Pantheon of Greats: the list of legendary interior and garden designers
Welcome to House & Garden’s version of a hall of fame, a 2024 addendum to our annual Top 100 Interior Designers and Architects and Top 50 Garden Designers. We like the mythological associations of the word ‘pantheon’, because you could say the people on this list are like gods among men (and women) in their field. They are the most established, the most revered – and often the most copied. Or is it more polite to say they are the most influential…? Many of the names that follow have featured on our various ‘best of’ lists for the past quarter of a century and continue to do brilliant and inspiring work. Let’s take a moment to celebrate the inaugural selection that makes up the House & Garden Pantheon of Greats.
Simon Brown1/12Alidad
Nobody does dialled-up opulence quite like Alidad. Born in Iran, this charming decorator started his career in Sotheby’s Islamic department before he set up his studio in 1985. He is a master with mirrors, gilding, inlaid stone and wood, gold-shot fabrics and trims, which can go so wrong in the hands of mere mortals.
Allan Pollok-Morris2/12Arabella Lennox-Boyd
Having created gardens for over 50 years, Italian-born Arabella is the undisputed grande dame of garden design. She still undertakes private gardens for select clients and offers a winning combination of a classical approach and beautiful herbaceous planting, with superb attention to detail.
Lucas Allen3/12Colin Orchard
‘You’re only as good as your last project,’ says still-ambitious Colin Orchard, who has been in the interior design business for nearly 40 years. Fancy asking him to work wonders on your large country house? Drop him a line: he has no website or social media, and likes it that way.
Simon Upton4/12David Mlinaric
Rising to prominence in the 1960s taking on Chelsea town-houses, David went on to work on some of the nation’s most impressive interiors, including Spencer House, Waddesdon Manor and Chatsworth. While a reverence for the historic is a large part of his work, he has an incredibly modern point of view and can flick between the two or combine them at will.
5/12Douglas Mackie
Since he established his studio in 1995, clients all over the world have been drawn to the elegant, restrained interiors of Douglas Mackie. He initially trained as an architect so you know the proportions and detailing will be spot on. But he is also a colourist and an accomplished curator, effortlessly blending the modern and classic in intoxicating ways. He doesn’t take on a huge number of projects each year, but a current one includes the reinvention of a hotel in Sintra, Portugal.
Paul Massey6/12Jane Rainey
The daughter of Lord Harlech, Jane Rainey (née Jane Ormsby Gore) is the woman who is often cited as the inspiration for The Rolling Stones’ song Lady Jane. The epitome of a very specific strand of poetic English bohemianism, Jane trained under Christopher Gibbs before setting up her studio, JR Design, in 1998, where she proves time and time again her mastery of creating distinctive, complex, layered interiors.
Lucas Allen7/12John Minshaw
The architectural and interior designer established his studio in 1977 and still takes on significant projects (for significant clients, one suspects). There is a pared-down elegance to this designer’s work, with classically informed spaces that are stripped back of any fuss or frills.
Andrew Montgomery8/12Kim Wilkie
After a quarter of a century in private practice, Kim Wilkie now works as a landscape consultant on projects round the world. One of the sharpest minds in garden design, he contributes to various UK committees on landscape and environmental policy. Kim’s own Hampshire garden and farm demonstrate his firm belief that humans, animals and nature can all co-exist harmoniously and sustainably in a well-considered landscape scheme.
Simon Upton9/12Nicky Haslam
There is every chance Nicky would find a list like this a little common, but we are OK with that. Our Pantheon of Greats would simply be incomplete without a few words praising this rare talent for his unique creative spirit and incredible influence on so many designers working in the business today. Nicky is still going great guns, taking on projects as well as developing various product lines.
Chris Horwood10/12Nina Campbell
One of a handful of British designers as successful in the US as at home, Nina is a force to be reckoned with. She has been in business for more than 50 years and, today, business means interior design, furniture, accessories and fabric and wallpaper ranges, as well as shops. There is no stopping her.
Miguel Flores-Vianna11/12Penny Morrison
These days, Penny Morrison is equally well known for her hugely successful fabric and home accessories lines as for her interior design work. These go hand in hand with creating the appealing, ultra-layered look that Penny has mastered over the years, along with a distinctive and punchy use of colour.
Michael Sinclair12/12Xa Tollemache
The energetic and personable Xa Tollemache has designed hundreds of gardens worldwide since launching her business in 1996. Describing her style as ‘classic contemporary’, she has developed elegant planting combinations that have, over the years, been tried and tested in the garden of her former home, Helmingham Hall in Suffolk.
