He could also reserve a small round of golf, a riding or tennis lesson or trapshooting. I opt for yoga at the gym and then swim a few laps in the heated outdoor pool. For accompanying children there is an adventure playground and hourly child care. The ponies and chickens are just another attraction for city kids, so that the farmhouse enjoys great popularity even among young families – with the associated noise level. If you like it a little quieter, I recommend a stay during the week.

Tip Soho Farmhouse: Avoid weekends!

In summer, the indoor pool opens up and, together with the outdoor pool, creates a great swimming and splashing paradise

It is the small details that make the Soho Farmhouse so special: Infront of the door of each cottage, the guest will find his personal bicycle for the duration of the stay. Right next to it some gumboots, because it usually rains pitchforks here. Of course, in the right shoe size, which was previously requested by email. Every morning fresh milk in glass bottles is stored on the veranda. And on request, the breakfast comes to bed – by a mobile cooking bus, the so-called “float”.

19 mint-colored electric vintage cars – former milk trucks – serve as a shuttle and means of transport

Those who prefer to eat in the restaurant can do so either in the “Main Barn”, serving Soho House classics like wood-fired pizzas, giant burgers or grilled chicken. At lunchtime I like to sit in the bright “Pen Yen” restaurant overlooking the outdoor pool and terrace. There are delicious sashimi and sushi variations here. In the evening, the sleeker “Fancy Farm” restaurant offers additional seats. A nightcap in the “Mill Room” is always a good idea. I look into the crackling fire of the large, open fireplace, try a whiskey from the area and think: It could stay that way.  BvH

One of 40 so-called cabins, equipped with one or more bedrooms, living room, kitchenette or large country kitchen

In front of the rustic wooden huts, Wellington boots are ready for the guest. And logs for the cabin-own stove

A peek in my kitchenette. The larger cabins offer fully equipped country kitchens. But even here I can prepare small meals, tea or coffee

So comfortable: My XXL bed with seven pillows …

…from here I can enjoy the view outside and into the stove

Cowshed care products in a range of styles and different scents are available to guests during their stay

A bath in the outdoor tub? That was to me, frankly, too cold in this season!

Chilling out on your own veranda: It’s no coincidence that the cushions harmonize in color with the door frames

Ready for terrain exploration with my chic retro bike …

…which is even provided with my name

Passing endless pastures and vegetable fields…

…and visiting the ponies in the stable. Excursions can also be made with the carriages

Forgot the scarf or hat? Does not matter. “The Store” offers cuddly and relaxing stuff for the country style. Because even here (as in all Soho Houses) the dress code is casual. If you want to adapt the farmhouse style for your own four walls, you can buy crockery, bathrobes, pillows, lamps and even furniture in the Farmhouse shop. Here the deli…

…where one can also be snacked

The boathouse has an indoor pool and a spa area

Next to it the Japanese restaurant Pen Yen…

…where I order sushi and sashimi variations. A portion of Edamame must not be missing!

In warm temperatures, meals are also served on the outdoor terrace

This cabin has a steam sauna and a whirlpool

With the sunset…

…it is time for an aperitif at the Mill Room bar

Later we will have dinner in the Main Barn…

…where the separate restaurant Fancy Farm invites you to fine dining

…before you get tired after a lot of idleness, but happily fall into a cuddly bed

How to get to Soho Farmhouse:

Arrival in London Heathrow: Take the Heathrow Express (£ 25) to London Paddington (taking 15 minutes). Hourly regional trains of the Great Western Railway (GWR) to Charlbury (16 £), travel time 80 minutes. It takes 15 minutes by taxi and 25 pounds to the Soho Farmhouse. A taxi ride from Heathrow to the Soho Farmhouse costs around £ 130. The Soho Farmhouse also has a helicopter landing pad. Room rates in Soho Farmhouse from about 400 Euro per night.

London Paddington: From here there are hourly regional trains of the Great Western Railway (GWR) to Charlbury

Contact Soho Farmhouse:

sohofarmhouse.com

More Mystylery-hotel tips about the Soho Houses you can find here.

The post The Soho Farmhouse in Oxfordshire appeared first on My Stylery.

The original store of Daunt books can be found on Marylebone High Street, which is my absolute fav shopping address in London*

One of my absolute favorite bookshops in the world is Daunt Books in London. Here time seems to be frozen. And this is because of the impressing interior, not because of an obsolete structure or little to offer. On the contrary, Daunt books offer a large selection of fiction and non-fiction books and an even bigger selection of travel books. Founded in 1990, there are five other stores located across the city: on Marylebone High Street, in Chelsea, Holland Park, Cheapside, Hampstead and Belsize Park. But to me the store on Marylebone High Street housed within a beautiful old Edwardian building is the most impressive one.

Even though Daunt Books has six different stores it is still an independent bookshop, which needs customers support. So next time you need to buy a travel- or coffeetable book, go to Daunt Books to live a true experience

Specialized in travel literature, the way Daunt arranges the books is particularly interesting. For a single country, guides, but also phrase books, history books, fiction and non-fiction books are gathered together. This is kind of unusual but I prefer this clever arrangement a lot.

Although Daunt Books aren’t only travel bookshops, they are specialized in travel literature

Daunt pride themselves on old-fashioned service and extensive knowledge. The store’s owner James Daunt refuses to sell books he wouldn’t read himself. If you need a little rest of turbulent London life, enjoy the calm and distinguished atmosphere in here. It’s like a time journey, there’s nothing more pleasant than whiling away an hour or two. BvH

Daunt Books on Marylebone High Street is replete with oak bookcases stacked, quite literally, to the ceiling

The selection of guides is wide to please a large audience, from Lonely Planet to Wallpaper with many in between*

Contact:

Daunt Books
83 Marylebone High Street
London W1U 4QW, England

www.dauntbooks.co.uk

Featured pic and pics marked* by Daunt Books

The post Daunt Books: All about Literature appeared first on My Stylery.

The rooms of ‘The Rosebery’ are elegant and comfortable

When the international art scene comes together for ‘Frieze’ in London, the British capital is in an exceptional state. The ‘Frieze’ – Europe’s largest contemporary art fair – is a must in the calendar of everyone who’s interested in art, for every creative and every collector. Until the 17th of October you’ll find the city at the Themse in hands of the whole art scene. Such a mass is pretty exhausting and all the shows, excessive talking and hours-long walks quickly tug at the substance. A relaxed timeout causes regenerating wonders. So, how about a cup of tea?

That’s me on the wonderful sofa with a direct view to Knightsbridge

I already prevented the stress and got spoiled from my so-called ‘Hightea’. One of the most beautiful places for this is ‘The Rosebery’ in the legendary hotel ‘The Mandarin Oriental’ at Hydepark. I fall into the comfortable, linden green velvet-cushions and study the tea menu, which offers a range of the finest tea varieties from the whole world, including the house mixture Oriental Afternoon Blend, Orange Pekoe from Sri Lanka and Golden Monkey from China. The tea master brews a Jasmine Pearl tea for me, a green tea with a wonderful aroma.

Original: the whatnots with the sandwiches and the scones are draped on a bronze metal rack in form of a bough

And then the service starts: I love the salmon- and chicken sandwiches and try the homemade pastry. I’m especially keen with the ‘Mermaid Macarons’ – delicious! The scones with the clotted cream and the delicate strawberry jam are my personal highlight and for the absolute award-worthy ‘Black Velvet Cake’ with chocolate is barely space. The waiter runs bustlingly around and steadily serves me more. Do I really look so famished?

The tea master in action: he celebrates the preparation of the tea in a perfect completion

Before I seriously follow up on my thoughts I order a glass of sparkling Ruinart Rosé to finish and enjoy the calmness and the ease in the sophisticated designed rooms. Outside the busy rushing in chic Knightsbridge. But I don’t care at all.  BvH

Purchasable: the tableware is enchanting, isn’t it?

Tip:

The Afternoon Tea (from 48 Pounds per Person) will be served between 12 and 6 pm. Afterwards one is satisfied, so that one can quit dinner easily. I recommend an early table reservation!

Successful interior design!

Three other top addresses for the afternoon tea:

1.) Classical elegant: Hightea at Hotel The Ritz
www.theritzlondon.com
2.) Historical: For over 150 years the Afternoon Tea is celebrated at Claridge’s
www.claridge’s.com
3.) In a new style: Hotel Café Royal serves the Royal Tea
www.hotelcaferoyal.com

This looks like you could directly bite into it, doesn’t it?

Pillows out of silk and heavy velvet provide comfort

The bar

Place at the fire place are demanded – especially in the cold season

Unfortunately not able this year anymore: the High Tea will be served outside in the summer

Contact:

The Rosebery im Hotel Mandarin Oriental
66 Knightsbridge
London SW1X 7LA

www.mandarinoriental.com

Frieze until October 17th

www.friezelondon.com

The post Also art freaks need a break – sometimes appeared first on My Stylery.

Lucy, the lovely shop assistant shows me how to wear the Tote bag. I am easily convinced. Just the price decelerates my excitement a bit

I admit: I am a bag freak, a manic collector, a hunter on the hunt.
Apparently I always have to carry a lot. No, but for real, a new bag is like a new outfit. Almost. A bag raises every outfit to the peerage and puts the focus towards what we want to foreground: our newest acquirement, our latest prey. This time: the ‘Bathust Bag’ of the London Designer Anya Hindmarch.

New Collection: The ‘men at work’-bag in red out of the Bathurst-Satchel-Series. Price: 1.195 pounds

Less expensive than a new bag are the funny stickers that individually or in groups are being glued on the bag and that Hindmarch already presented in this year’s summer collection. Pimp your bag, is the motto of the accessories designer, who has successfully worked in the industry for 25 years. Just now the German fashion magazine Gala featured the idea in a fashion-production and stuck black and white big round comic eyes on this year’s must-have-bags. True eye catchers for the coming fall.

If the high-end bags are too expensive, the stickers at the online shop of the designer are individually purchasable. Starting at 45 pounds. Apiece of course

The fundamental idea behind this trend is that we want to individualize our bags ourselves. It is enough that we all run around with the same bag model! We want to at least give it our personal touch. With the stickers this works great.

At least looking doesn’t coast a thing! And the shop is worth every glance

By the way I recommend a pit stop in Anya Hindmarchs’ shop on the New Bond Street to anyone who ends up in London. Bag dreams within one’s grasp.
Anya Hindmarch stays true to her funny ideas and now persuades her fans with motives from road traffic: Stop! Give Way! Crossroad! So that everybody knows, where the fashion road leads this fall. BvH

Quite a lot of traffic: The sticker for gluing from the new collection

I would love to have that: the ‘Maxi Zip Satchel’

Here in the cabinet, otherwise on the arm of celebrities : Alexa Chung, Cara Delevingne, Kate Moss und Emma Watson take the Hindmarch-bags for a walk

Anya Hindmarchs’ luxurious bags are also available at ‚Selfridges‘ in London, ‚Colette‘ in Paris and ‚Isetan‘ in Tokyo. So funny: The ‘outch’-pendants

No bargain: the Crisp Packet Clutch is made of gold and is extensively handcrafted and manufactured in Italy. Price: 60.000 (!) Pounds

Okay, I also take the ‘Vaughan’-bag

Contact:

Anya Hindmarch
118 New Bond Street
London, England

www.anyahindmarch.com

The post Pimp your bag! appeared first on My Stylery.

Typical space-staging by designer Abigail Ahern*

When I recently strolled through my fav interior exhibition ‘Maison et Objet’ in Paris I spotted a booth with an amazing interior collection, which I would love to introduce to you. Abigail Ahern is one of the most influential interior designers and tastemakers. Whether she is pioneering faux flowers or dark, inky color palettes, Abigail is consistently ahead of the design trail. She started her career in interior design in the United States, where she designed residential properties and chic hotels.

Furs and thick carpets make our homes well prepared for the upcoming season*

Beside her retail and product designs the Brit Abigail Ahern is also a best-selling author of interior books and runs an interior-blog and international design masterclasses. Her advice: Be fearless, when decorating. If you ever have the opportunity to visit her shop in London, go – it is worth it!  BvH

The new tablelamps of the fall-winter-collection – cosy!*

The brass ‘Brewer Trolley’ in the 50s look is a must-have*

These mirrors are new items of the latest collection*

Abigail Ahern’s top 10 tips on how to color boost your home

1. Start by picking a color for your biggest room – say your living room or kitchen.
Choose a hue that feels beautiful and inspiring, and true to what you love. Build on this to create a limited palette of colors for your entire home, using different combinations of those colors in each room.
2. Use an existing feature in your pad to inspire the basis of your color scheme.
This could be a view from the window, a work of art or any favourite item you own.
3. Think about what you want from your home to communicate to the outside world.
No one will be talking about your beige-on-beige home, so go a little crazy. Be reckless, I say! The more your confidence grows, the more you’ll feel like experimenting with colour.

At the exhibition ‘Maison et Objet’ in Paris Abigail Ahern presented an ambience in which I would move in immediately

4. Be brave!
To start with, decorating with color can seem like a daunting task.
Color behaves differently according to where you put it. The effect changes again once you add lighting, pattern, texture and greenery into the mix. I think this is why people favour whites over any other color group, as they distort less when other elements are thrown into the mix. However, to me, this is a bit like decorating by numbers. Too easy!
Bold hues, on the other hand, make everything on display feel grander, cooler, more intense, with beautiful undertones subtly changing in the daylight. You’ll never look back!
5. Remember, there are no no-nos. Well almost none.
Pastels are one grouping I never want to work with. But then plop me in Miami and I’m sure I’d be instantly seduced!

The greenery in the background is deceptively authentic. Abigail Ahern loves this retro scenarios with cactus-landscapes

6. Use color in unexpected places
Behind closed doors, inside kitchen cupboards, bedroom wardrobes, the loo – all those tucked away places that surprise the minute you enter.
7. Remember the small stuff
Introduce color through cushions, vases, bowls, fruit, greenery – you name it. There should be splashes everywhere for your eye to alight on!
8. All color schemes are improved by accents:
the final touches of color that add an element of surprise, and bring rooms to life.
There are no fixed rules when it comes to choosing these; just take care with the amount of color you use and where you use it. As fab as that bright orange might look on a pillow, it may not feel quite so amazing on four walls because the impact will be so much stronger.

The ‘Wild Bill Sofa’ is as cozy as it looks!

9. Patterns provide necessary punctuation; don’t neglect them …
… They anchor a space like nothing else I know.
10. Create the illusion of space by blurring the boundaries between walls and ceilings.
Paint them all out the same color and suddenly you’ve made your space a zillion times bigger. Promise!

Please have a seat: The ‘Saloon Barrel Chair’ is MyStylery’s favorite chair

Contact:

Abigail Ahern
137 Upper Street
London N1 1QP
www.abigailahern.com

**Abigail Ahern: Colour – Quadrille publishing house
* Featured pic and pics marked* by Abigail Ahern

The post Interior Designer Abigail Ahern: Be Brave! appeared first on My Stylery.

Jil Sander once resided in this beautiful villa in Hamburg Pöseldorf. Now Susann Eschenfelder lives here since ten years together with her husband and Parson Terrier Nelly

„There’s only a very little market in Germany for what I’m doing”, explains designer Susann Eschenfelder in her Hamburg atelier and points on her extravagant, elaborate pillows. “The Germans prefer a rather reserved interior style and don’t really like experiments.” That’s the reason why she spends the weekdays in London, as there are lots of interior design bureaus with international clients.

Designer Susann Eschenfelder in her Hamburg residence

Susann Eschenfelders works are total artworks that consist out of high-quality fabrics. Those are embroidered with semi-precious stones, gold- and silver threads, nacre and tortoiseshell or elaborate veiled with fur. Of course everything is individually made by hand and specially tailored to customers. Like a cushion lined with sable and embroidered with gold threads for the yacht of a Russian obligator.

“I like animal printings and my leo-sofa”, says Susann Eschenfelder. “The snake- or croc patterns are embroidered, no animals had to die for them.”

Such a luxury costs in the higher, four-digit area. Susann Eschenfelder designed an elaborate embroidery for the wall with suiting silk curtains for an apartment in London at the Hydepark. And the private cinema of the client got a silken wall covering with filigree cherry blossom branches in Chinese stile. Of course, the fabric-refiner doesn’t say anything about the names of her clients or about the prices.

The cushions of the Eschenfelder-collection are unique pieces – prices are based on the project depending on the working effort and use of material: “At special prices the price scale isn’t limited.”

One of Susann Eschenfelders favorite furniture is a vintage Pucci-fabric covered French sofa

“The individuality and the exceptionality are very important to my clients”, explains Susann Eschenfelder, who creates not only romantic but also modern motives. “Nobody of my client wants something the others already got.” Thereby the Saarlander already made the experience that money and taste inevitably don’t have something in common: “I’m always happy when my pillows complement a succeeded spatial installation.”

“I like watching my French Chinoiserie”, says Eschenfelder about the wall panel that was painted on paper in the 50’s

Eschenfelder, who worked for Jil Sander and Wolfgang Joop for years, loves graphical-floral and colorful Pucci-fabrics, throughout her colorful lampshades are being made – meanwhile sought objects at her clients. The vintage-fabrics aren’t easy to find and accordingly expensive.

On an antique French desk Suann Eschenfelder decorates an 80’s candleholder from Migeon and Chinese Foo Dogs

It can take weeks until a pillow is finished, depending on effort and embroideries. “And then especially the German customers come to me and ask, why the cushions are so expensive”, says Susann Eschenfelder. “My foreign clientele appreciates the craft and rejoices the beauty of extraordinary materials. And isn’t it wonderful to afford oneself something to create a luxury surrounding?” BvH

The designer spotted the Foo Dogs that stand infront of the antique fireplace in London

Susann Eschenfelder loves a homy atmosphere in her studio

Parson Terrier Nelly deeply relaxed

Great contrast: Golden frame meets purple fabric

Here everything is just right down to the details, even the door handle

Contact:
www.susanneschenfelder.com

The post Luxury cushions in abundance appeared first on My Stylery.

The record department at “Urban Outfitters” at Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica, California

I really miss my old collection of long playing records. Good to know, that in 2013 the multinational clothing giant “Urban Outfitters” started to add records to its range – including cult bands like The Ramones or Lou Reed. Of course the revival of the vinyl is not Urban Outfitters invention itself, but the way of their optical presentation as well as the positioning in the shops is a feast for the eyes and a smart decision.

The condemned live longer

Moms and daughters shop ‘til they drop, while less fashion-interested dad or boyfriend waits in the record department. The LPs are reprints and unfortunately not vintage, however there is an offer of turntables in a retro look. Happy shopping!  BvH

Nice combination: vinyl and coffee at the Urban Outfitters shop in London

Good idea: A room divider out of longplaying records, seen at the interior fair Maison et Objet in Paris

Contact:
www.urbanoutfitters.com

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