Homes

Martyn Thompson and Dove Drury Hornbuckle

Today’s insanely amazing home is honestly one of the most incredible spaces I’ve ever set foot in.

A proper SOHO loft that seems to channel the intense creativity, bohemia and excess of New York in the 1960’s, this combined home and workspace belongs to Australian photographer Martyn Thompson, who lives here with his partner, artist Dove Drury Hornbuckle.

Written
by
Lucy Feagins
Supported by Dulux

The SOHO, New York apartment of Australian photographer Martyn Thompson and his partner, artist Dove Drury Hornbuckle. Above – living area including Martyn Thompson Studio tapestry pillows on fainting couch, original Eames molded plywood ‘LCW’ chair, vintage bamboo lamp with MTS ‘Dappled Buterflie’ tapestry shade, silk flowers, vintage kilim rug. Mural by Dove Drury Hornbuckle, ‘After Prague’ by Martyn Thompson, Martyn Thompson Studio ‘Cézanne’s Shadow #2’ tapestry shade on vintage industrial lamp. Photo – Eve Wilson, production – Lucy Feagins / The Design Files.

A corner of Martyn’s home studio. Ceramic vessel by Dove, painted photo lamp, Martyn Thompson Studio ‘Framed Melting Yellow’ king euro tapestry pillow, Karl Springer goatskin lacquered coffee table, watercolours by Dove. Fabric hanging on the wall is Martyn Thompson Studio is ‘Blotch’ wall hanging. Photo – Eve Wilson, production – Lucy Feagins / The Design Files.

Bedroom details – a farmhouse food store cabinet, vintage lamp, tin airplane, timber bust, sculpture by Dove, black spray-painted silk flowers and Capodimonte vase. Photo – Eve Wilson, production – Lucy Feagins / The Design Files.

Living area. Original Barcelona lounge by Mies Van Der Rohe, Gio Ponti settee, plywood stool, Gio Ponti lounge chair with Martyn Thompson Studio linen ‘Melting’ pillow. Art to left (from top) vintage oil portrait, ‘The Red Moon’ by Martyn Thompson, ‘Cézanne’s Shadow #2’ by Martyn Thompson. Photo – Eve Wilson, production – Lucy Feagins / The Design Files.

Living area shelf detail – including plaster of paris Koala bought at Seasonal Concepts in Sydney, vases on either side of the black spray-painted silk flowers in Capodimonte vase made by Martyn’s father, Peter Thompson, for MT in 1999, copper and ceramic sculpture by Dove, assorted ceramic pieces by Dove. Photo – Eve Wilson, production – Lucy Feagins / The Design Files.

Bedroom. Martyn Thompson Studio ‘Melting Midnight’ wallpaper, vintage oil portrait bought at Paula Rubenstein, assorted Martyn Thompson Studio tapestry pillows, wolf fur blanket, kantha coverlet, Larusi bed linen. Vintage Alva Aalto plywood chair as bedside, original Greta Grossman ‘Grasshopper’ lamp. Photo – Eve Wilson, production – Lucy Feagins / The Design Files.

Dove’s work area. Ceramics jewellery by Dove, drawings by Dove and various artists. Photo – Eve Wilson, production – Lucy Feagins / The Design Files.

Glazed ceramic pieces by Dove Drury Hornbuckle. Photo – Eve Wilson, production – Lucy Feagins / The Design Files.

Living area detail. Martyn Thompson Studio bespoke hand screened “Melting” wallpaper, “Cherish” photograph by Martyn Thompson, ceramic vessel and copper and ceramic sculpture by Dove Drury Hornbuckle, ceramic flower also by Dove, on top of plate paint palate. Vintage 80’s Japanese red lacquer coffee table. Photo – Eve Wilson, production – Lucy Feagins / The Design Files.

Dining area. Cat chalk mural by Dove, ‘The White Butterfly’ by Martyn in black frame. Teapot by potter Susie Cooper, Martyn’s Great Aunt. Compass table by Jean Prouve and chairs by Ilmari Tapiovaara. Photo – Eve Wilson, production – Lucy Feagins / The Design Files.

Kitchen shelf full of vintage nick knacks and ceramics. A painting by Emily Kame Kngwarreye, and wall sculptures by Dove Drury Hornbuckle. Photo – Eve Wilson, production – Lucy Feagins / The Design Files.

Living area including Martyn Thompson Studio tapestry pillows, vintage bamboo lamp with MTS ‘Dappled Buterflie’ tapestry shade, silk flowers, vintage kilim rug. Mural by Dove Drury Hornbuckle, ‘After Prague’ by Martyn Thompson, Martyn Thompson Studio ‘Cézanne’s Shadow #2’ tapestry shade on vintage industrial lamp. Photo – Eve Wilson, production – Lucy Feagins / The Design Files.

Martyn Thompson and Dove Drury Hornbuckle in their amazing Manhattan home. Photo – Eve Wilson, production – Lucy Feagins / The Design Files.

Writer
Lucy Feagins
1st of September 2015

Australian photographer Martyn Thompson has occupied this impressive New York loft for 12 years. With an L-shaped footprint, the space fills one whole floor of a beautiful old SOHO building known as the ‘Little Singer Building’, designed by Ernest Flagg, a Beaux-Arts trained architect, and built in 1904, for the Singer Manufacturing Company.  ’It was love at first sight’ Martyn explains.  ‘I wanted it as soon as the real estate broker said, “You can’t afford it!”.

Martyn’s loft is unique because it’s raw.  Unlike most other spaces in Manhattan of these impressive proportions, this space has been left relatively untouched. It hasn’t fallen into the hands of a banker, supermodel or movie star, and it hasn’t been reworked by an interior designer and filled with ubiquitous designer furniture to create a polished, perfect showpiece of a home. In fact, the floorboards haven’t even been polished. This space is really a ‘blank canvas’ in the truest sense, a free and supremely creative living and working space which reflects the prolific output of the two creatives who live here.

In all the time he’s been here, Martyn has done very little structural work to the space.  However, from a decorative point of view, the interiors are in a constant state of flux, as the space serves as an endless testing ground for the various creative projects he and Dove are working on at any given time.  Currently, the space is filled with samples from Martyn’s incredible collection of soft furnishings, whilst a psychedelic handpainted mural by Dove commands the front sitting area, along with his various ceramics sculptures and vessels dotted around the space. ‘The space is in a constant state of cosmetic change, depending on what Dove and I are both working on’ Martyn says.

Martyn appreciates the openness and versatility of his space, with living and working quarters all on one floor. ‘It’s a very adaptable place, it doesn’t have a sitting room and dining room… those things aren’t fixed’ he explains. ‘If I want to have a lunch for 20, I can make a table up do that, or equally set it up as a design workshop or photo studio. It’s fluid in its function; the duality of a live and workspace has been great’.

Aside from its impressive scale and palpable sense of old world New York nostalgia, much of the magic here comes down to Martyn himself.  Martyn is a unique and confident creative, with a very distinctive aesthetic that defines his work, his personal style and his environment. Having photographed countless inspired interiors across the globe (most notably collaborating with Elle Decoration founding editor Ilse Crawford for many years in London in the early years of the magazine), Martyn has a deep reverence for layered interiors with a sense of history. He loves antiques, rich textures and aged surfaces. His affection for beautiful interiors is typified in his most recent passion project – his own range of incredible wallpapers and soft furnishings, created under the name Martyn Thompson Studio.

‘I’m drawn to raw beauty, objects that are honest and well crafted. Texture, patina and muted colours are a common thread in my work and the objects I surround myself with’ Martyn says. Having said that, Martyn also admits that the older he gets, the more relaxed he is about how his home looks!  He describes his apartment as a fluid and ever-changing space, filled with familiar objects that trigger a lot of memories.  Indeed, everything here has a story to tell.

Living room looking through to wardrobe. Settee by Gio Ponti (designed for hotel Parco Dei Princi in Rome in 1964) with Martyn Thompson Studio ‘After Prague’ wall hanging draped over, vintage pedestal stool with bowl by Dove. Photo – Eve Wilson, production – Lucy Feagins / The Design Files.

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