REBECCA WILLER, LONDON
AT HOME, LONDON
Since her arrival on British soil, Rebecca Willer has recognized Kensington as her chosen London neighbourhood. The quiet residential streets around Holland Street lie between two of the city’s most important historic parks. On the Victorian buildings, one can spot several blue circular plaques: these mark the homes of many artists, writers, and public figures who have lived in this part of London. Rebecca’s current residence, shared with her husband and Gina, their Italian Spinone, is not far from her renowned gallery, in a stately red-brick building dating back to 1724, at a time when Kensington was a small settlement and the nearby Kensington Palace was the dominant presence in the area.
In the countless interior projects undertaken throughout her career, Rebecca has always preferred stainless steel solutions when it came to kitchens. For her own home, she was determined to follow this rule, choosing a stainless steel Arclinea Convivium kitchen, not only for the elegance of Citterio’s lines but also for the perfect functionality of all elements. This translates, for the host and designated cook, into a seamless and effortless preparation and cooking process. After all, the kitchen is the heart of one of the family’s most sacred and revered rituals: “I am surrounded by avid eaters! My husband regularly, my children when they visit, and now the grandchildren, who have clearly inherited the 'plenty of good homemade food, available at all times’ gene.”
A passionate collector since childhood, Rebecca Willer moved from the United States to England in 1971, working in the City for many years without ever really abandoning her interest in beautiful objects. Over time, she continued to engage with design, developing a very personal aesthetic accompanied by a pure talent for selecting and relating pieces and artifacts that are very different from one another. In 2003, she permanently left her legal profession to open the Willer gallery, which quickly became one of the most authoritative addresses of international good taste: an essential point of reference for interior designers and architects worldwide.
“The question I continuously ask myself is this: how can we live with beautiful things without letting them rule us? How can we incorporate them into our 21st century without creating a museum?”
The interiors of her residence reflect the understated elegance and highly personal touch for which Rebecca is famous worldwide. During the renovation phases, she took on the task of supervising every detail of the work herself, meticulously overseeing the progress: “The nature of my work regularly involves me in interior projects,” she told us. “However, I must admit that it was very challenging to make choices for my own home, as I was forced to modify many of the ideas I initially wanted to ‘experiment’ with. I grappled with the fact that I knew too much and had too many options to choose from.”
“I am a great admirer of Antonio Citterio. The kitchen I chose, in fact, reflects my mantra very well: ‘good design is good design is good design,’ whenever it is created”.
“I believe that if things are beautiful and timeless, they can coexist and complement each other, no matter how different they are.” Rebecca Willer has made this maxim the hallmark of a unique and unmistakable style. In her Kensington home, furnished with the soft, desaturated colors typical of her palette, antique objects, vintage finds, design pieces, and works by contemporary artists coexist and blend successfully, revealing unexpected affinities that give rise to a sober, airy, and extraordinarily chic compositional sequence. “Every day is a pleasure,” she confesses. “All aspects of the design work as I had hoped. In every corner, I find something that pleases my eye; the comfort and spaces allow us to enjoy the house both when we are alone and when we have guests in the living room.”
