‘He was a tremendous influence and very generous with his knowledge’, said Gilley. ‘He had an amazing knack for being able to make the most magnificent places into homes. One was learning from him without being conscious of it. This was a matter of turning a blind eye.’ In 2015, Gilly and Geoff moved ‘lock, stock and barrel’ to Mallorca, bringing with them a good dose of Bennison style. This is their second home on the island – the first they bought in 1972 after going there on holiday with friends and falling in love with the place. ‘We sold that property in 2007, but we both had long-term unexplained depression, which we soon realized because we missed being here so much. And so we decided to take the big step,’ she explained.
The house, which is surrounded by a nature reserve, is located on the side of a mountain in the Carossa valley in the north east of the island. It is a beautiful iteration of the house they moved from in Norfolk. ‘Geoff had already arranged the position of the furniture and paintings before we arrived, so everything fit perfectly,’ said Gilley. ‘We reupholstered all the Norfolk sofas and four-poster beds in the master bedroom in Bennison fabric and installed two smaller four-posters in the spare room.’
As one might expect, given the couple’s Bennison credentials, the house is a masterclass in using pattern. ‘The decoration and placement of everything is up to Geoff though,’ Gilly said. ‘He learned a lot from Geoffrey by osmosis and example.’ Whitewashed walls and white Mallorcan limestone floors provide a neutral backdrop against which a soothing mix of stripes, florals, linens and silks can sing – a crisp sense of English aesthetics transplanted to a Spanish setting. In the sitting room, an 18th-century oil painting of the Wertz family, which once hung in Bennison’s Brighton apartment, fills the wall above a burnt orange and pink sofa. The room opens on three sides to the garden, which sits somewhere between a Japanese Zen garden and a tea garden. ‘Mediterranean oak, olive and algaroba trees are shaped into cloud formations and are kept low to overlook the entire valley,’ explained Gilly.
The house was only three years old when she and Geoff bought it and, as a result, there was little need for the property. The only concession was the design and addition of a library in the former bedroom, with a hidden door leading to the bathroom. The couple’s ever-expanding book collection soon proved too much for just one room to contain, so last year another section was added to the library, which was further down the hall. Gilly and Geoff clearly developed an uncanny eye and inherited a love of beautiful, well-placed objects from Geoffrey Bennison. With great thoughtfulness, they have reworked and revived both their living and furniture to adapt to life on a Mediterranean island, and the result is as much a celebration of friendship as it is a symbol of their love for Mallorca.
Bennison Cloth: bennisonfabrics.com
