A Legacy to Live By
The interiors of Elicyon’s apartment at 60 Curzon in Mayfair present a layered journey from deco to the present

Mayfair’s demographic changed in the early 20th century: the aristocracy moved out, and luxury hotels, galleries and other businesses moved in. Now, the pendulum is starting to swing back to residential, with new development 60 Curzon drawing on Mayfair’s exciting interwar building boom for its architectural language and interiors. Design studio Elicyon recently unveiled one of its 32 apartments, which takes the refinement and craftsmanship of art deco and makes it modern.
The late Thierry Despont, who died in 2023, designed 60 Curzon’s interior architecture – making the development, quite unexpectedly, the one and only private residential building in Europe with his stamp on it. Elicyon’s founder Charu Gandhi therefore had some great bones to work with, and an aesthetic jumping-off point in terms of what Despont had created in the public areas: the building’s lobby has a cosy members’ club feel, with rich lacquered mahogany panelling and a grand tiled fireplace. Gandhi’s four-bedroom apartment is lighter and more feminine, in a style she calls “new deco” that reflects the architectural nods to the art deco style, but is far from pastiche. She says that “it’s not about recreating The Great Gatsby – it’s about injecting spaces with personality through rich materials, soft curves and vintage accents, all balanced with modern restraint.”


The brick 1930s building that formerly stood on this site was once home to legendary Mayfair restaurant Mirabelle, and in honour of its starry social clientele, right from the get-go this apartment feels like it would be a great place for entertaining. There’s a showstopping entrance hall in which to greet your guests, stretching the length of the apartment but pausing and opening up into larger square room at the centre. Alluding to the classical proportions, Gandhi has placed a large antique marble urn at the centre, topped by a contrastingly contemporary halo-like brass pendant. An ash veneer and mirrored drinks cabinet, antique bar trolley and baby grand piano in the open plan living-dining space conjure up images of some fabulous cocktail-driven nights in; the central living area’s stepped stone fireplace and a facing pair of curved sofas naturally create an intimate, conversation-friendly space to step in to.



There’s a separate kitchen and, beyond that, a breakfast room, both offering multiple places to perch or relax for a more informal dining experience. The master suite takes up one wing of the apartment, with a large bathroom that’s equal in size to the bedroom itself, and two dressing areas. This bedroom steps out on to one of three interconnected terraces that total 75 sqm; the outdoor spaces sit against a backdrop of the creamy Portland stone and mottled glazed terracotta tiles of the building, with large planters to green up the space and contemporary outdoor furniture.

Elicyon’s palette for the interiors is largely muted, with creamy neutrals and blush tones on the walls, and the upholstered furniture bringing the bigger hits of colour – a golden yellow on the breakfast room banquette, deep red-brown linen covering the dining room chairs, and powder blue mohair on the pair of sumptuously proportioned 1930s armchairs in the master bedroom.
However, subtle pattern and texture ensure that no wall is ever a blank space, devoid of visual interest: Schumacher’s Hand Combed Plaster wallpaper mimics real textured plaster in the formal living area while Rubelli’s Stuoia wallcovering in the master bedroom creates a restful cocoon with the imperfection of natural woven fibres.


The subtlety of the backdrop allows the real talking-point pieces to find their own voice: there are distinctly deco antiques, such as the piano or a leather-clad side table, but Gandhi has championed plenty of contemporary designers and makers, too, including Rachel Donath, whose wavy-backed stools sit at the kitchen island, and Forma & Cemento, the Italian maker of the cement-rendered dining table. Above all, this apartment is all about the beauty of an interesting silhouette, regardless of the era it came from, whether it’s a sinuously curved urn, a 1950s stool by Pier Luigi Colli or a Soho Home plaster chandelier.



Gandhi’s choice of art has a lovely restraint to it in places, like the pair of Kate Boxer drypoint etchings above one of the beds on the guest bedroom, but elsewhere it explodes into life: in the breakfast room, the colourful carousel horses of a painting sourced from Sunbury Antiques Market practically leap from the wall.
“We wanted to honour the building’s rich heritage while creating a space that feels luxurious and liveable today,” says Gandhi. “Key elements like the antique furniture and modern artworks seen throughout the apartment capture Mayfair’s reverence for heritage, while still embracing modern comfort and refinement.”