Rosh is founder of the brilliant jewellery company Alighieri. We discuss her life story through the prism of the homes she’s lived in, from humble beginnings in Zambia to the beautifully designed flat she now owns in Clerkenwell. When Rosh moved to London at the age of eight, she was the only person of colour in her school. She tells me how she’s managed to channel this feeling of alienation towards a personal mission of bringing people together, celebrating commonality rather than difference. We talk about the importance of ritual at home and why she likes living on her own. We also discuss her suspicion of the colour green, the joy of negative space and why she imagines herself living in the desert as an old lady. Hope you enjoy it!

This episode was recorded in person at Rosh's London studio.

For more: 

Visit Alighieri

See images of Rosh's own home and Frey House over on The Modern House

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Find out more about Matt Gibberd’s latest book, A Modern Way To Live

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Watch our Homing In films on YouTube

Production: Hannah Phillips

Editing and mixing: Oscar Crawford

Graphic Design: Tom Young

Music: Father

This episode is sponsored by Vitsoe.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I’ve known Duncan for many years now and he’s definitely one of the good guys. We first met when I was commissioned to write a piece for The World of Interiors about the amazing home in west London he shares with his wife, Lyndsay Milne McLeod, and their son, Oban. Duncan’s kindly invited me back to the house to record this episode. He tells me about how growing up on building sites brought him close to his father, the importance of magic in architecture and why he believes you should always design a house as if you’re playing hide-and-seek in it. Duncan certainly isn’t the first guest to shed a tear or two on this podcast and I think this is a really lovely, heartfelt conversation.

This episode was recorded at Duncan's home in West London.

For more:

Check out Studio McLeod's latest work

Visit our website for images of places discussed, and to read our interview with Duncan McLeod

Sign up to The Modern House newsletter for weekly interiors inspiration

Production: Hannah Phillips

Editing and mixing: Oscar Crawford

Graphic Design: Tom Young

Music: Father

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jacqueline is a jewellery designer whose work I’ve admired for many years, probably because it’s so architectural. As you probably know by now, we try to record these podcasts in the guest’s home whenever possible, and this one is particularly exciting on that front, because Jacqueline lives in a 1960s house perched on a hillside in Los Angeles. As is the custom on this podcast, I asked Jacqueline to talk about a home from her past, her current place, and a home of the future. She told me what it was like to grow up in a big family, and how the soul music that boomed around the house was somehow a form of defiance against the racial tension that African-Americans were feeling at that time. And we also talked about how the pandemic inspired her homing instinct, why she’s enjoying living with less and her love of mid-century modern houses.

This episode was recorded in person at Jacqueline's Los Angeles home studio.

For more:

Head to the Carpenters Workshop Gallery‘s London space, to visit ‘Jacqueline Rabun: A Retrospective’

Check out Jacqueline Rabun’s latest work

Find out more about her dream home, the Loring House

Visit our website for images and details of the places discussed

Sign up to The Modern House newsletter for weekly interiors inspiration

Follow Matt Gibberd on Instagram

Follow The Modern House Instagram

Watch our Homing In films on YouTube

Production: Hannah Phillips

Editing and mixing: Oscar Crawford

Graphic Design: Tom Young

Music: Father

This episode is sponsored by Vitsoe.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Glenn's a brilliant curator and writer with a particular interest in craft. If that conjures up an image of lace doilies and crocheted waistcoats, then don't panic!

Back in 2011, he put together the amazing 'Postmodernism' exhibition at the V&A in London, which was a riot of Memphis pattern and colour; and more recently, he's co-curated a show called 'Mirror Mirror' at Chatsworth House in Derbyshire. Glenn writes beautifully – and his book Fewer, Better Things was a really big influence on my own book, A Modern Way to Live. A phrase he uses a lot is 'material intelligence', which is the idea that we should try to understand the things we choose to live with – where they've come from and how they've been made. I don’t know if it's material intelligence or old-fashioned fate that led Glenn to find his home in Upstate New York, but it really is the physical manifestation of everything he believes in. We also chatted about his place in east London, what it's like to be an identical twin, his thoughts on the metaverse and all sorts of other things. Glenn is one of the most erudite people I know and his thoughtfulness is something we could all learn from.

This episode was recorded in person at Glenn's east London home.

For more: 

Head over to The Modern House website for images of the places discussed 

Watch the B-52's 'Love Shack' music video 

Check out the house built by a librarian's collection of bricks

Read more by Glenn Adamson

Sign up to The Modern House newsletter for weekly interiors inspiration 

Follow Matt Gibberd on Instagram

Follow The Modern House Instagram

Watch our Homing In films on YouTube

Executive Producer: Kate Taylor of Feast Collective

Production: Hannah Phillips 

Music: Father

Graphic Design: Tom Young 

This episode is sponsored by Vitsoe.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hans Ulrich Obrist is the artistic director of the Serpentine Gallery in Kensington, west London, and is universally acknowledged as one of the most important and prolific art curators of our time. When I spoke to him at his office, I discovered a force of nature with an energy unlike that of anyone I’ve met before. His notion of home is also pretty extreme. When he was a student, he turned his flat into a gallery and he’s lived in some of the world’s most famous house-museums. This episode doesn’t follow the usual format, but I think it’s a really interesting portrait of a brilliant man. 

This conversation was recorded in person in Hans Ulrich Obrist’s office at the Serpentine gallery. 

For more: 

Head over to our website for more images of the places discussed

Visit The Serpentine Gallery 

Sign up to The Modern House newsletter for weekly interiors inspiration 

Check out Matt Gibberd’s latest book, A Modern Way To Live 

Follow Matt Gibberd on Instagram

Follow The Modern House Instagram

Watch our Homing In films on YouTube

Executive Producer: Kate Taylor of Feast Collective

Production: Hannah Phillips

Music: Father

Graphic Design: Tom Young

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tony’s life story is incredibly inspiring. He began his career at The Sunday Times Magazine, then became the art director of GQ and was later appointed editor-in-chief of Wallpaper*, which arguably defined the design aesthetic of the noughties and taught us all how to live like urbane Scandinavians. We discussed his childhood home in the 1970s – which was a riot of swirly brown carpet, chintz cushions and fake-brick wallpaper – and his experience living on the Barbican estate in London for 27 years, which is longer than anyone else I know.

This conversation was recorded in person at Tony’s Barbican home.

For more:

Head over to our website for more images of the places discussed

Visit Tony Chambers' design agency, TC & Friends

Sign up to The Modern House newsletter for weekly interior inspiration

Check out Matt Gibberd’s latest book, A Modern Way To Live

Follow Matt Gibberd on Instagram

Follow The Modern House Instagram

Watch our Homing In films on YouTube

Executive Producer: Kate Taylor of Feast Collective

Production: Hannah Phillips

Music: Father

Graphic Design: Tom Young

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Where does our spirit go when we die? Frances Morris has this question figured out: she will return to the home in which she was born, a Georgian house abreast the Meridian Line in Greenwich. In this deeply personal conversation, Frances explains why her childhood home has such an emotional hold over her.  Southeast London has been the backdrop to her whole life, and it's fitting that she has worked at the forefront of its most important cultural institution: Tate Modern. Not only was she the gallery's first female director, but Frances has also redefined the perception of female artists, spearheading retrospectives of Louise Bourgeois, Yayoi Kusama, Agnes Martin and others. Shortly before we recorded this podcast, it was announced that she will be leaving for pastures new. I've come to meet her in her office within the bowels of the gallery, and, understandably, she is in reflective mood.  

This is one of the most memorable conversations I've ever had. Frances feels like someone I've known for ever, and her background and story have significant parallels with my own. I really hope you enjoy it as much as I did. 

This conversation was recorded in person at the Tate Modern. 

For more on Frances Morris:

Head over to our website for more images of the places discussed

Visit the Tate Modern 

For more from the The Modern House: 

Sign up to our newsletter for weekly interior inspiration 

Check out Matt Gibberd’s latest book, A Modern Way To Live 

Follow Matt Gibberd on Instagram

Follow The Modern House Instagram

Watch our Homing In films on YouTube

Executive Producer: Kate Taylor of Feast Collective

Production: Hannah Phillips

Music: Father

Graphic Design: Tom Young

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Known as the Queen of Colour, India has designed upbeat bars and radical restaurants from Miami to Mexico City. Her Gallery restaurant at Sketch in London became one of the most inspirational spaces of our time, and single-handedly changed the public perception of the colour pink. 

Last autumn, I hopped on the Eurostar to go and meet her at home in Paris. I arrived completely drenched from a rainstorm, but my frost-bitten cockles were soon warmed by a cup of tea and a fireside chat with India in her beautiful apartment. She told me about how her early years in Massachusetts influenced her love of bright colours, from the strawberry milkshakes she drank to the Technicolor cartoons she watched on TV. One day, she and her family relocated very suddenly to Germany, arriving to a neo-Gothic house straight out of the Addams Family. Her world turned black-and-white, and she felt like an unwelcome foreigner. Soon they moved on again, this time to France, where she started to find a way to express herself through making things and tapping into her creativity. 

What I found so interesting about our conversation was discovering how India has reacted against her itinerant childhood and established a very defined sense of place as an adult. Her studio, her showroom and her home are all located in a single block in Paris, where she's lived for more than 25 years. She doesn't even have to cross the road to carry out all the functions of everyday life. 

As India gets older, she feels increasingly drawn to her native countries of Iran and Egypt. She's bought a house in Arles that's hidden among cypress trees and reminds her of Tehran in the 1970s. All in all, India's past, present and future are acutely defined by the notion of home and belonging – everything that this podcast is about.This conversation was recorded in person at India’s home in Paris. 

For more on India Mahdavi:

Head over to our website for more images of the places discussed

Check out India's website

Read more about The Gallery at Sketch

For more from the The Modern House: 

Sign up to our newsletter for weekly interior inspiration 

Check out Matt Gibberd’s latest book, A Modern Way To Live 

Follow Matt Gibberd on Instagram

Follow The Modern House Instagram

Watch our Homing In films on YouTube

Executive Producer: Kate Taylor of Feast Collective

Production: Hannah Phillips

Music: Father

Graphic Design: Tom Young

To get in touch, email us at [email protected]

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Nick is a legendary photographer and founder of the influential website SHOWstudio, which has pioneered the use of moving image in fashion. I've come to his London studio to find out more about his incredibly colourful life through the lens of the homes he's lived in. He tells me about growing up in a grandiose apartment in Paris, the impact of his dyslexia, and how falling in love with photography unlocked a relentless work ethic. His unlikely entrypoint into image-making was joining a group of skinheads as a teenager, mainly because he liked the look of the girls. He talks about the life-changing experience of building a house in his twenties, with a certain young architect named David Chipperfield. We discuss the future of AI, how being a photographer gives him unique access to anyone in the world, and the day he turned Lady Gaga into a man. As Nick says, 'there’s nothing more important than the spaces you live in, for shaping you, how you feel about things, making you feel positive about life and love.' He's full of wisdom and wit, and this is certainly a conversation I will always remember. 

This conversation was recorded in person at SHOWstudio, London. 

For more on Nick Knight: 

Head over to our website for more images of Nick’s home 

Check out SHOWstudio  

Read more about the David Chipperfield project 

For more from the The Modern House: 

Sign up to our newsletter for weekly interior inspiration 

Check out Matt Gibberd’s latest book, A Modern Way To Live 

Follow Matt Gibberd on Instagram

Follow The Modern House Instagram

Watch our Homing In films on YouTube

Executive Producer: Kate Taylor of Feast Collective

Production: Hannah Phillips

Music: Father

Graphic Design: Tom Young

To get in touch, email us at [email protected]

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What does home reveal about who we are? Almost everything, it turns out, as we have discovered recording conversations with cultural contributors, business innovators and creative luminaires for our new podcast, Homing In, which we are excited to share with you later this week. The show takes over from the previous iteration of our podcast with an updated format. Our co-founder Matt Gibberd asks guests to discuss the place they grew up in, their current home, and their thoughts on future living – revealing the emotional experiences that underpin some of our most inspiring public figures. Be prepared for tears, laughter, and everything in between.

The Modern House is an estate agency that helps people live in more thoughtful and beautiful ways. If you have a modern home to sell, get in touch to find out how we can maximise its value.

To hear more from The Modern House:

Sign up to our newsletter for weekly interior inspiration

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Follow The Modern House Instagram

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