House and Garden December 2019

CLARE COULSON Writer Obsessed with magazines as a teenager, Clare Coulson had her first foray into journalism on The Daily Telegraph’s fashion desk, which was, she says, a ‘baptism of fire’. She was the fashion features director of Harper’s Bazaar, before developing an interest in gardens when she moved to the Suffolk coast in 2014. Clare has written about The Bressingham Gardens in Norfolk (on pages 118-123) and says she was particularly taken with ‘the dynamism of the planting’ and how it is reworked through the year. She describes her own garden as ‘a labour of love; it’s a steep learning curve, but I find it meditative’. Where is your favourite garden? ‘Cheshire’s Tattenhall Hall has exquisite borders.’ GIORGIO LOCATELLI Chef and restaurateur Giorgio Locatelli decided that he wanted to be a chef at a young…

When planning for this issue in July, we decided to set four creatives a challenge (from page 61). Each was sent a parcel of craft materials and asked to come up with a Christmas decoration they would be proud to be photographed with, to appear in the magazine – as a full-page picture, although we didn’t admit this at the time. I suspect I’d have failed at the first hurdle. Any craftiness within me disappears under pressure; I’m happy with flowers and foliage, but not with paper straws, glue guns, wooden kebab sticks and the other things we sent these brave designers. But they all – including House & Garden’s creative director (interiors) Gabby Deeming – rose to the challenge with style, imagination and huge amounts of dexterity. The detail…

When I speak to the interior designer Francis Sultana, he has just been making the final edits to his first book, Francis Sultana: Designs & Interiors (Vendome, £50), edited by Bronwyn Cosgrave – and sent his annual Christmas card to print. Each year for the past decade, he has drawn up a fantasy chair for the front of the card. The idea is that they could eventually each become reality in the form of a rather magical chair for children, with all proceeds from sales going to the NSPCC. Francis sat on the board of the charity for eight years and still serves on an advisory level. ‘This year’s chair is inspired by palm trees,’ says Francis. ‘I looked back to my first proper furniture commission – a pair of…