Naguib Abd Allah, Eaton Square

The Yellow Salon in the London apartment of Naguib Abd Allah, overlooking Eaton Square. Photo by Derry Moore for Architectural Digest.

These Derry Moore photos are from the January, 1995, issue of Architectural Digest showing the apartment of Naguib Abd Allah decorated by London interior designer Francis Roos.  "What with my Italian and French fabrics, things from several other houses and pieces from an Egyptian palace, I arrived in London with enough to fill a whole furniture store."  He added, "Francis Roos has helped me enormously."


The Boulle-marquetry-and-lacquer cabinet once belonged to Coco Chanel. Photo by Derry Moore.

Gold plays an important role in the décor, not just in the color of the fabrics, but also with the use of gold leaf and ormolu.  Abd Allah asked for a "yellow salon," the text revealed, to create a jewel box to house his objets d'art, paintings and silver.  This is undoubtedly an effective scheme in the often-gloomy climate.  For added light reflection, an off-white velvet-pile carpet appears to cover all the floors with small antique rugs added for interest.


A detail of a corner of the Yellow Salon. Photo by Derry Moore.

In the Yellow Salon, the same gold silk damask is used for the walls, primary curtains, and two sofas, with gold velvet used for the other seating, and a paler gold used for the under-curtains.  Note that the largest sofa is placed against the chimney breast (with the fireplace apparently covered over), creating a seating group with a similar sofa opposite and another with a Boulle-style frame;  it is an unconventional furniture plan for a traditional townhouse, but it works to facilitate conversations.


The Lion's Room. Photo by Derry Moore.

A smaller sitting room, the Lion's Room, is a more intimate space.  "The walls are ornamented with small trompe-l'oeil marble panels (painted by Mark Ram) framed by mouldings.  Bands of 'carved' stone, which in fact were stenciled, act as friezes around the large fresco-like painted panels."


Another view of the Lion's Room. Photo by Derry Moore.

In relating the design process, Roos explained, "We had thought of a space entirely in faux-marbre, but that seemed slightly over the top.  The creation of a stenciled stone frieze added the necessary softening element."


The Library-Dining Room. Photo by Derry Moore.

"My primary aim in decorating the apartment has been to maintain the ideal of grandeur I absorbed in the homes of my childhood, " Abd Allah was quoted.  Roos designed the Library to also be used as a dining room for to accommodate twelve.


A late-Victorian English gilt door knocker and ormolu candlesticks are reflected in an 18th-century French silver mirror. Photo by Derry Moore.

"I have friends all over the world, and my wish is to keep a permanently open house here in London, where visitors can turn up and stay for a time, just as they still do in Egypt," Abd Allah related in the article by Charlotte Aillaud.


The Master Bedroom. Photo by Derry Moore.

A four-poster bed was requested by the client, but the designer made it largely of upholstery for a softer visual effect than the rest of the apartment.  The retour d'Egypte stools covered in tiger velvet are 19th century French.


The Master Bath. Photo by Derry Moore.

Another client request was to have a Victorian style bath.  Faux bois gives the effect of rich paneling and the wallcovering was printed with 19th century wood blocks giving the effect of damask.  The last sentence of the article sums it up, "For Naguib Abd Allah is a man who is deeply respectful of the past yet completely frank in his appreciation of the present."

Naguib Abd Allah's Egyptian villa on the edge of the Nile, a home very different from his London apartment, may be seen on photographer Ivan Terestchko's blog, Visual Diary, here and here. 

If Devoted Readers are familiar with the name of Naguib Abd Allah, it may be because of the very public relationship he once had with Mrs. Pierre Schlumberger, the wife of the billionaire oil industry tycoon.  (More about the decorating tastes of Sao Schumberger will be featured in a future post of The Devoted Classicist, but the back story on the lady and her loves may be read in Bob Colacello's article "The Wow of Sao" from the September, 2010, issue of Vanity Fair here).