Roles:
Kit: Design director; Tim: Managing director
Birthplaces:
Kit: Southampton, England; Tim: London
Portfolio:
Eight hotels in London, including Ham Yard, Haymarket, Covent Garden, and Charlotte Street. Two in New York: the Crosby Street and the soon-to-open Whitby. Also, seven bars and restaurants in London and New York.
First hotel: The Dorset Square Hotel, 1985
Beginnings: [Kit] had a company called Barnacle that created written material for the shipping industry, and then she worked for an architect. Tim, who owned a couple of student accommodations, was one of the architect’s clients. As a couple, we didn’t like staying in hotels—they were so vacuum-packed and boring. We thought we’d have a go at starting a small hotel.
Concept: We loved the idea of traveling in the olden days, where it was a big adventure. When we began, you could be traveling all around the world and not get the feeling of the city you were in.
The soon-to-open, 86-room Whitby in Midtown Manhattan: We’ve been collecting baskets from all over; all that have had a function. One held eels, another strawberries, one that used to be on the back of a donkey. There’s a whole wall of porcelain pots that pay tribute to New York. And old serving plates. Plus a lot of contemporary art.
Influence: We do feel we’ve had a positive impact in the industry. Everyone seems to have upped their game. We’ve helped make things much more individual and thought-through. And we’ve helped make art a much greater part of the design.
Mentors: We wanted to get away from everything we saw in design. We didn’t look up to anyone. We were young and had incredible arrogance that we could do it all ourselves. Years later, you realize you can’t.
Working with a spouse: We’re like two sumo wrestlers. We go around one another and know when it’s time to go in for the kill. We do argue about certain things but over the years we’ve learned what areas we’re stronger at. At the end of the day, we agree. We just have a rather different method of arriving there.
Lessons learned: You have to stand by your judgment and not be swayed because there will be so many people along the way who will say ‘that won’t work’ and ‘you can’t do that’ and ‘this is not going to be a success.’ Those are the people at the end of the job who want to bring their family and friends and are often boasting about how they did it.
