The great pretender
Not everything is as it seems in the world of John Coote, as the flamboyant and imaginative interiors guru is a master of imitation. Amanda Cochrane spoke with him about the art of designing Irish reproduction furniture
Saturday August 08 2009
'There's nothing wrong with a well-executed fake, if it's mixed with original pieces of 18th-century furniture," says interior designer and furniture-maker John Coote, quoting the brilliant late Peter Thornton, former curator of the Victoria & Albert Museum, London.
And John Coote's latest project -- to furnish the five-star Lough Eske Castle in Donegal -- is chock-a-block with them. From hand-carved tables -- which follow a drawing by Edward Lovett Pearce that Coote discovered in the Irish Architectural Archive -- to sparkling, coloured-glass chandeliers reminiscent of Murano glassware, all have been designed and finished to Coote's precise instructions.
John Coote's brief for Lough Eske Castle was pretty loose, but the owner, Pat Doherty, was keen for the hotel to have the feel of an Irish country house. Using pieces from his own furniture collection and accessories company Coote & Co, which reproduces Irish designs from the 18th century, John Coote created bespoke pieces for the main areas of the hotel, including the entrance hallway, the drawing room and some of the larger suites, including the presidential suites.
Many of Ireland's country house hotels suffer from leaden interiors that do nothing to show off the beauty of the building's fabric. However, Coote is not afraid to ruffle a few feathers. He knows what he wants. "My role," he says with a chortle, "is to overcome the heavy hand of drab."
John Coote is a colourful and forceful character. From an early age, Coote, who grew up in outback Australia on his father's sheep station, was fascinated by design. He studied interior design at RMIT University in Melbourne and, after completing his course, went on to work in curtain workshops. At the tender age of 20, he started as a rookie designer for Décor, one of Sydney's major interior design firms, where he worked alongside partners Tom Harding and David Lorimer. "It was a very good training ground," says Coote. "They were old school and extremely exacting."
Bullishly, Coote went out on his own a mere two years later. "My first projects were for curtains and slipcovers, and from there I got a whole house project. The next project led to jobs all around the world."
Since then, Coote has been pretty much unstoppable. He has designed some amazing houses all over the globe, his favourite project being 5 St James Square, London, the former burned-out Libyan Embassy. He gutted and restored the building for Foster's London headquarters and it was featured in Country Life in 1988. Today, after several years, he has almost completed the mammoth task of renovating his own home in Bellamont Forest, Co Cavan -- a Palladian villa designed by Edward Lovett Pearce.
John set up Coote & Co, which is based in London, in 1998 as an offshoot to his design work. "I found I couldn't get furniture made to my satisfaction, which is why we went into manufacturing." Coote & Co is very much a family affair. His daughter, Charlotte, who runs her own furniture company from Melbourne, flies around Asia looking after quality control, while a distant cousin, Tim Coote, a former banker, has joined the company in order to expand business. This frees up John to do what he likes best -- spending his time visiting clients to discuss design work. Pieces can range from €650 up to €13,000.
He also likes to keep a close eye on their manufacturers and factories, which are scattered all over the world. Hand-woven rugs are made in India, chandeliers are made in Brussels and many of the larger pieces of furniture are made in Australia. "My life is spent endlessly travelling," he says with a sigh, "but I find it very inspiring."
Looking to the future, Coote's travels may take him to Florence for a couple of years, "purely for inspirational reasons, really it's for studying. I love to travel, as it really is helpful in designing and creating products. It provides a huge amount of material".
And while John Coote has worked in the design world for almost five decades, he still feels he has a lot to learn. "I have been working in this business for a very long time and I am still adjusting to get it right.
"But I'm focused; I'm not interested in fads and fashions."
Coote & Co, Bellamont Forest, Cootehill, Co Cavan. Tel: 086 345 5024 or 0044 7748 703 589; For bespoke furniture and accessories, see www.cooteandco.com
Photography: René Kramers
- Amanda Cochrane
