Tatler UK - 10.2019

Tatler October 2019 tatler.com

[She takes me on a taxidermy

tour of the house, gliding through the

space, pointing out some of her

favourite pieces in the couple’s vast

collection. In one room there’s an os-

trich given as a first anniversary gift; in

another, a giant skeleton of a cave bear

bought at Christie’s; and there’s a pan-

oply of taxidermy picked up over the

years at Deyrolle in Paris. All through

the house are playful takes on the

family name: an elegant white stuffed

peacock is perched at the top of the

staircase, and the runner is woven

with the bird’s distinctive colourful

feathers. The motif continues with a

large wooden model, which, Gabriela

says, was ‘a present for David before

we got married.’ A fitting entrance

into the Peacock family fold.

The couple moved to the house in

2010 as newlyweds, after marrying

on Lake Como. They met three years

earlier, in 2007, when the then Gabriela

Banova was 28 – she’d been set up by

her best friend Lohralee Stutz and

friendly, family-centric space, which

they share with their eight-year-old

daughter, Maia, and their twins,

Caspar and Iris, who are two. ‘At

one point we wondered if it was

worth it – but it was. We use every

part of the house.’

Gabriela’s mansion is a world

away from the two-bed apartment

where she grew up with her parents

in an industrial town near Prague in

the Czech Republic. She is fiercely

FEATHER THE NEST

Above, the stair

runner pattern

embeds one of

many witty

references to the

couple’s name.

Top, the skeleton

of a cave bear

was bought

at Christie’s

The dining room is

decorated with a

gold-leaf ceiling,

marble walls,

Hermès wallpaper

and a neon sign

her then boyfriend, now husband,

the Hon Will Astor.

‘I used to be the queen of playing

games,’ Gabriela recalls. ‘David asked

me out and for our first date I took

my model booker along with me to

meet him – because I wasn’t sure and

I didn’t want to go on my own. But

then we had a really nice lunch at

Maggie Jones’s and afterwards went

for a walk in Hyde Park. It was the

first time we kissed. David jokes that I

basically moved into his flat in Queen’s

Gate after that weekend and never

left. It’s so true that when you know,

you know – it was just right between

us from the beginning.’

The house, which Gabriela says

had a dated décor when they first

bought it, became a labour of love,

requiring two and a half years of

renovations. They added another

storey to create a five-floor party-

Silk dress, £1180, by

STELLA McCARTNEY.

Satin shoes, £775, by

MANOLO BLAHNIK.

Diamond and gold

earrings, £10,881, by

AMRAPALI. Jewellery,

Gabriela’s own

RARE BIRD

The drawing room is

replete with velvets,

antiques and a

taxidermied ostrich,

a first anniversary gift

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