Bedminster’s been keeping a secret under its hat: one of the world’s most celebrated interior designers and whimsical world maker – David Carter – has made this bustling, creative Bristol hub his ‘forever home’. Rosanna Spence meets the man for an exclusive tour of his apartment inside the Grade II-listed Factory No.1.
From East London to East Street… may we present to you, the fine folk of Bristol, David Carter: interior designer, gentleman, dandy, fashionista, dreamer, creative, socialite, former hotelier and now, Bedminster neighbour. Some of the world’s finest residences (owned by Russian oligarchs, sheikhs, Middle Eastern royalty and celebrities) have been entrusted into David’s hands; he’s been designing bold, romantic interiors for over a quarter of a century with his business A La Carter.
The haunting theatrics he creates have long caught the attention of top interiors titles (gracing at least 13 front covers, our very own now included).
The World of Interiors once described his work as a ‘masterly invention… at once grandiose, ephemeral and unreal, a carefree, unholy mixture of styles for which taste is the only reference’, and David as ‘an illusionist and conjurer’; Sunday Times Style has extolled ‘the sheer luxury of his vision’; and ELLE Decoration called him ‘the enfant terrible of British design’, and ‘one of the finest princes of British décor’.
“From an early age I always had this dream of living in a ballroom in Belgravia,” David tells me, “and I’ve ended up in a boardroom in Bedminster… but I’m very happy.”
There aren’t that many tell-tale signs that the grand room we’re standing in was once full of suited men sitting around a large table, cigar smoke hanging in the air discussing tobacco – save for the original wood panelling and ornate baroque ceiling plasterwork four metres overhead – but that’s exactly where we are. David has recently been renovating, redecorating and furnishing his apartment, which is part of City & Country’s Factory No.1 development, inside the historic first tobacco factory of W.D. and H.O. Wills. The original boardroom is now home to David’s expansive, open-plan kitchen and living area, bathed in light from the soaring windows overlooking the communal courtyard garden below, and he now sleeps in what was once Mr Wills’ private office.
Russian doll
Much like David’s labyrinthine apartment, which has been refitted to playfully conceal surprises (such as a hallway wall heavily adorned with deliciously dark artwork – I spotted a favourite of mine, a piece by the late, great Dan Hillier – secretly opening into a dressing room, “much like a Russian doll”, as he puts it, which in turn then hides a golden freestanding bathtub behind mirrored doors), David himself is a gent of many layers; gracefully defying any expectations you might have upon meeting someone who was once described as ‘London’s most prodigious dandy’ (Le cool).
“You might not be able to tell by my accent, but I grew up in Belfast,” he tells me when we first meet, “which wasn’t a particularly happy place at the time.”
But this all changed when he first arrived in our city as a young student to read law at the University of Bristol, and the petals of his partying personality began to unfurl in a rather theatrical manner. “An average week for me would probably include 15-20 parties. At the time, Bristol was one of the top universities for law in the country… but I was interested in becoming something else. I did lots of theatre while I was here, so I loved the idea of becoming a barrister – dressing up in a wig and gown and shouting ‘M’Lord!’ in court – and entertaining the jury.”
It was in part his flamboyant experience here as a student (“we’d head to opera at the Hippodrome dressed in top hats, white tie and tails”) that drew David back to Bristol for this period of his life. “I had really happy memories here”, he recalls.
East is east, but west is best
You could be forgiven for assuming David might have chosen Clifton to relocate to, so why Bedminster?
“Bedminster reminds me of East London when I first moved there in the 1990s,” he explains. “I like the noise and bustle of life among creative people. There are really good cafés and restaurants, and plenty of little independent shops. East London was still quite Dickensian when I moved there – an invisible part of London – but I really loved it. It was also a magnet for creative types like Gilbert & George and Tracey Emin. We couldn’t afford the posh bits of London.”
While David is careful not to equate Bedminster’s unique character to East London too much, our thriving neighbourhood offers him a similar community spirit: one bustling with friendly faces housing creative minds – while walking to his apartment he’s warmly greeted by everyone we pass, and he jokes that there’s a waiting list for people wanting to see inside his transformed home – and an excellent choice of eateries for him to frequent (Cor on North Street being a current favourite hotspot).
And it’s no wonder there’s a queue of locals eager to explore what lies behind David’s unassuming front door. His home is somehow simultaneously understated and opulent. The sleek, minimalist kitchen island that cleverly conceals fridges, plugs and cupboards also has a multi-layered cake stand sitting atop, smartly adorned with hundreds of spiney shells; the shape of their fragile tendrils mirrored by, well, the mirrors – white and dripping with stalactite-like forms. Walls and windowsills are dotted with plenty of artefacts and curiosities, but interestingly, it doesn’t feel claustrophobic.
“My work is often described as ‘eclectic’, but ‘playful’ is a much better description,” David explains. “Opening secret doors and discovering layers behind each space is the sort of design game I like playing because it’s a bit like a piece of theatre; it’s a jigsaw, a puzzle that people have to navigate their way through. Or like a Dita Von Teese burlesque show, where there’s a whole process of teasing with the fan, then removing the gloves. There’s a slow removal of layers in these rooms; I like the fact that no matter how many times people visit, you’ll always discover something you haven’t noticed before because your senses are drawn to different things.”
Get your forty winks
Many items now proudly and thoughtfully on display around David’s apartment have been brought from his famous 40 Winks micro boutique hotel (which was the very first of its kind on the planet) located at his former East London home.
This world of whimsy transported guests from the mundanity of their everyday lives, in what German Vogue once called ‘The most beautiful small hotel in the world’, and Condé Nast Traveller coined as: ‘An ode to poetry and playfulness… its magical atmosphere [was] likely to refresh mind, body and soul considerably more than a hotel five times the price.’
David closed the doors to 40 Winks for the final time in 2021 with the travel industry having fallen victim to the pandemic – specially-selected pieces that made the property so magical will be sold exclusively by auction on 4 December by Clevedon Salerooms – yet he looks back on the experience fondly.
“We’d regularly have people writing to us after coming to stay, describing it as a life changing experience,” he remembers, smiling. “They’d come as an accountant, then after two or three days of staying with us, they’d leave determined become a yoga guru or something they were genuinely passionate about. The house was special in that it had an emotional resonance which touched people on a subliminal level.”
This was likely due to David’s approach to design, incorporating smells, music and sounds “like an amazing piece of theatre or a movie” – not just the visual delights. It was designed to be an immersive experience.
“Often, if I’m asked, ‘David, what do you think makes a successful interior design for a good home?’ I always say that ultimately, it should be a bit like an autobiography,” he notes. “It should reflect the passions, interests, loves, and memories of the people who live there, because that’s what makes it real, that gives it meaning and authenticity.”
As well as this, David believes that great art impacts the way people view the world, their responses to it and their connections to other people. “And so, I create these portals for people coming to a home, a hotel or an event to have an experience that’s different. The world is a playground.”
One such playground curated in this way was the literary pyjama parties known as Bedtime Stories – which saw the doors of 40 Winks open, inviting people inside to gather by candlelight and listen to great storytellers recount tales from authors such as Ian McEwan and Angela Carter (of no relation to David, it’s important to note). Pyjamas were compulsory. Cocktails were copious.
Childlike wonder
Now settled in Bristol, David’s keen to “start enjoying myself”, and has grand plans to revive his literary pyjama party events in a suitably idiosyncratic venue in the city (no, sadly he won’t be opening his home up to the masses this time around), as well as offering his A La Carter interior design services to more local projects in the south west. Plus, there’s that special sale of his carefully curated mementos and trinkets called ‘40 Winks: An Eye For Design’ by Clevedon Salerooms to look forward to later this year.
Despite living a life guided by good design, ethereal aesthetics and flirtations with flamboyancy, David’s authentic interest in how humans connect to the world and people around them, and the impact our environments can have on emotions, means he swerves superficiality.
Even though he wants to “champion even more style, individuality, self-expression and quirkiness and eccentricity here… then Bristol would become a Mecca for people all over the world to come and dress up and be silly…”, he is sincere (well, sort of) when he says, “This is my forever home. I am going to be buried in a box under the floor when I pop my clogs, or have my ashes scattered in the courtyard.”
The world may be David’s playground, but there’s a genuinely warm invitation for us too to shake off the shackles of our everyday stresses, and to invite a childlike wonder into the spaces where we spend time, so we can let our imaginations run rife.
Will you be coming out to play?
For more information on David’s interior design services, visit alacarter.com. Follow David on Instagram @40winkslondon. To learn more about 40 Winks, head to 40winks.org. And to bid on David’s exclusive auction on 4 December, contact clevedonsalerooms.com
